CNC guitar any good?

[steffenland]

How good are the solidbody guitars you have made compared to original instruments? Gibsons, fenders, prs..?
Do you have to be a pro luthier to make a decent guitar with a 3-4k mill and some woodworking skills?

[steffenland]

Not a single guitarist here that want to comment on their selfmade guitar?

[louieatienza]

Any yo-yo can load a blank into a machine and press "start." Choosing the right woods, sanding, finishing, electronics, fretwork, hardware are things set up by humans and not done on CNC (though the PLEK system is pretty cool.)

That said, with the right knowledge, many can make a good playing guitar. All the big companies use CNCs nowadays. A home-made CNC can cuta body just as good as the factory. The difference is, a factory has specialusts who just do finishing, or just fretwork, or just wiring. An independent luthier has to be very good at least, in all aspects of guitarmaking.

I still like to do a bit of handwork, and final shaping. But the CNC takes the boredom out of repetitive tasks, and frees me up for all the important 'detail' work.

[wbegg]

I build guitars with CNC, and there are advantages and dis-advantages. I tend to start getting a little upset when I hear people say "It's not handmade, It was done with a CNC". They don't realize the hours involved in creating a 3-D design, generating toolpaths, running test pieces, etc.

A CNC is just a tool. I could say that if a luthier used a handheld router, then his guitar is not "hand made". We just use the tools that are available to us.

Michelangelo would have used an air chisel if he had had it, but his buddy DaVinci just hadn't invented it yet!

A CNC will still not fret install, fret level, sand, finish, setup, string, intonate, wire, adjust, or listen. Are there advantages to making a square pocket with a cnc or a router? Other than the joy of feeling the wood, no.

To answer your question, Yes ... Certainly.