# Brown Bear guitars...



## sulphur (Jun 2, 2011)

Has anyone had any experience with these guitars?

http://brownbearguitars.com/gallery/in-stock/

I was sent a link from an old friend (How so?) who picked up a Carbonita.
Pretty reasonable prices, for the specs offered.
He really loves his build.


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## Scotty (Jan 30, 2013)

Those prices seem quite reasonable when you compare this years prices at L&M. That red bound Tele with the bigsby looked sweet!!


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## sulphur (Jun 2, 2011)

Ya, nothing over two grand for aftermarket pups, some with roasted maple necks.

There's a few there that have me GASsing!


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## Ti-Ron (Mar 21, 2007)

Wow, he have some nice options!


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## sulphur (Jun 2, 2011)

Great options of both specs and models, Canadian built, what's not to like!


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## Budda (May 29, 2007)

I've never heard of this company before. Slamming CNC machines, to me, wasn't the best move in his bio .

I do like the look of his 1959 model.

It's not going to get PRS out of my hands any time soon however.


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## Hammertone (Feb 3, 2006)

There are a couple of his guitars in Toronto, hanging over at Cask on Queen/Coxwell, if anyone is interested in checking out his handiwork. They need just a bit of setting up, IMO, but certainly give a good sense of where he is at in his F-style endeavours. Try them out for yourself if you can.


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## EchoWD40 (Mar 16, 2007)

Budda said:


> I've never heard of this company before. Slamming CNC machines, to me, wasn't the best move in his bio .
> 
> I do like the look of his 1959 model.
> 
> It's not going to get PRS out of my hands any time soon however.


Him writing "No CNC machinery at Brown Bear Guitars shop" is pretty far from "slamming"


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## Budda (May 29, 2007)

It's the implication that having a CNC at your shop means you produce an inferior instrument. I understand that he doesn't want two to be alike.

I didn't realize it was these guitars that Cask carries - they are a nice shop. I never get a chance to pop over when I'm in town.


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## sulphur (Jun 2, 2011)

Budda said:


> It's the implication that having a CNC at your shop means you produce an inferior instrument. I understand that he doesn't want two to be alike.
> 
> I didn't realize it was these guitars that Cask carries - they are a nice shop. I never get a chance to pop over when I'm in town.


Wouldn't that be you implying that notion?

Nowhere does it state anything to that affect, only that they didn't have one.
If anything, it implies that they're handmade.
It states that there are no two alike because they're handmade.

Maybe he doesn't have one because he can't afford it, who knows.


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## EchoWD40 (Mar 16, 2007)

Budda said:


> It's the implication that having a CNC at your shop means you produce an inferior instrument. I understand that he doesn't want two to be alike.
> 
> I didn't realize it was these guitars that Cask carries - they are a nice shop. I never get a chance to pop over when I'm in town.


You're the one implying that, not him.
edit. got beat.


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## Budda (May 29, 2007)

I don't think I'm the only one making that inference. Again, I understand the point he is trying to make - but what does adding that prove? "Each guitar is built by hand to the customer's exact specifications" says the same thing. There's no need to point out that he doesn't use a CNC, because each customer will have different specifications. I just don't see the point. Being able to completely spec out your neck profile is a better sales pitch than pointing out that you don't have a CNC machine, IMO.

At the end of the day it doesn't matter either way. There's a Toronto luthier with a product that we can try out at our leisure in a store setting. That to me is pretty sweet.


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## big frank (Mar 5, 2006)

People, people, please! It's not that big a deal. If I was a talented luthier like Jesse apparently is; I'd want folks to know just how much hand-work went into their guitar. Nothing wrong with pointing out that no computer-programmed machines are involved. (not that there's anything wrong with spot-on accuracy)
I'm really impressed with these guitars. Right up my alley, so to speak. Plus, they don't cost a fortune. Listen to some of the sound clips. Beautiful sounds are being made with these Brown Bears.


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## Milkman (Feb 2, 2006)

Budda said:


> I don't think I'm the only one making that inference. Again, I understand the point he is trying to make - but what does adding that prove? "Each guitar is built by hand to the customer's exact specifications" says the same thing. There's no need to point out that he doesn't use a CNC, because each customer will have different specifications. I just don't see the point. Being able to completely spec out your neck profile is a better sales pitch than pointing out that you don't have a CNC machine, IMO.
> 
> At the end of the day it doesn't matter either way. There's a Toronto luthier with a product that we can try out at our leisure in a store setting. That to me is pretty sweet.


No CNC doesn't mean no quality or consistency in my opinion. Somewhere on one of Queen's early albums there was a note indicating that no synthisizers were used. I don't think they were saying there was anything wrong with synths, but rather that _they_​ still had the old world skills to do the work wih their talent as opposed to technology.


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## Scotty (Jan 30, 2013)

Milkman said:


> No CNC doesn't mean no quality or consistency in my opinion.
> I don't think they are _they_​ still had the old world skills to do the work with their talent as opposed to technology.


I agree that CNC does not automatically mean quality and yes, consistency can be achieved by older methods (fixtures, templates, duplicators etc)

I think that its more what you are saying at the end, where they are presenting their skills by their statement. To a lot of people, seeing another persons high level of skills is seen in a very admirable, almost revered light, even romanticized because that persons skills seem so far from their own.

I think the "no CNC" statement plays on that as a marketing technique. Nothing wrong with that or to be proud of your skills. Its all good (If the product matches of course)


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## Bastille day (Mar 2, 2014)

Budda said:


> I've never heard of this company before. Slamming CNC machines, to me, wasn't the best move in his bio .
> 
> I do like the look of his 1959 model.
> 
> It's not going to get PRS out of my hands any time soon however.


I use to build reproduction furniture and cnc'd parts are far superior.

Especially necks although a decent body can be made by hand if you have a good template, a steady hand at the band saw and an even better template for the final go around with a straight router bit with bearing.


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## cohenj (Feb 7, 2006)

sulphur said:


> Has anyone had any experience with these guitars?
> 
> http://brownbearguitars.com/gallery/in-stock/
> 
> ...


I own two Brown Bear Guitars telecaster style instruments. One is a heavy swamp ash with a tung oil finish, flame maple neck with bird's eye maple finger board, DiMarzio AreaT pickups and 4-way switch wiring, a Gotoh six saddle bridge and locking Schaler tuners.. The other is loosely based on the Fender James Burton model, light ash body in pearl white, flame maple neck and fingerboard, Lace Sensor Plus set wired with a Fender S1 switch, a hipshot bridge and Grover locking tuner, all in Gold.. The stand-out feature on both are the necks, which are chunky and feel just perfect. I will probably be having a third one built.

Jesse Brown is a young guy with a very old-school approach to building, hence his CNC machine comment. I don't think that it's about disliking the work that comes from CNC machines. I think it's about old-school craftsmanship. He builds everything to my exact specifications and stands by his work. He is very reasonably priced now, but you can bet that his instruments will be more more expensive in the future. I would place them up there with anything that the Fender Custom Shop has to offer. Or put differently, I can afford to buy whatever guitar I like (I'm an older dude), but I'm playing Brown Bear guitars exclusively because they're that good. Nuff Said?

Jeff


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## sulphur (Jun 2, 2011)

Thanks for the input Jeff!


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## Dorian2 (Jun 9, 2015)

Just my 2 cents on the CNC thing. Some people actually prefer the notion of a hand crafted guitar as opposed to CNC machining. I certainly don't take that as a slam against CNC though. More of a selling point to my way of thinking.


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## LPhilippe (Jan 6, 2016)

Pretty nice guitars!

Just to add my 2 cents; 
You can make really good quality guitars with CNC machines or without them. But you can also make awful guitars with CNC machines like you can do by using hand tools. Just keep in mind what's make a instrument great is not only the tools you're using but the way you're using them. You can choose the CNC way to be more effective and flexible or only used hand tools to stay more "tune" with the work. Both ways produce really great instruments.


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## cheezyridr (Jun 8, 2009)

hard to tell from the pics, but the heel on the lp looks worse than the real thing


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## Cups (Jan 5, 2010)

Nice. Very appealing.


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## rockinbluesfan (Mar 3, 2008)

Make sure it's exactly what you want cuz you will take a HUGE hit to try and sell it!


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## Nishplayer (Nov 1, 2018)

Response to an old thread....I own two Brown Bear Guitars....Jesse is one of the most talented luthiers around....and his guitars speak for themselves:


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## fmjohns (Aug 21, 2020)

Ditto. I own this beauty and can’t say enough good things about Jesse’s work. He was most excellent to work with and I’d buy another without hesitation. Specs were exactly what I asked for and quality is top notch. 











Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


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## KurtNewman12 (Dec 7, 2019)

I own a brown bear tele style guitar and it is extremely good... much much better than many F style boutique builders, up there with Alastair Miller. And Jesse is a wonderful guy.


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