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FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
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Where is the head office of Gaskell Guitars located? Sydney, Australia.
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Do you sell outside of Australia? Yes. Gaskell guitars are available world wide. In addition to our workshop in Australia we have an office in San Diego, USA that services all of North America direct. European countries and other parts of the world have to order through any one of the music stores in Australia that sell Gaskell guitars or through Gaskell Guitars direct. It works out cheaper for European customers to do it this way than for us to sell through a European dealer. Our USA office does not sell to Europe. We have a South American office opening up in 2010.
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If a guitar or particular colour is out of stock, what is the waiting time to get one? We do 3 production runs per year. Pre-orders must be done in any one of these three runs. Depending on when you order, turnaround time is normally 3 to 4 months. Since the World Economic Downturn, turnaround times have been taking longer.
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Who should consider getting a Gaskell guitar? Beginners, intermediate players, semi-professionals and professionals can all use Gaskell guitars. Our production models are aimed for the beginner to semi-pro mainly, although pros can easily use these guitars for gigging, and recording too and usually do with some customization and with our Platinum Setup Service (see below). All Gaskell guitars are meant to be easily customizable. There is nothing to stop anyone from replacing the the pickups for something better, or changing switches, controls, tuners, etc if they want to upgrade electronics or hardware.
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Are Gaskell guitars "sold out of the box"? "Sold out of the box" means a guitar that has been mass produced in a factory very cheaply, thrown in the box and sent off as is, without being properly set up and then sold to you in that condition. The shops don't even bother to set them up as they are too cheap and there is no profit. These "out of the box" guitars are generally quite unplayable, although occasionally you can luck into a good one. They sell between $100 to $400. They are usually made from reconstituted sawdust, or glued-together timber off-cuts. They always have terrible, low-grade electronics, but sometimes have a nice finish to disguise how bad the guitar really is. Gaskell guitars are never "sold out of the box." No Gaskell guitar is made "cheaply." All Gaskell guitars are high quality, professionally made, properly set up instruments and come with Warranty.
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What is the Gaskell PLATINUM SETUP SERVICE? Am I able to get it? How? The difference between a $500 guitar and a $5000 guitar is how well it plays. How well a guitar plays, assuming it has been built properly, is determined by the set up. When we say a guitar is "set up" the guitar has been set up to be 100% playable and to a level that corresponds with the the price point (and user level) for that guitar. All our sub-$1000 guitars are fully set up to be as perfect as possible for a beginner, intermediate, and semi-pro guitarist. No guitar whether made in a factory or by hand has perfect playability until there is full fret work done over and beyond a standard set up. This does not matter whether it is a new $500 guitar or a new $5000 guitar or a new $50,000 guitar. For the professional left handed guitarist we offer you the Gaskell PLATINUM SETUP SERVICE on a new guitar. This is available from Gaskell Guitars direct only. The Platinum Setup Service is done in-house, by hand and is charged out at $250 per guitar. The Platinum Setup Service results in perfect frets, perfect action, and perfect, 100% playability. This is what you would expect of guitars three, four and five times the price of what you pay for your Gaskell. If you are a professional player purchasing a Gaskell guitar direct we would highly recommend you take the Platinum Setup Service. This is open to everyone, not just professionals. This in no way negates the standard setup done on every production Gaskell guitar. The PSS is available as an extra cost on all instruments but comes included in the price on the Gaskell HUNTSMAN and Gaskell Classic PRO. We understand that some professionals prefer their own technician work on their instruments and would not consider this service in advance.
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I see the Classic PRO is optioned with DiMarzio's or EMG's. Can I get a Classic PRO with Seymour Duncans or something else? We are an official OEM builder for DiMarzio and EMG. We do not have an arrangement with Seymour Duncan. We suggest you supply your own Seymour Duncan, or any other brand pickups you like for your Classic PRO order. This will reduce your costs, of course. Our two technicians here in Sydney have over 45 years experience between them. We can install anything. If we were to source and supply Seymour Duncan's we would be charged pretty much "mum's and dad's prices" so it is not worth it for us to supply these at this stage. Guitar parts bought in Australia are very expensive compared to other countries. We recommend you use ebay and then send us what you get.
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Are Gaskell guitars "clones" or knock-offs of other guitars? No. Although some of the Gaskell products are inspired by other guitar designs, no Gaskell guitar is a clone of another guitar. Each Gaskell guitar has been redesigned in Australia from a fresh perspective and have subtle or obvious variations from those they may look similar to. More obvious is the fact that Gaskell Guitars only makes left handed versions of guitars that aren't otherwise available left handed elsewhere. You can't clone something that doesn't exist!
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Is Gaskell Guitars breaking any Laws by making guitars that appear to look similar to some other right handed guitars? Can you copyright a car? If you could, there would be only one car manufacturer in the world that could make vehicles. The simple answer is: no. Some major guitar manufacturers, such as Fender and Gibson have patents on their headstock designs (recently done), and subsequently no Gaskell guitar has a headstock that violates any of those patents. Patents do not last forever. When they expire it does not remain illegal to copy or make a version of that which was patented. An example of this recently is the Floyd Rose tremolo™ patent which has expired. It is no longer illegal to copy a Floyd Rose style tremolo without license to Floyd Rose (nevertheless, we still continue to use only Licensed systems.) Eastwood Guitars and Italia Guitars are two examples of present-day guitar companies whose products are reproductions of 1950's, 60's and 70's vintage guitars that are no longer available today, and for which any patent has long expired.
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Where are Gaskell Guitars made? Gaskell's production guitars and basses are manufactured in our factory in China, and then finished off in either Australia or USA (depending on where they are destined after they leave the factory.) The factory we use is a state-of-the-art factory that makes guitars for several other internationally reputable brands as well. We have an OEM arrangement with them and the factory carries out all aspects of construction, technical, and quality control under the direct supervision and instructions from Kevin Gaskell who is the designer of all Gaskell guitars. Electronics and hardware are imported from Korea unless otherwise stated. Gaskell guitars and basses are not made "cheaply." Some Asian made instruments are purposefully made cheaply. They are junk. Those products have nothing to do with Gaskell guitars. Apples are not bananas!
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What electronics do Gaskell guitars come with? Most of our production guitars are fitted with Wilkinson pickups, a well-known UK brand. These are excellent sounding pickups for the price point of the guitars and many of our semi-pro customers have told us afterwards that they were expecting to have to replace the pickups but instead kept them due to the impressive output and sound. They won't hande stadium sized requirements but they are quite acceptable for pub gigs and smaller outdoor concerts, and 100% perfect for recording. Other pickups used in Gaskell guitars are specific Gaskell OEM pickups made in Korea. Our Custom left handed Explorer guitar, the Classic PRO, comes with either DiMarzios or EMG actives. This is specified by the customer in advance. The Classic PRO can also be fitted with other brands, if supplied by the customer in advance.
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Where do you get your woods from? Are they from sources that are renewable? Most of the tone woods used in Gaskell guitars come from Asia where the wood is grown in controlled plantation environments. This is a renewable source. Our mahogany for example is real Honduran mahogany - the same species that is native to Central America and the Caribbean but grown in plantations in Asia where the abuse that lead to native mahogany being banned for commercial use will not be repeated. Restrictions on mahogany grown in America have been in place since the late 20th Century. No one gets mahogany from Central America or the Caribbean today except for criminals and black marketeers. Asia is the largest exporter in the world of woods used for musical instruments.
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Why manufacture off shore? This question still gets asked from time to time, as if it really needs an answer! For those people who genuinely don't know or who never left the 20th Century, factories in China today are state-of-the-art, high-tech manufacturing marvels, utilizing the most newest, most advanced, manufacturing equipment and computer technology in the world! READ THAT LAST SENTENCE AGAIN. China has surpassed every other country for manufacturing excellence, where excellence is required, including Korea which up until the early 2000's manufactured over 80% of the world's new guitars. Today Chinese factories have no competition. A guitar brand can choose to have something made exceptionally well (costly) or exceptionally bad (cheaply) in China today. ALL production Gaskell guitars are made to the highest quality attainable for the intended price range. We do not make our products "cheaply" nor are we greedy like many USA guitar companies where profits are ridiculous, and service is mediocre. To make a Gaskell guitar in Australia to the same quality we achieve at our factory you would see a final price of around AU $3500 - $4000. If you want a "cheap" left handed guitar then you have come to the wrong place. We suggest you look around on ebay etc and get youself a dodgy, cheap POS, crappy Chinese guitar from somewhere else. And after that's fallen apart after a few weeks or months, contact us again for a REAL left handed guitar, decently priced, and that surpasses expectations!
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Are Gaskell guitars made on CNC machines? CNC = Computer Numerically Controlled. Partly, yes, wherever possible. However, all Gaskell guitars have been redesigned from scratch and unlike right handed mass-produced guitars, left handed guitars can only be CNC'd to a point. Factories that make instruments, whether they be in USA, Korea, Japan, or China, aren't particularly equipped to make left handed guitars. Right handed guitars can be entirely CNC'd. That's why in some cases right handed guitars can be made so cheaply and sell for ridiculously low prices. All done by computer! However, those cheap guitars will fall apart within a month or two and sound like toys with their low grade electronics. Our manufacturing costs are much much higher for this reason.
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How do I know if Gaskell guitars are any good? Gaskell Guitars began in 2006. Even though it is a young company, and still evolving, get on the Internet and read some reviews. When you become a customer we always ask for your review to help us and future customers to make an informed decision.
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Do you have a grudge against guitar companies that don't make or have stopped making left handed guitars? Absolutely not. We LOVE every guitar brand that stops making left handed guitars. For one thing, it tells you where they are at as far as their conviction for their products and service goes. Who wants to deal with a company that "bites the hand that feeds?" Any company that does that to you does not give a rats ass about you, your needs, or your dreams. Better to know WHO they are so you don't get put into the situation of being totally let down. At Gaskell Guitars we are keeping the torch burning for all left handed guitarists! FYI: These companies no longer make left handed guitars at all: Gibson, Paul Reed Smith, Rickenbacker, BC Rich. They have given up on you
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Why don’t you make a $200-300 guitar? We don’t make toys. Go ahead and buy a $200-$300 guitar from somewhere else (you can get them!) and contact us again in about 3-6 months once it's fallen apart on you, and if you haven’t given up playing guitar by then, we’ll give you a real guitar for a little more in cost - something worth more than what you will pay for it. With our costs, there is no way we could ever make a "$300 guitar." A donkey is not a horse.
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How come some Gaskell guitars come with hard shell cases and others only come with gig bags? Some of our guitars will fit regular, off-the-shelf hard shell cases and those that do we provide a gig bag for. Those that will never fit into any off-the-shelf cases, such as the Classic, Brumby, and Firestarter models, we provide hard shell cases. The case is just as important as the guitar. So we feel it is essential to have this aspect adequately covered.
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How come the prices of Gaskell guitars in the USA went up in August 2010? At the end of the Australian Financial Year in July 2010 we did an analysis of the business as applicable to Australia and Europe and after completing that Kevin went to the USA to do the same thing for the American market. Kevin did a first-hand, thorough investigation and analysis of general practices, costings and pricing in the USA as compared to practices, costings and pricing in Australia and several signinifant facts that were not known before came to light. Until now the USA pricing of Gaskell guitars had been based on the accepted minimal retail margins in use in Australia. The small margins in Australia are due to Australia having extremely high local costs and government taxes leaving very little room for Australian merchandisers to make a profit. Applying a foreign system to the USA market, which is actually very different, had resulted in Gaskell guitars always being underpriced in the USA. In order for us to continue to provide left handed guitarists in USA and Canada with left handed guitars and basses that you cannot get anywhere else, we needed to be adhering to the long established systems in place in USA to carry on successful business. Since the crash of the USA economy in 2008, prices in the USA for merchandise, services and consumables have risen significantly. What was discovered was that for the first time in history USA is actually now more expensive than Australia. The end result is that we were forced to put all our US prices up accordingly.
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Who is Kevin Gaskell? Born in New Zealand in 1968, and living in Australia since 1992, Kevin is a left handed guitarist and the designer of all Gaskell guitars. He built his first left handed electric guitar in 1992. All new designs come from Kevin. In addition to guitars, Kevin is also a Glamour Photographer. In addition to working with professional models, Kevin helps aspiring local models start or build up their modelling portfolios. You can see many of the models he has helped posing with Gaskell guitars on the product spec pages of the Gaskell Guitars website. Remember, you have to start somewhere, and everyone deserves a chance!
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Who is Peter Scott (Gaskell Guitars USA) Peter is an expatriot Australian who has been living in the USA for over 30 years. He was a former racing car driver and has quite a name in the racing industry. Peter is a left handed guitarist himself and looks after the USA office located in California, which services all of North America. In addition to his work for Gaskell Guitars, Peter frequently works in Hollywood, when needed, as an extra on many American TV shows.
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