We are entering the season of guitar festivals. By which I mean events where luthiers like me can exhibit and showcase our work. The grandaddy of them all is the show commonly called the Healdsburg Festival – although these days it takes place in Santa Rosa California, about 12 miles from Healdsburg. this show takes place every other year in August and the next one will be in 2011. About 7 years ago the Newport Festival (in Newport RoadIsland) was started by Julius Borges, a very well respected luthier. And then the Montreal show. the Newport Show is now located in Floriday and will take place next weekend. I won’t be there (for the first time) and am sorry about that. However I am committed to go to the Montreal show and I simply cannot find the time or money to do two shows in a year.
I cannot express strongly enough what a benefit these shows are to both the builders and potential buyers. I rather strongly believe that the truly succesful guitar sale is one where the buyer can play the instrument (or, at least, some instruments from a given builder). guitars at this level are quite individualistic and so are the players. As I sometimes put it, you have to get married and this means forming a rather complex emotional bond with an instrument. this is hard to do over the internet. Guitar shows give builders like me the opportunity to show our work to hundreds and perhaps thousands of players/buyers. And the buyer gets to play lots of guitars and get a sense of what a given builder can do, and, hopefully, find that instrument that she will fall in love with. there may be a bit of overload from seeing so many instruments but it is still a wonderful experience. try and visit one of these shows – you will not be sorry you did.
