| Sometimes people ask me, "Is there there somebody who lives near me
who has one of your guitars who might let me try it?" I've made well over two hundred
classical guitars, but there are over 250 MILLION people in the USA alone...that means
approximately one Jacobson guitar per million Americans. Add in the rest of the world's
population and...well, you get the idea. No, you're not likely to find one of my guitars
near you unless you live in one of three or four major metropolitan areas.
But there's a solution (actually two of them...keep reading).
First option: visit my workshop. I
always have access to at least one seasoned
instrument belonging to a local customer. (Just a couple months of
age under full string tension makes a major difference in the instrument's tone
performance.) My office doubles as a tryout studio and has been renovated for improved
acoustics.
In this era of airline deregulation, it can be cheaper to travel halfway around the
world than to drive yourself to the next state, especially when the dollar value of your
time is taken into account. If you'd like to try out a Jacobson
guitar, plan ahead
long enough to get the cheapest fare, get yourself to Kansas City International
Airport, then get yourself to my workshop (about an hour from the airport). I will put you up for a night in my home. You can play the guitar
and see how I do luthiery. An added bonus:
if you decide to purchase or order a guitar (the visit itself does not impose on you any
obligation to do so), I will give you a credit on
your invoice for the cost of your travel expenses up to $200. If a workshop visit isn't feasible for you now, there's a
second option. Readymade guitars are
offered from time to time, and you can take one on an approval basis
for seven days, which gives you an opportunity for an extended tryout in the privacy of your own home. To do this, we execute
a purchase agreement which gives you approval rights subject only
to instrument damage or loss; a deposit in the amount of the instrument
price plus shipping is required. If you decide to keep the readymade guitar I sent you on
approval (or place an order for a custom-made guitar) , I will refund your shipping costs as a discount on the invoice. |
