My Artisan

[scot pearson]

Does anybody know this guitar? I bought it at Rockin Robin and would like to know the history is possible... any takers? how 'bout a good lie!

http://robinlovers.com/discus/messages/6/714.jpg

[Smitty]

Uh, I think it used to be mine and you should send it to me as soon as possible.


How was that for a good lie?

Smitty

[scot pearson]

what, no sob story to go with it.... you can do better ha!

[charles e. heard jr.]

noooo....them ain't no good.....howsabouts i do's ya a favor an' takes it off'n yer han's...mm?

[Frank Nail]

It looks like what I vaguely remember was called an Artisan when they first came out in about '84; maybe a proto-type. I had the pleasure of buying one of the four proto-types that originally were made in the SG style. the one I had was plain red and was hand-built by, I think, Dave; truly a work of conceptual art, with the sculpted top worked much more true to a hybrid of an SG and a Les Paul. The other 3,
I was told, were black, sunburst, and gold-top. I was also told at least one of them was got by Billy Gibbins. Unfortunately mine had a severe crack in the neck-body joint and I knew its playing life would be hindered and limited. To Bart's credit, I was informed of this upfront before buying. It was such a thing of beauty, though, that I couldn't resist purchasing it.
(I'd like to think my innane pestering about how having 24 frets on every guitar made in the world had something to do with the decision to put them on the SG/Les Paul hybrids. I'll never really know for sure, looking back at my history of hanging-out at the store when it was in west university place as a kid of 17, I was unknoledgeable and probably more annoying than I could have understood)

[BCRGreg]

DAMMIT, FRANK!!!!!

I just got that guitar out of my mind....

[Ken Jones]

I met Scot and saw this guitar back when these posts were new! Scot said he bought it from Bart at Rockin Robin. The body on this Artisan is thinner than a normal Artisan. It has a logo that did not appear on Robin guitars until the late 80's. All of the approximately 100 Artisans were made between 1984-95.

I talked to Dave Wintz and he said he vaguely remembered this guitar, but did not give me a lot of details. I assume it must of had some major issues because:

1. the back was planed down
2. the guitar was refinished
3. why would an Artisan still be a the factory and not have been sold?

Bart and Dave have told me that same story about the prototype Artisans. The actual sequence of events was:

1. Mike Stevens handmade the first prototype. It is still hanging up at Rockin Robin. It is wine red.
2. The Mike Stevens prototype was sent to Tokai. Tokai made four (goldtop, black, CSB, and one other color that neither Dave or Bart can remember) and shipped the guitars back to Houston.
3. Dave decided to stop using Tokai and had Chushin build the rest of the Artisans.

Perhaps this is your old guitar Frank. That might explain why the body was planed down to be thinner. If the guitar had a severe crack in the "neck-body" joint, it might make sense to remove the neck, make the body thinner, and re-finish the guitar.

Maybe?

[Ken Jones]

OK. After some investigatin, I found out the real story on this guitar.

This guitar is the very first Chushin-made Artisan (the one and only Chushin prototype). Chushin shipped the guitar to Robin without a logo or any finish for their inspection. It was approved and Chushin went into production on the Artisan model.

This unfinished guitar sat around the factory for a few years. A customer/friend of the company asked if he could buy the guitar. He also asked if they could make the body thinner. When they planed down the body, the planer blades hit a screw that had been embedded into the guitar (probably part of the production process to secure the neck). The guitar was outfitted with a very thin 1/8" mahogany back to cover this up. They then painted the guitar, added a current logo, and sent it off to final assembly.

The original owner must have sold/traded the guitar to Bart at Rockin Robin.

On a related note, all of the Tokai-made models were called "Soloists" and will have that name on the headstock.

[scot pearson]

Hey Guys,

Yep, what Ken said... one of a kind the hard way!

She's still purty!..... With new Texas BBQ's (nickle) she sounds dang good too!