The Abalone Contagion Spreads

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Re: The Abalone Contagion Spreads

The abalone craze seems like a way to appeal to the sensibilities of new-guitar buyers who either have recently or will soon buy a Line 6 amp and a Synystyr Gytys signature wah pedal. In that mid-band region of rock/metal guitars, I think there's a sweet spot where guitars max out in features and perceived value, and the only way to offer a more-expensive model to that buyer is to pile on cosmetic enhancements. The assumption is that those customers don't see value in things like quarter-sawn necks, meticulous fretwork, a custom-fitted nut, a good tight neck joint, or any of the other little things that might make a guitar play or sound better but are hard to quantify or describe in a bullet point in an online product description. It's the same set of priorities that leads people to buy new Epiphone LP Customs instead of used Gibson LP Studios -- something that I fell for myself a number of years ago.
 
Re: The Abalone Contagion Spreads

All of this comes from the abalone inlays Martin offered on their -40 and above guitars. They've been doing it for a long time. The D-45, with all edges bound is really a thing of beauty, with all the little pieces of abalone cut and color matched and then glued in by hand. (Or should the phrase be, "A BLING of Beauty"? I took the Martin factory tour years ago and watched them do it--not a job for those with poor motor skills and ADD! They are dedicated and very skilled craftsmen and women.

And I hate burst anyone's bubble, but on those guitars that sell for $899--it's probably not real abalone, but plastic.

But I do like the look.

Bill
 
Re: The Abalone Contagion Spreads

I like it because its proof that something living was killed to make my guitar prettier.

Sent from my DROID RAZR using Tapatalk
 
Re: The Abalone Contagion Spreads

AdamBrad said:
I blame Schecter.

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Kramer and ESP already did before Schecter.

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http://vintagekramer.com/review/kramercustom4.jpeg
 
Re: The Abalone Contagion Spreads

...And I forgot about this lovely example. The double-cut Artist in 1977 had abalone binding on some models. How can you hate this?

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baritone said:
A lot of those double-cutaway guitars from Schecter and LTD would have looked so cool if they just took out that crazy all-around-abalone-binding.
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Then you want the SZ520. Natural (faux?) binding instead of all that Ah-Baloney. See the two on the far right:

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Re: The Abalone Contagion Spreads

Hamer did this as well in the late 2000's... they took their understated SATF import models and blinged them out.

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I think it is actually ON the fretboard as well.
 
Re: The Abalone Contagion Spreads

Interesting to see lots of other examples of this. Schecter is definitely the brand that gets blamed for it...
 
Re: The Abalone Contagion Spreads

jon the art guy said:
I like it because its proof that something living was killed to make my guitar prettier.
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Like a tree, for example. ;)

I like abalone as fret DOT (not sharkfin, block, etc) material on certain fretboard woods. That's about it.
 
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