Info on Gold series

[guitarist 4 christ]

Do all Gold series guitars come with gold tuning knobs or do some have black knobs I have also heard that you now make Gold series with a satin finish, is this true. If it is true why did you change the finish.
I have also seen a store on a website selling Silver series for the price of Gold series Deceiving potential buyers is not a good thing for the Avalon name. Just thought you would like to know

Steve

[JB]

Gold series will have black buttons but some of the early Golds from a few years ago had Gotoh tuners with amber buttons.

Silvers should not be priced as high as Gold retail prices, we will look into that

Cheers
Jim

[guitarist 4 christ]

Hey JB,
Thanks for the fast reply. What about the satin finish on Golds is this true
Also, check out sylvanmusic.com for the Silvers advertised at Gold prices.

God Bless, Steve

[JB]

Cheers Steve, I've passed that on to the powers at be

oops forgot about the satin question, yup all satin finish now on Golds made by us here in N.I.

[rcurry67]

JB

I've never participated in any type of forum in the past, so please forgive me if I need some instruction on forum etiquette.

I've owned a Lowden in the past as well as an A200 from a few years ago.

I'm awaiting shipment of my new Czech-built A100. Can you please provide a quick lesson on the differences in the Golds of a few years ago that were built in NI to the new Czech built models? (shape of headstock? bridge? rosette? overall shape of body (auditorium, specifically)? Bracing? Other differences?

Also what determines whether the Czechs build the Golds or you all in NI?

Thanks a million!!

[JB]

Hi, the Czech Golds follow our designs closely ... more closely on the bracing than on some of the shapes

They have Abalone rosettes and always have a full gloss finish.
Irish Golds have wooden rosettes and all the ones made in the last 2 years or so will have a satin finish.

Irish Golds will have a serial number like this "A00123"

http://www.avalonguitars.co.uk/phpBB/viewtopic.php?t=268

cheers
JB

[rcurry67]

Thanks JB. What determines if a Gold is Czech-made or built in N.I.? Is Avalon satisfied with the Czech relationship and the quality of product it's turning out to represent the Avalon name? Thanks!!

Russell

[JB]

So far the Gold models made in the Czech factory have been very good, solid wood guitars, we've not had a complaint about any yet so I suppose that speaks for itself.

maybe I'm not understanding your question of "what determines if a Gold is Czech made .... I thought I already answered that ... if not then do please expand and I'll do my best.

Cheers
JB

[rcurry67]

Sorry if I'm not speaking clearly. I guess what I'm asking is...if you have the arrangement with the company in the Czech Republic to produce Gold Series Guitars, why are you still manufacturing them in N.I. also? For example, if someone puts in an order for a new Gold Series with no specific customizations, what determines who builds the instrument? Are Golds still made to order? I just ordered a Czech model from the distributor (A100) prior to getting on the forum and I guess I have a little anxiety about it as I'm waiting for shipment early next week. I have owned an Irish A200 in the past as well as a Lowden, which I'll probably be comparing to in my mind......sorry for schizzing

Also, have you all looked into some of the Chinese manufacturers who are able to produce very nice all solid wood instruments for the same price or less than what you are producing/selling the Silver Series for (i.e. Blueridge, Johnson Carolina Series)??

I appreciate you helping me through this time of uncertainty??

[JB]

We still make Irish Golds for customer requests only ... we've a long history of building world class guitars and do our best to make sure every guitar that leaves our workshops is as good as it can be ... and we are not a "production line" company so I guess there are a lot of players out there who like our approach to guitar building and want us to make their Gold models for them ... I can't argue with that

As I said earlier, the Czech Golds are very good guitars, well made and we've had no complaints thus far and the company that builds them have a good track record in the guitar building world.

There are some very good guitar factories in Asia, Korea, Taiwan, China churning out reasonable to good sounding guitars for the money, this will always be the case .... and low cost guitars that have a decent sound will always sell.

Not everyone can afford or needs a "high-end" solid wood acoustic but for those that do, they want to buy a hand-made guitar trusting that it's made to the highest standards with a lot of attention involved in the building, that's our daily goal and passion when building our Avalon range.

In this day and age with a lot of guitar "factories" using computer guided / aided building there is still some (and I'm one) that trust in the luthier hand carving every strut from the bracing, ensuring it's the right weight for the soundboard or that every neck is hand-carved to the right "feel" ... that's what we do ... heck, we don't even own a CNC machine lol

Not meaning to sound overly emotional but our luthiers are extremely passionate about how our guitars are made, I've seen us run a guitar through the band-saw if it was deemed not good enough ... it gets cut in half and maybe used to show the insides of a guitar for shows etc

There's an old saying over here ... "Ya pays yer money and takes yer choice" ... sorta sums it up really

Hope this helps somewhat even if a bit long winded, but as you can see I'm passionate about guitars !

[Sam Price]

Amazing and absolutely inspiring post, JB, THANKS!!!

For some reason it fills me with joy that you lot don't own a CNC. My gosh- that Apple Avalon you had on Ebay ages ago, and the Eclipse....wow knowing this, it just astounding.

..... and I am getting a little taste of what you have written now as I'm thicknessing my beautiful walnut sides for my second guitar. As soon as I log off, I'm gonna switch on my hotpipe and try to bend 'em like Beckham.

Tough physical work- but this is what I do in my downtime after the kids go to bed. It's kinda addictive. You can even cope with two nostrils full of wood dust!

yes, and there will be a third...this time last year I had put an order in for Stewmac for some tonewood for my first, and she's sounding great.


I'm sure that my efforts would end up going through the Avalon bandsaw, if tested against their standards!!!!

[rcurry67]

JB, I sincerely appreciate you taking the time to share the info and your heart in the matter. I'll bet others will feel the same.

Does anyone out there have any pictures of some Czech-built Golds to look at?? The ONLY one I was able to see was an A100C in an eBay Store. I would love to see more...Anyone??

[Zen Sonic]

I prefer tuners with Satin finish. Looks less like Donald Trump's guitar this way.

[rcurry67]

Well....after hunting high and low for photos and information on the Czech-built Gold Series Avalons, I received my A100. Although it needs to open up a little, It's amazing! No disrespect meant for the team in NI, but you all truly selected an excellent guitar maker to partner with for the production of these guitars. In fact, after owning my A100 for a week, I ordered an S200C, which will arrive tomorrow! I know the team in NI may not be thrilled with the deviations of body shapes that that they are using for this series, but they look great!

[JB]

Glad to hear that well done sir !