Mule

What's it like buying a handmade resonator guitar anyways? If I can't pull it off the wall and play it first, why should I buy it? I totally admit it's a completely different experience buying a resonator guitar that isn't yet in the world.  You e-mail or call me, and we talk about what you're looking for, what kind of playing you do. You send a deposit and then several months later we confirm details, you get pictures as the guitar is being built and voila you're playing it and hopefully loving it in your own home. Point #1:  Keep an open mind. Part of the reason I love guitars is each one is different.  Resonator guitars are certainly no exception.  If you let them be their own creation, listening hard to them will teach you things about tone, and this making of sound is what inspires us musicians.  Playing the same chord on four different guitars can take you four different directions. Something I've tried to do is really cut back on the verbage you hear from a lot of guitar makers/companies.  Hidden amongst all the flowery adjectives is usually some amount of miscommunication. It also attempts to put into your head what a guitar sounds like.  It's advantageous to makers that you believe that this guitar will fulfill your every desire for tone- "booming low end that belies it's parlor size"- but it's inherently faulty. One person's "shimmering highs" might be another person's "Round and full treble". Building a guitar regarding sound is more like building a boat than landing a helicopter.  We use adjectives of course, but fairly general ones. If you are looking for 'warm' or 'punch' or 'balance' we can get you there.  If you keep an open mind and let the guitar be what it is, it will take you somewhere musically you didn't expect. That's inspiration. Point #2: It's about the people One of the biggest surprises about doing this was how attached people became to me and my work. I send guitars off and I get beer, bottle openers, homemade maple syrup, tshirts, invites etc in return. It's awesome and my greatest pleasure. I get comments on my character and people get philosophical. Over resonator guitars? Well it's not the guitar, it's the people.   You worked hard for the money you are giving to me. You spent part of life doing the work that you do so you can give it to me so I can do the work I do. It's an exchange.  It's so much bigger than perfect miters and fancy finish formulas.  It's also something that can only happen in the context of buying a guitar directly from the person that made it.  There's certainly advantages to buying a guitar in a shop and I'm not here to convince people this is The Ultimate Buying Experience.  It's just different.  It's a connection between people and I love being a part of that.