Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by the anonymous pick on May 1, 2013 at 3:48pm

tottally  "politically  incorrect"  ,,  but  ...  there   it  is    ;-)

 

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Permalink Reply by t-belly johnson on May 1, 2013 at 3:20pm

Why should anyone be suprised?

The Chinese have seen a market and they`ll go for it.And why not? You see loads of CBG`s on ebay going for $200-750 and UK ebay for £200-500. You`ll find that the Chinese will just do a better job and get a good hold of the market.

It won`t make any difference to me, I build a few for friends and don`t do it for profit.But those of you that do....well that`s competition and it`s business!

CBN was started some 5 years ago to get people involved,get them to become aware of what great music there is to be had on 1,2,3,4 string guitars.There are almost 10,000 members and all those members have friends and relatives,a lot of who now have CBG`s.Isn`t that a good thing?

Well if you don`t like it, then maybe we should shut down the CBN and go underground,keep it all nice and quiet until the Chinese stop producing guitars.

Nah, of course not. You just have to put up with it, accept the competition and be prepared to sell a lot less guitars because they`ll no doubt take a lot of business.

Like I say, it won`t effect me in the least.I won`t be buying from them, I`ll carry on building for myself and my friends.

I think maybe it`s time for a lot of guys to look at their products and consider if they`re really worth the prices they`ve been asking.The Chinese,followed by the Koreans and the rest will only sell if they see a profit, and looking at ebay and some prices you can hardly blame them!

 

 

 

 

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Permalink Reply by 3 String Blues on May 1, 2013 at 3:48pm

swamp witches are gonna double in price!!

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Permalink Reply by the anonymous pick on May 1, 2013 at 3:57pm

with  2  ,  you  get  eggroll ;-)

 

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Permalink Reply by 3 String Blues on May 1, 2013 at 4:26pm

if they get ahold of one they will reverse engineer it!...can you imagine cheap imported swamp witch knockoffs with the Panda label peeling off

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Permalink Reply by the anonymous pick on May 2, 2013 at 12:33am

lol

 

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Permalink Reply by Dan Sleep on May 2, 2013 at 1:23am

(shrugging)

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Permalink Reply by Craig Mayhem on May 2, 2013 at 1:49am

I don't think these are going to be competing with the likes of CBN members. You'll probably see these in tourist trap stores, those big truck stop centers, etc. Your average buyer of hand-built CBGs are buying them because they're CBGs and because they're hand-built.

If your average buyer DOES buy one it'll either be an impulse buy in the aforementioned stores or because they don't know how to find a local builder.

Of course, I could be wrong

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Permalink Reply by Slowpaw Steve T on May 2, 2013 at 3:14am

just one thing they missed....they gotta smell like cigar boxes to sound right! (-;

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Permalink Reply by t-belly johnson on May 2, 2013 at 4:33am

Craig, is there such a thing as a typical or average buyer of CBG`s? I think not. People do buy guitars on a whim.They don`t just buy hand built cigar box guitars because if they did who would buy a swamp witch or a biscuit tin guitar?

No, people buy something for the look and feel of the thing, and the price too comes into it.

One thing is for sure, the Chinese will be very competetive and they will supply what people want.You can bet your life that there`s been an anonymous viewer from Hong Kong ar mainland China on this site,looking at what people build,what they like and getting a feel of the whole philosophy.

Already I`ve seen a comment about the  way the EQ is mounted on the Uke.They don`t cut corners,they`ll make them for their prospective buyers.

Remember you`re looking at big business(as far as CBG`s go) and these people have their fingers in many pies.It started with cheap piezos,then EQ`s, wiring looms,tuners etc. It follows that they`ll get into guitars too and there is no doubt,builders can bury their heads in the sand,but they will take some business away.People want what they like,they want it cheap.....that`s what they offer and that`s what people will get.

 

ps. They don`t have to smell like cigar boxes,we don`t all use them!

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Permalink Reply by Craig Mayhem on May 2, 2013 at 4:46am

People buy hand-built cars, furniture, etc. even though cheaper versions of all of these things are available from China. People buy hand-painted canvas art even though you can go down to Pier One and get mass-produced art.

My point is that I don't see this as direct competition. Sure your casual or impulse buyer will most likely go for one of these instead of a handmade instrument, but I don't think that's going to eat away too much at a skilled builder's business. Kind of like your big-box guitar stores. They have guitars and banjos there and a lot of them are cheaper than a well-made CBG.

The ones I sell are all custom built and made to order. People who want them are looking for something unique with options they choose. If they want an off-the-rack guitar they'd go to Guitar Center.

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Permalink Reply by Maddog on May 2, 2013 at 5:03am

I agree with everyone except t-belly on this, the people I sell to buy my stuff because you will not find it anywhere else and I will never make another one like it. Period. I build ONE of a kind CBG's. One thing in all of our favor is that you cannot mass produce one of a kind products, you can only mass produce masses and for the people that buy these I would not of sold them a git anyways because you are not talking apples for apples in quality or uniqueness. Kinda like building a custom hot rod to sell or going to the Dodge dealership and buying a fresh off the line Viper, two completely different consumer bases.

P.S. Sorry to all the Dodge fans for comparing Dodge to China. It was only an example :-) For the record I drive a Dodge. I think we're all safe for now and if they take over the CBG market I am going to start building custom chop sticks.............

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