craftsmanship, consumerism, virtue, privilege, and quality

i drink coffee black but sometimes if i go to a coffee joint i will get the triple-dipple-mochachinolattecoolatta or whatever. for fun. sometimes its fun to add a ton of half & half and sugar to coffee as a kind of dessert. but generally i like it black. like my men. (i am so saying that the next time i order coffee somewhere.)

also if coffee is riiiiiiiiiillllyyy rilly strong i don't mind cutting it with milk. like beyond strong. like mud. with all the scary oil floating on top.

i have it with milk if it's not great coffee, with sugar if it's really not great, and black when it's good (i.e. when i make it myself)

I'm picky enough that I'll bring my aeropress when I travel and know there isn't anything nearby other than starbucks or my parent's cofee but I'm not picky enough that I'll grind it all ahead of time.

lol i know this headspace v well

lookit this stupid thing.

Beautiful, well-balanced and exquisitely made, this glue pot should last for decades and will bring an aura of old world charm and craftsmanship to your workbench.
Brass glue pot $96.95

Glue pot warmer $24.10

http://www.lmii.com/images/stories/category/SpecialtyGluePotFBGP450.jpg

for reference i made my own glue pot today from shit at the salvation army for $6.00.

are you a luthier?

i've made a few guitars.

all without a $70 glue pot?

srsly tho tell us about making guitars

i'm in my second year of school for it, so i'm pretty green obv. what i have learned:

-it is equal parts great fun and wanting to die
-cumulatively the tools are extraordinarily expensive

idk what do you wanna know

well, I guess as germane to this thread, what are the differences between a $99 guitar and a $9000 guitar? Are you hoping to become an independent maker of handcrafted artisan guitars? What's the price-point for guitars made by your instructors? Do they teach because they're into it or because making custom guitars doesn't pay the bills?

those french market cans of coffee in supermarkets are p alright

as guitars?

rubber band coffee can jams

Where is the link to the NPR story about the $100 Guitar Project?

Here:http://www.npr.org/blogs/therecord/2012/12/03/166430924/a-100-guitar-makes-a-30-000-mile-odyssey?live=1

And here is their webpage: http://www.100dollarguitar.com/

xxp those are all really good questions! i'll start with these:

What's the price-point for guitars made by your instructors? Do they teach because they're into it or because making custom guitars doesn't pay the bills?

i think those are both reasons they do it. their guitars start at around 3000 or $3500 for a basic acoustic guitars (probably half that for electrics) so naturally it's hard to find buyers. most full time hand builders probably put in 70 hour a week or something and with exceptions only eek out a living. there's a lot of self marketing involved, you really have to get out there, hit bluegrass festivals and shit, there are so many builders out there, nobody is going to just google onto your website and buy something without playing it.

Are you hoping to become an independent maker of handcrafted artisan guitars?

this is ideally what i'd like to do. i don't enjoy repairs all that much, but there's a lot more steady work in it, and, see above. get a famous person or two to play something i made and maybe it could happen? it's the dream. wake up and saunter into your own shop and immerse yourself.

what are the differences between a $99 guitar and a $9000 guitar?

this is a really good question but a tricky one. 99-to-9000...the tonal difference between a brick with strings and a face full of hot air? between 600 and 3000, the difference between a factory guitar and a handmade guitar can...be all sorts of things. possibly better woods, possibly better craftsmanship, but there are fantastic playing and sounding factory guitars out there, it really depends where you go. factory guitars are commonly overbuilt, but that's far from the rule. with hand makers you might get, say, more attention to voicing of the instrument, a better sound, i think the biggest thing hand builders offer is options. it's getting a guitar that is tailor made in terms of neck contour, nut width, spacing at the saddle, body depth and dimensions, wood combination...and do you want a guitar that sound great in the studio or a loud bastard that can keep up with a banjo? iow the difference is mostly luxury.

that $100 guitar thing is awesome.

lol i am a terrible salesman.

"arbys, why should someone consider your product?"
*pry guitar from kindly inquisitor's hands*
*toss on pile of wasted dreams and fire*
"u should try a seagull"

http://shop-generalstore.com/collections/home-garden/products/equilateral-nails

bronze nails w/ triangular heads, $28/4

so much bullshit, my friend bought a whole can of attractive old forged nails from a reclaimed furniture store for a few bucks. also "For decorative use only, a pilot hole is necessary."

at a certain point you've got to be honest with yourself and just say "these are weak wall hooks" instead of nails

i like this store near me. and it reminds me of this thread for some reason. i don't actually ever go there cuz i am always at my store but they have fun stuff. and their whole thing is a whole thing. industrial lamps and old pencil sharpeners and all that.

https://www.facebook.com/pages/LOOT-found-made/222948171103406?id=222948171103406&sk=photos_stream

and they are in turners and thats really cool cuz its really not brooklyn but more nice arty folks are moving there. cuz its so cheap and not brooklyn. and its a great place.

https://www.genmfg.co/products/1/tybee-jump-rope

http://onedof.com/

Rolls eyes at weirdo audiophiles.

tbf that thing is fucking beautiful and I would buy it if I had infinite money

oh, btw, I just googled it and it costs $150,000. I think at that point I would just pay children to walk in a circle holding my record.

Yeah sorry the price tag obv the craziest thing. I read about it on PSF which did mention the $150k but obv it's not upfront on the website.

Awesome Audiophile Snake Oil

haaaaa:
http://m.theatlanticwire.com/entertainment/2012/05/artisanal-reluctant-branding-pioneer-dies-age-474/52969/

tote bags:

http://shop.naturalchildworld.com/collections/frontpage/products/full-inside-out-tote

these handbags with envelope-like features made out of the mailbags that used to deliver them is the type of stuff that really gets our rocks off

Daguerreotypes:

http://primalphotographic.com/

Tintypes etc. are pretty dope tho. <3 Sally Mann's glass plate work

thinking a lot about this stuff again, which should surprise nobody.

regale me

generally, thinking about the ways independent craftspeople compensate themselves for their own time. it's not exactly surprising to see, for example, young men making their masculine type products -- let's say, for example, leather goods -- pricing their wares pretty highly. it's pretty common to see examples of things that are relatively uncomplicated in manufacture priced at a premium. some of that cost, i think, can be traced to the cost of raw materials, but it's likewise pretty revealing of the mindset to see folks who are clearly in the 'apprentice' stage using top-grade raw materials. the rest of the cost relates to how the maker values his time, as well as some more nebulous attributes of taste and aesthetic.

also, dudes selling machine-hemmed cotton pocket squares for $20 on styleforum or wherever

i've always seen pricing as a signaling device, tbh, i don't know if it necessarily is a reflection of how the 'craftsman' values their time

but you're prob right that in the very low volumes these guys are dealing in, it probably is a reflection of how they value their time, their 'break-even' point

it doesn't matter how much someone values their time if someone else isn't willing to pay for it

well, yes, exactly. but regardless of actual or perceived "quality", there seems to be a much higher valuation of the cost of labor when it's done in a western nation by a white man, and how that relates to ideas of class distinction and luxury. q.v. the price of custom suiting on saville row vs. in hong kong

i know i'm probably not blowing minds here, but it's just something that's been stuck with me for a while.

rent is probably a big part of that cost. you have pretty fixed monthly costs and they've gotta be factored in...

Rent where though.

where your customers are

ok so i have been learning about basketry (lol i know) and it's there's a stark difference in how a work is represented based on who and where it was made, even if they are both contemporary. e.g.

"handwoven basket made by marion q. basketweaver of birkenstock, north carolina"

vs.

"contemporary zulu basket"

otm

i mean not that I know anything about basketry, but that seems like a broader principle in representation of art and craft