Is “Handmade” Really Better? CNC vs. Handmade Guitar

okay so have you spent any amount of time online talking about guitars or guitar gear especially boutique guitars and boutique builders you probably have run into the cnc versus handmade debate at some point in the past now this is a point of controversy for a lot of guitar players some people prefer the handmade version which is the old-school way of doing it using a machine called a pin router whereas other people prefer or have no problem with the modern production technique of using a CNC machine so in today's video we're going to nuovo guitars in Nashville Tennessee where they have both a CNC and a traditional pin router and we're going to compare the two processes with two different guitar bodies one will be cut out on a CNC the other will be cut out on the pin router so you can see how both processes work and if there's any difference in the final guitar body now we won't end up seeing the entire production process through to the end but hopefully this video should give you a pretty good idea of what goes into a boutique guitar building process so let's head up to novo guitars in Nashville Tennessee to take a look at their C and set rhymes that's weird whatever you get it let's go to Nouveau [Music] I'm talking seen cease to say yes the CNC versus the handmade debate yeah see basically just takes a pretty dry user geometry to prove its in a pattern more consistent than doing it by hand and you get the same results you know every what's it set up you can just run you know production two or three two tires on a pin router a day versus eighty ten to twelve hit on the sizer machine massive productions okay so if you're not familiar with what a CNC machine is or what it does basically it's kind of a big robot instead of a human cutting out a guitar body by hand with a series of band saws and pin routers it's one machine that does the whole process automatically now the term CNC means computer numerical control and essentially what happens is a designer in this case Dennis Fano and the team at novo guitars create a design drawing in a CAD program then they convert that CAD drawing into a specific program that is a language that the CNC machine will speak and in that program is all of these specific motions the tool types every little process that the CNC machine needs to know to complete a guitar body now there's a few reasons a shop like Nova would want to use a CNC machine first of all speed and consistency an operator like Pete can crank out a lot more guitars than somebody just on a pin router and every single one of those guitar bodies is going to be exactly the same and as we'll see a little bit later in the video they're also a lot safer however required the program so where to go and it's kind of the fate of down the dirty version okay so I think they're gonna start actually routing out a body for a nearest which is the semi-hollow body that novo does so we're gonna see the whole CNC process and then we're gonna take a look at the pin router and see the differences and how each process works all right so we're actually going to be machining the body for my new guitar that novo is building and I already started a video on it which you can check out here rather throw the body on the CNC hog it out because this is gonna be a semi hollow guitar called the merest be pretty sweet yeah so we're put aside body Blake on here and then finish the interior with a I'll eat a kebab no machine the top target see so right out this is where the reading has [Music] [Music] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] is it finished walking out the inside wasn't doing now now just taking a quick perimeter cut taking any don't make it as a vegetable and then it's gonna cut it you are doing process on the head router how long do you think it would take you probably 30 minutes five at this point around seven minutes pretty for so we're gonna weigh it after it's been hog doubt to see what the weight difference is on it the original weight was four pounds seven ounces what jeez yeah okay I'd have to put some lead weights in there yeah it's gonna be a light guitar man I love things gonna ring like a bell so with my guitar yes doing a combination of CNC and yeah I mean right now we're doing the prototyping for the merest on the CNC and our first our models are the merest J which is 2p 90s and a mastery bridge and trim and the mirrors T which is a Tele bridge pickup and a p90 in the neck now we're gonna do for yours is we talked about exactly what it is on the on the chest somewhat but we can go so we're gonna do it's gonna be three pickups and it's gonna be a different bridge that we've done so we either have to program it and program that into the CNC program or we can actually run that on the pin router if we want to so we're basically gonna ask Steven what he wants to do how he thinks cuz we can to locate the bridge off of any machine and just drill it out over the pickups it's important to get that part of it right I think we'll probably do it off of the machine so you know I mean we're still a little old-school here like you know we do a lot of custom stuff so you know we're gonna do a lot of CNC work and then there's still gonna be a lot of stuff that gets done off the machinist okay so that's how the CNC works now what we're gonna do is take essentially the same body a Mears body and do it on a pin router so you can see the differences in the processes and the difference is if there are any in the final product so Steven walk me through the process here we have some change out of tool this is what happens with dentists put the tool long six eight months ago we were making every single body right here made about I'm gonna say 200 of them Yeah right here and that was me you know just going for it but since the CNC has relieved me I can do up stuff do other things that's great and everybody's happy because first the jacket is departed together so Steven how does this work like power are you physically going to do this all like freehand or is there a no she got is a template on the bottom that follow but it's been over you messed up a pen it's ten router there's the pin in pin router it goes on the bottom and it's just gonna follow this so it looks really neat when you watch people think you're just really good at free handling but yeah because you don't see the bend which makes it really good for production good work like this and you wanted the same thing over and over yeah we got stops in there so we can set it we have predetermined cool depths we just spin this guy around and there we get our different pocket depths it's like an analogue CNC it's an analogue CNC yeah you are the computer I'm yeah yeah I'm the motor in this case then the computer yell so I'm definitely the brain in the sink but you know all it's gonna happen here is I'm going to move this thing around we're over there moving the cutter around yeah so what we're gonna do now is just haul all this out to go grab my is gonna make a lot of them the I want to leave a quarter inch the cutter right to the pan [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Applause] [Music] there's one side and another reason we like to see and see more in this because you can see you're my hands there's the thing that wants to kill me yeah I don't want to be near that thing yeah I don't want anybody here to be near that thing and that's one of the reasons that I've been the only one doing this is I don't want anybody over here other than me let's let's limit it to one person yeah you know in this sort of I mean I'm not gonna call it danger but it's potentially hazardous situation that's a powerful tool man it is it's a five horsepower motor and it will just eat you up you get in there so what do you think about the whole CNC versus since he's gonna go guitars you want people's hands in the sanding people's hands and assembly and setup in the threat work that's where the hand work matters that's where the experience really matters pushing a router around is not a high skill job it's with me pushing this thing around you know this is this is a factory job anybody can do this there's no you don't need to know a single thing about guitars to do this doing it with a CNC makes it more consistent and so with a more consistent part we create the same great guitar the dentist prototype every time rather than you know having to have super skilled people do every little thing and the guitar builders everywhere you know and the product is different all the time you know we want to make Dennis's guitar over and over and over again for everybody and even that I mean I once heard Paul Reed Smith say you know that the factory was making a better guitar that he could build and that's how it ought to be you know let somebody design it dream it up and then let the modern manufacturing techniques make it even better and make it even better every time so the idea that by me pushing this thing around like this that there's somehow some mojo or some soul in it if by mojo and soul you mean that you know you got some uneven yeah Bart's in there right that's somehow you think is gonna make your sound better I mean sure and I've long told people that if you believe that's what you need then that's what you need because we here with our preconceptions and so if that's your preconception that it's got to be handmade by some guy who builds one guitar every three years so this you're saying is where handmade really where it can make a difference to people who appreciate it and I as a maker of things appreciate things like this but I think most people would just blow right by them then it's give me a picture of this and I had to go through several iterations of physical templates carving them with a file you know to get this shape right and also to get this shape to where we could make it with this machine because there are limitations you can't just do whatever we want we have to do it in such a way that the machine and recreate it right so this is this is very handmade and this is pretty good but you know that's not to say the the one that we got on the CNC is still going to get hand sanded also going to get in there with a little you know a little file will little dowels and sandpaper on it and give it a human touch yeah I think one thing that people have when they see a guitar or a guitar maker is using a CNC machine they have this conception that all you do is push a button and a guitar pops out they just bolt it together put strings on it go that's not it right and and I've worked for plenty of people you know as a as a finisher of guitars who bought you know dumped tens of thousands of dollars in the CNC machine thought they could do that and they would send me their stuff like nah bro you need to finish actually building this like the fretwork is awful it's not going to play the next shape is horrible the haven't sanded it like you haven't built the guitar you just you know spit this chunk of wood I mean the CNC is no different from a chisel or a plunge router it's just another tool in the bag really still got to know how to go guitars do any okay so here we have two complete bodies ready to have the tops glued on them and finish this is the handmade quote-unquote body and this is the CNC body personally the only difference that I can see and feel between them is if you look on the inside of the cavity route of the pin router version you can tell what the inconsistencies that it was done by hand whereas this one you look a little closer you can see it was done on a CNC machine now the whole CNC versus handmade debate I think is founded a lot in a misunderstanding of what a CNC is and what it actually does I think some people are under the impression that a CNC is a one machine to do it all you hit a button and a completed guitar props out with very little to no human interaction whatsoever and as hopefully you've seen in this video that's not the case there's still a ton of hand work that goes into finishing these things hand sanding there's bluing the tops on by hand they're finishing painting by hand they're doing the fret work all by hand so personally I think the benefits of a CNC machine in the manufacturing process far outweighs any negatives there might be when it comes to the Mojo of a handmade guitar the time savings and safety factor alone of a CNC machine means that a guitar company can produce more guitars more consistently than they could by hand and for a small company like novo that is huge that is a game changer so personally I'm a fan of the CNC but let me know what you think down in the comments are you still a die-hard pin router fan handmade or a CNC fan or are you like me and you don't really care as long as the guitar plays well it sounds great I really don't care it goes bad on a pin router or a CNC as always massive thanks to novo guitars here in Nashville Tennessee for letting me come by and shoot the video you can come here and check out the shop if you want to take a tour while you're in town you can check out the link below where you can sign up for a tour and come check out what they do here also be sure to follow them on Instagram so you can keep up with what they are doing out of this amazing shop anyways thanks for watching I'm rhett shawl and remember there is no plan B

Channel: Rhett Shull

Views: 312,773

Keywords: cnc machine, cnc guitar, Rhett Shull, Novo guitar, novo miris guitar, novo mirus, cnc vs hand carving, handmade guitar, novo guitars rhett, novo serus t guitar, novo mirus j, novo serus j, rhett shull novo, cnc machine working video, cnc machine woodworking, cnc machine wood

Id: wfPU42tLruc

Length: 19min 52sec (1192 seconds)

Published: Tue Jun 04 2019

Reddit Comments

[u/[deleted]]

Cool video, as someone who’s worked with CNC machines for 5 years, I prefer CNC. There are a few reasons. Fumes and dust are some of the leading causes of death for people who work in mills. Whenever you think about the amount of lung cancer and illness related to fume people get in mills, it can be astounding. Generating that barrier between the machinist and their product allows for fine evacuation and higher levels of fluid (in metal) eliminating the fumes. It’s really a no brainer. Another reason is that using CNC machines allows engineers to build with fewer constraints. You can generate many more design and it’s actually amazing. Hand guided manual machines don’t compare in this regard. Like the video said, CNC machines are tools. When you really think about it, it’s no different than using a socket wrench and a motor. There’s been stigma around electricity since it was created as electricity is so misunderstood by so many people. I think this argument is just more of the same “witch” stories.