Like everything there will always be someone trying Jedi Mind Tricks. The guitar industry is no different. A better way to say Jedi Mind trick is to just call it for what it is, lies and gaslighting.

I can’t tell you how many people have sent me guitars to work on, or conversations I have heard where people are telling me one thing that they were told, that is a complete lie. The problem is many people are not savvy about how things actually work, so they look to someone that speaks in confidence or has some kind of authority on a subject.

The biggest liars and misinformed people are guitar players and manufacturers.

Guitar players

We all have our favorite guitar players. Some are simply amazing and incredibly talented. The problem is just because you are a guitar player doesn’t mean you know everything about guitars. It is like expecting a doctor to be an expert on MRI construction and repair. It is out of their area of expertise.

I personally have known and worked with professional guitar players that couldn’t intonate their guitar, or know how to fix a common problem like a bad fret or even a bridge adjustment. It is crazy but it is true. One of them taught at the Berkeley School of Music. Another one was a professor of music at a university.

Too many companies endorse guitar players and have them do videos where they tell you the guitar they have made for them is the ideal guitar. They are being compensated for their words and promotion of the product. Later they find a new sponsor and then say the same thing about that product.

Just because someone can play doesn’t mean they are experts in anything outside of playing the instrument. A good player can make ANY guitar sound great. Don’t fall for the hype.

The industry

The industry is a dirty business. So many ideas are taken from one another in order to make a product that sells. The only thing that matters is the sale. Money is always the bottom line. The companies will tell you anything in order to sell you snake oil.

They promise you this tone and that performance. Countless people have purchased various items from them and later sold them because they didn’t live up to the promise. Nothing can replace practice, talent, and skill. There is no magic guitar or amp that will turn you into a superstar.

One of the best Jedi mind tricks was when Gibson began selling the Bumblebee capacitors reissue for a ridiculous amount of money because people believe the false premise that aged caps in the old Gibsons were magical. When the new capacitors were examined it was a 15-cent capacitor in a piece of plastic that looked like the bumblebee. At the time I believe they were selling them for $75. Currently Guitar Center is selling them for more than $120.

I have seen other companies (mainstream) steal my ideas and paint jobs only to call it their creation. I don’t get upset by it, I am flattered that they ran out of ideas and had to use mine.

The reissues and all of the relics are just a means to sell you the same guitar on the shelf for more. It will not give you what you are looking for outside of the placebo effect. Very few guitarists really know a good guitar when they see it believe it or not.

It only works on the weak-minded

Paul Reed Smith once said, “People shop with their eyes” and this is very true. His guitars are popular because he mastered the appearance part of the instrument. He makes fine guitars, but at the end of the day, it is just wood and some metal strings. Is it really worth the price because it looks cool?

From the vintage wire and vintage pickups, it is all nonsense. In electronics and magnetism, numbers are numbers. There are no magical species of wood that will grant you a magical tone. Don’t fall for the Jedi Mind tricks.

Now it will be asked, then how do you justify your price and your claims? My claims are just that, I noticed how the guitar behaves and then report it back to you. I have talked people out of buying guitars from me because they would not be able to live up to their false expectations. I will never tell you one of my guitars will make you a superstar, nor will I tell you that it can do things that it can’t. Moreover, I will only tell you how versatile it is, and the observed performance of each one.

The price comes from the time and materials it takes to make it. I also add profit along with the artistic skill/talents required to make it.

My cost breakdown

Materials are pricey when you can’t buy them in bulk from a distributor. My costs are more than the guitar companies that are mainstream.

Lumber is generally around 65 bucks to make a bolt-on neck guitar. I buy it in large pieces so I can mill it myself. The type of wood can change the price quite a bit. Things like Korina and Mahogany can easily double that price.

When I make a one-piece guitar I have to buy a huge slab that has to have certain qualities. It can take a long time to find the right one. I have to sometimes drive out of san diego to find it. These can sometimes cost me around $400 or so depending.

Things like bridges and whatnot are where a huge chunk of change comes in. All the hardware costs me about the same as it would you. It can run from about 300 to 600 depending.

Pickups I wind myself and each pickup cost me in materials about $30 bucks or so. It varies on the type.

When you add all of that up plus the time, profit, and whatnot is how I come up with my prices. The big companies don’t have to pay the same prices, have CNC machines, and workers working nonstop to build a guitar. Many times in a third world country where labor and work conditions are cheap.

If it costs me $400.00 to build the guitar I would sell it for about $900 +/-. The same guitar could be built by a larger company for $100 but they would sell it for $2,600 +/-

Just ask yourself what you are paying for. What is really the big difference in cost? if you don’t see one that is justified then you are having a Jedi mind trick pulled on you.