Where was there any care for the guitars tone. He should be building a chair leg.
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Only the world's best CNC machines!
- Thread starter warrplayer
- Start date
Where was there any care for the guitars tone. He should be building a chair leg.
Most modern CNC guitar machines have a 'Tone' panel with additional tonal cutting properties. It takes the perfect precision cuts that a machine normally offers and adds some human flavor that you can tune with different simulator dials.
My favorite tone dial is the "I am about to quit this craphole and don't give a sh!!' dial. It randomly cuts a slight bow in your neck that requires 85% relative humidity to tune properly.
Other tone dials include the "Almost lunchtime!' dial, though I can barely hear a difference between the "4:50 PM Friday" dial.
Also the 'Low Blood Sugar' dial, the 'Temp-worker' dial, the 'Gross Incompetence' dial, and everyone's favorite, the 'Alcoholism' dial. Turn that thing up to 11 for awesome relic'ed basses.
Seriously, how does the wood know what is behind the blade that cuts it? In the end, it is the same shape...
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And a luthier can read wood and a tech can read code. Next time you have a problem with your computer hire a taxi driver.
...and a human can't miss an error on an infinitely more expensive piece?? Get real! Human error is HIGHLY more likely.
I am a tech. I never fully trust the equipment. It makes errors as often as humans often more. On my first gun system if the computer was in charge we could expect a hit rate around 75% under our human control I never saw it miss. Under human control significant changes can be made instantly.
In some cases, sure. CNC? No. It's a robot. It already does exactly what you tell it to do.
A luthier is still choosing the wood though and supervising the process, he just isn't burdened by the manual labor part and instead has a pair of hands that do precisely what he tells them to do, every time. And much faster.
You are assigning magical properties to inferior manual cutting techniques. The same metal blade is cutting the wood, it just has a steadier and more accurate 'hand' behind it.
If you buy the most expensive bespoke suit, it is still made of machine-processed wool because machines do it better and with much more consistency. Same difference here. Machines are cutting the precision raw parts for later inspection, finish and assembly by the luthiers. This gives them more time to do the critical part of their job instead of the tedious labor (and learning curve) of cutting raw wood. Really it is two different skills and one isn't needed.
It isn't something to get hung up on because wood is wood. The only difference is that there will be fewer duds slipping through.
I am a tech and I don't believe in magic. I use CNC often. CNC is a great partner with humans and saves lots of time. I watched many of the PRS videos and don't remember anybody Identifying as a luthier. techs, sanders and others. Warwick said they send their parts out to get assembled. No mention of luthiers in any capacity. I worry there are no luthiers in the hands on work. If so then they are building wall art and not instruments. String a string between two lecs of a couch and tune it. Sure you can play something on it but it isn't a bass. Join blue man groupe if you want to play a couch. We have an opportunity to use CNC in conjunction with luthiers and make the best instruments ever seen up to this point but we are falling short in creating production lines that are making things that are no different than a stool.
Ah, I have a question for you then...
What is the best CNC machine to mill a bass for metal?
I think the quality of PRS and Warwick speaks for itself.
You're being ridiculous.
If questioning the abilities of a luthier build compared to a computer build is ridiculous then guilty. I want tone that sings not thuds.
Most of us would like a great hand made bass. But, your attitude is insulting to the skilled people making Warwicks, PRSs and other fine instruments that happen to use CNC for the basic shaping of bodies.
I agree; there is a difference between hand made custom instruments by an individual vs. a factory made instrument, most of us acknowledge that. I think some folks here have lost that perspective in this discussion about a factory.
Luthier build doesn't mean more tone than a CNC machine, man! You pick the wood before you put it in the machine. What you use to shape it after picking has no bearing on tone. You're batting 1000 today, dude. lol
What is it that you want these luthiers to do that the machine isn't doing?
