Two guitars I will probably never play
 

Two guitar intrigue me and I will probably never play one? Blackbird El Capitan and the new full size Kevin Michael. I'm retired in a great small college town in Ohio. My only chance is one heck of a road trip! Their cost makes it very difficult to buy without it being in my hands.

A road trip for such guitars sure would be nice. You hinting for one? There's only one guy I can think of who could offer it (and I'm not referring to Michael Stone) ;). Having said this, the two guits you mention are high price...did the MacNichol road trips offer guitars of such value? I think that's a big, understandable obstacle.

Since I was interested in a Lucky 13 last year and have never been able to play one, I spoke directly with the owner (Joe) of Blackbird. They have a two-week trial period if you are prepared to cover shipping both ways. Fair warning though - he said that only about 1% of the guitars they send out for trial ever come back.

Tom;

If I remember correctly, Michael did a road trip for the expensive CF guitar from Germany.

Ah yes, I now remember, Evan. A Leviora, I believe. I think it's one thing for a builder to offer a road trip such as a number did channeled through MacNichol, and which Emerald is about to do on its own, but it's another for a retailer to offer independent of the builder. Other than Emerald, a generous try and return policy such as mentioned about Blackbird is likely as close as we'll get.

Michael Stone's idea regarding getting rare CF instruments into the hands of consumers is brilliant, in my opinion an idea so good every CF manufacturer should take note of. There should be a write off of every make and model, of which instruments are used solely for road trip purposes. The models could then be sold at steep discounts to consumers upon their return to the dealer, or returned models could be sold to dealers from manufacturers at similar discounts.

I don't think most are willing to purchase these CF guitars sight unseen or heard, especially factoring in their price points. The consumer is willing to pay the road trip fees to participate and can then order the model of choice new once a decision has been made.

Maybe there just isn't a strong enough market? Im just imagining the power of word of mouth when a guitar sitting at someones home not only wows the road trip participant, but also friends and family.

CF enthusiasts can then make informed buying decisions, those out of the loop can discover CF= more instruments sold?

Alastair too says he's only ever had 2 returned and, as World wide postage is included in the price you only need to factor in the return postage which would not be stupidly expensive when it comes to buying a $1500+ instrument. Especially the odds on you wanting to return it are statistically pretty small and most on here would say you'll almost certainly keep.

I bought mine from a UK dealer too far away for me to go and try it, I could have returned it and the cost of doing so wouldn't have been too silly but I knew from the first G chord that it was a keeper.

A quote from the Emerald website :-

It's a little different when $3000 is the price of admission. I am sure I would be happy with either guitar but not sure I "need" either. I would just like to try them to see if they are as good I I think they may be.

Yeah, I hadn't read your sig when I posted above, of course you know the quality of Alastair's guitars :)

If one is serious about buying a particular guitar then the cost of returning it is a fair price to pay on the off chance that it doesn't come up to expectations. If window shopping just to satisfy curiosity then that cost becomes significant (and it's probably a little unfair on the builder too).

You already have an enviable collection anyway, and retired life in a nice town sounds good to me. :)

If anyone is interested, I've ordered a Leviora from Thomas Strieker in Germany, and given that MacNichol has now closed, I'd be perfectly happy to have folks play it if I happen to be passing through your town (a bit of a long shot, true, but it just occurred to me).

I agree Steve. I'd love to experience these first hand. That said; I'm further east than you are. If I had the funds, a roading I would go. I don't, so unless Devine intervention blesses me in my purely selfish desires. It could be a while. :D