Too Much Amazing Detail? Of Course they WENT OUT OF BUSINESS - Organic Guitars 'Classic' Teardown

[@Alex-ce1ol]

I was the owner of that very guitar from 2020 to July 2023, when it was sold on consignment via a well known repairer. Amazing and awesome to see it on your channel! The electrics were modified while I had it, with the push/pull pots being added for some more tonal options. Beautiful guitar and sounded beastly, but I just never bonded with it due to the PRS scale length and low fretwire. It's 25.5" and Jescar 57110 SS all the way for me

[@hempsellastro]

I have one of these which I bought new. I think you missed the point that they are specially made for the customer. The pick ups, the hardware, the controls, and the neck shape are all decided by the customer. Mine has Lollar Firebirds, a wraparound bridge and simple controls (all gold plated). The neck was measured from my Gibson Firebird and then slightly narrowed. So, the neck is what the customer asked for. You also get to pick the book matched front from the wide variety of wood in the store. Mine looks very different from this example and I suspect no two tops are the same. The are supplied with no finish, just bare wood, but with a recommendation to oil the body. So that oil and polish would have been done by the customer, not Organic They are just gorgeous to own and play, especially if you are the first customer as it is as close to your personal ideal guitar as you can get in the real world.

[@normbarrows]

I once made a rig that tested 1" vs 13" of string past the bridge - no major difference in tone. Tension is a function of string gauge, scale length, and tuning pitch (according to the online tension calculators). String length past the bridge or nut has no effect - other than the expected harp-like overtones of longer strings past the nut or bridge. Longer strings past the nut or bridge gives more total string length for stretching, which can make extreme bends a bit easier (non-locking bridges and nuts only).

[@Cpmnk]

You deserve some time off. You've given us so much inspiration and great content over the years

[@eklypse69]

I have been playing for decades, and I can testify that compound radiuses are absolutely the most comfortable guitars to play. When I build a guitar that I'm going to keep, I make it a compound radius. The steeper curve at the nut makes cowboy chords a lot more comfortable, but the flatter radius up high makes soloing and bending a lot faster & smoother.

[@T0tenkampf]

Absolutely agree, I suspect I will feel the same about multiscale eventually. I won't make a guitar that isn't compounded now.

[@sheumack]

Geometry is on your side. Strings spread from the nut to the bridge, which means it doesn't follow the shape of a cylinder... but a cone. And a cone has the tighter radius closer to the point, wider at the base. ie: Compound radius is the natural shape of the strings. I have three compound radius guitars - two 12-16 and one 10-14. Love them to death.

[@timothycormier3494]

I just got my hands on a bunch of bamboo stair treads. 5/4” thick and I want to make a guitar out of it.

[@scottishgentlemen6038]

Ben! The ferrule placement changes the bending feel of the string. It doesn't change the tension! If you increase the tension on a string, the pitch goes up.

[@owenmayes2128]

Fretboard radius, everyone has their own preference: I like 10"-14", but 9 1/2"-10" all the way along works fine for me too. Surely you buy or make whatever you prefer, it's your guitar.

[@guitfidle]

ooooooo!! That is lovely! My Warwick Streamer Pro M (German made '99) has the body hugging solid figured maple contoured shape like that. 3 piece laminated jatoba neck with a nice chunky volute, Also with an oil finish. Recessed knobs, recessed jack, recessed bridge, inlaid tailpiece. It does have a recessed back plate with a foil back and a label inside. The backplate and truss rod cover are clip fit no tool required. Very similar build. I absolutely love it! BTW I have an '87 Gibson Bass IV with a failed barrel jack. My '74 LP Special has the original standard style jack still going strong.

[@KruszO]

I worked on a Skindred music video years ago. We ended up giving Benji a lift back to his hotel near the aiport in an old austin metro or similar, but stopped on the way for him to pick up fish and chips for his dinner! Was a cool guy

[@MercutioUK2006]

Very close to me in Castor, near Peterborough and I had the pleasure of playing a few of their instruments - enjoyed them immensely. I have no idea if they are still extant...I do recall them making a model for Geoff Whitehorn, I do know one owner, I might have to hit him up to see what the precise story is. As far as the radius - whilst understanding the considerations that might lead one to that "ideal" I generally prefer a single, flatter, radius for the entire neck but a wider than average nut - 43 or 44mm perhaps.

[@pralt1]

My son plays baseball and Skindred's gimme that boom was his walk up song.

[@oldmantwofour5561]

I ABSOLUTELY would be interested in the string tension experiment.

[@empiresSR]

22:53 I have a compound radius in the Tele I built and I think it’s great. I wouldn’t necessarily say it’s a “multi-tool” though, in fact I built it to play one very specific style of music. I just think as a player that having more of a radius by the nut is more comfortable for what tends to be played in that area.

[@AndrewKellyLuthier]

Organic inspired my own designs, I've wanted one for many years. As for the commentary on what it means to be handmade, I'm inclined to agree that the guitar is entirely handmade if you expand your perspective to include factors beyond the instrument itself. Someone had to 3D model the guitar by hand, the computer can't do that for you. Someone had to program the CNC. While the computer can aid that process, a real person still has to get hands on with it. The CNC did the majority of the carving on the guitar, but a person had to calibrate the CNC and position the blank in the machine. A person had to glue it up, install the hardware and frets, put the inlays on the fretboard, and set up the instrument so that it plays how it was designed to play. If that's not still handmade, then we need to rethink the use of planers, jointers, thicknessing sanders, bandsaws, and even power drills. If hands were integral to making every process happen, I'm of the opinion that the instrument is handmade.

[@ryanbreslin5981]

fair points, I don't feel strongly about gatekeeping the term 'handmade', however by those parameters every guitar made in china would also be considered handmade.

[@AndrewKellyLuthier]

@@ryanbreslin5981 Or maybe we draw the distinction at assembly lines. One guy that's good at designing and building an entire guitar could claim that his guitars are handmade. Could the guy at the PRS SE factory who just preps a body for paint say that he builds guitars by hand? I think maybe it involves a level of guitar-building-expertise by everyone who has a hand in building an instrument. There's obviously a massive gray area there, but I'd like to think that two guys in a garage who can both build guitars from scratch are crafting handmade instruments, whereas the assembly line is a group of people in which none have that ability and the sheer scale of manufacturing kind of precludes the handmade moniker. Maybe I'm gatekeeping, I'm honestly not sure.

[@T0tenkampf]

As an engineering designer who came up from a trade, I can't agree the engineering and CAD work contributes to being handmade. You have to program robots to build a thing as well. Hand finished is a term that I use. maybe even hand fitted.

[@savethedandelions]

I saw Skindred open for Disturbed over a decade ago in halifax, ns. They were the highlight of the show!

[@jellybingus416]

That might be the prettiest guitar I've ever seen. It's so simple but so beautiful.

[@timamos2360]

Played one of these at music expo(?) 20 years ago. Only thing I've ever played with a tunomatic that I've ever enjoyed playing and was obsessed ever since. Sadly never had enough burning a hole in my pocket to buy one!

[@jarrahoyen148]

i'm in the middle of doing my first guitar which is why i'm watching a lot of your vids. i'm making a custom bass and this has a lot of the ideas i'm thinking about. so this is perfect for my project.

[@mattf9096]

Glad to hear him plug Skindred! I've been a fan for years. I first heard Benji on the first Soulfly album and then got into Skindred and Dub War after that.

[@gerrykavanagh]

I have one guitar with radius that varies from 9.5" to 14", one with fixed radius of 9.5" and one with fixed radius of 12". The 9.5" one needs slightly higher action so bends don't choke. The 12" one plays great all over the and the compound radium guitar also plays great across the neck. However, as someone that does their own set-ups, it is a *lot* more hassle to set up. The radius at the bridge needs to be even flatter than the end of the nexk to achieve the necessary conical string profile. Same with the frets when being leveled. Honestly, not sure it delivers enough functionality to make it worthwhile.

[@JohnCarter-vo8ux]

Skindred is so much fun live! They did a festival here in Philadelphia a while back and I swear, just Benji's sunglasses budget is crazy! 🤣❤️

[@Shaqsonville]

When I was making cigar box guitars, I'd always take a forstner bit to the headstock to help recess the tuners. It was a cheat so I didn't have to thin out the headstock for the tuners to fit. Saved so much time and effort. Also looked really good

[@normbarrows]

Countersinking the tuners reduces the amount of usable tuning peg below the string hole. This may be an issue for non-locking tuners that require more winds around the peg, depending on the depth of the countersink.

[@Shaqsonville]

@@normbarrows nah, these were fine. On a headstock that was 3/4 inch thick, only about an 8th or so was taken out. Not a lot but enough

[@The7Son0fA7Son]

I have an 83 Kramer with a barrel jack and it’s still fine. No idea what the complaint is.

[@T0tenkampf]

same, I have had the other type break off prongs after a while unless its the stereo version.

[@MrGul]

My personal experience with barrel jacks: 25 years old Ibanez 540S with a barrel jack positioned sideways on the body of the guitar - I've had to replace that five or six times by now. 30 years old Ibanez RG550 with regular-positioned barrel jack - still has the original jack (fully functional). Both guitars have been played almost daily (I'm a guitar teacher, so I do play a lot) with constant plugging in and unplugging of both guitars.

[@scottakam]

Nice looking guitar. I like recessed items except when you start recessing things with mounting nuts. Makes maintenance more difficult and the likelihood of scratching the hell out of your guitar much higher.

[@Thornbeard]

Personally, I love a compound 12-16 radius fretboard. I think Jackson nailed it with that design and honestly it works great for a ton of rock/metal players.

[@T0tenkampf]

I thought so too until I played high end Ibanez with more of a 20" radius lol...when will it end?

[@scottmartinezguitarandbass]

I don't think I've ever played a compound radius, and I'm not good enough to know any different. I DO know that I'm not unhappy with a single radius fretboard.

[@ryanferris7841]

It has that sound that all those types of guitars have!! It’s not for me however it’s a well made lovely thing, give me an old beat up strat any day!!

[@CAR3Y666]

Very very similar body to my old Warwick Streamer custom shop bass

[@theguitarforumdotnet]

Wow, I just took a quick look on Reverb, and I couldn't find a single Organic guitar for sale. That just makes me want one even more!

[@BrynBardsley]

That instrument is a work of art. Keep up the good work on highlighting the unique/ 'interesting' ideas and stunning craftsmanship. I'm off to buy some tickets for the draw.

[@chadwickhurlburt6529]

I'm happy with any radius as long as it plays really good. Although, my favorite guitars have a 14" radius. My next favorites are 9.8" and 17", end to end. I own a vintage Mustang with a 7.5" and some strats and teles with a 9.5" radius. I'm okay with the 9.5" radius. The 7.5 on the vintage Mustang is "eh". Although, I didn't purchase it to play it. I bought that one as an investment.

[@DanielLorey]

The shape reminds me of the JS Ibanez. That grain finish isn’t my cup of tea but I can appreciate how clean it looks.

[@barny6395]

This has been one of the best videos in a long time, really prefer this style for the teardowns. In regards to radius, I do not like 10"-14" or any compound radius personally, I understand what they are for but I prefer a single radius, anything between 7.25" and 12" is good for me.

[@dustydarkhorse]

I've got an unusual experience with Skindred this crowd might find interesting. Back around the time Babylon came out I was in highschool. The band came to town for a concert but before that, lead singer Benji Webb came to a now defunct record/book store Hastings and did an acoustic set with all of us kids sitting around him on the carpet. I'll never forget that experience, this big rockstar just kind of hanging out and playing for a bunch of kids. Awesome time

[@Slikx666]

That is one of those guitars that I've never looked at because I know I'll never afford it. It's beautiful and I love all the recessed bits. It so out of my league! 🥴👍

[@dakaraius]

I've just made a guitar with that through stringing and a recessed TOM. Much nicer than a standard TOM height (In my opinion)

[@T0tenkampf]

I have liked the idea since I saw Alembic do it, I dont care for a drastic neck to body offset to make TOM work.

[@ghosthawk65]

Body contours remind me of Warwick and Spector basses, too.

[@silentferret1049]

3rd comment I know its spammy but, You would use a magnet to lift it off. One with a soft pad between that would be a stronger magnet than what was used. One of the things people don't know with magnetic stuff like that. There is also magnetic pick up tools where the magnet can move away from the pickup surface to allow it to come free so you don't have to pry the item off which could damage it. Odd that is still a common forget with how much magnets are in daily life. Even if you know about it you can still forget that you have something like that and can use it.

[@bigkahuna100]

That guitar is a unique work of art! If there are people that haven't checked out or subbed to Sweet T Guitars, I highly recommend doing so!!! His guitars are even more unique and incredibly high-quality works of art!

[@danrao3707]

Amazing craftsmanship. Love the belly carve and matching radius top. Personally I dislike push/pull pots and coil taps. I’d rather push/push pots with a coil split. But that just my taste. Enjoyed the teardown style video. Keep them coming!

[@joanarling]

I have mostly heard the terms split/tap being used for the same thing. Could you please enlighten me as to the difference?

[@RM-eo4iz]

Does it make sense for the string ferrules to protrude above the surface? Otherwise perhaps the string would cut into the wood at the point of contact, maybee, perhaps??

[@engtech_1716]

There are plenty commercially available string tension gauges on the market. Some specifically designed for guitar strings. I would love to see a test comparison for tension and a spectrum analysis for tone effect.

[@T0tenkampf]

I would too!

[@scottishgentlemen6038]

The placement of the ferrules changes the bending feel of the string. It has no effect on the tension.

[@neilduty8448]

Hi Ben I've never heard of them it's a thing of true beauty and I want it . What craftsmanship

[@joanarling]

Having played Spanish guitars (among other types) for many years, I'd be happy with a mile-long radius :) But I don't think that's for everyone.

[@nickkowal6537]

Look at bike wheel spoke tensiometers. See what they offer for tension testing

[@thatgamingspud]

I think the economics of the time, and the timing of them going into business could have been more of a factor. In 2009, that was a year after the financial crash in the US, and then 2000 pounds would be roughly $3200, which at the time was PRS custom 22/24 prices.. If anyone was in the market for a custom or highly detailed guitar, I doubt Organic Guitars was on anyone's mind. On the custom work and details, should they have charged more? Perhaps. But I think the killer comes down to the timing, and how fickle the guitar market was/is/can be, them going all in on marketing without being really established.

[@cheapskate8656]

Beautiful guitar. Everything is recessed, a sign of quality.

[@activese]

Such a beautiful guitar, the only thing, 08:20, that the 1st string, high e spacing, according to the fretboard seems off, to close to the edge while the 6th, low E, seems ok, maybe just the nut slightly shifted off position. Still gorgeous. Cheers.

[@brownsworthy7323]

Absolutely beautiful guitar, I remember an advertisement in a magazine, for Organic, that truly captivated me with how beautiful and shapely the guitar was and thought I'd never be able to afford that. Grabbed a couple of tickets so fingers crossed!

[@PAINFOOL13]

Love all the sweet carving . Thanks Ben 👍🏻🌞

[@courier11sec]

This is a phenomenally beautiful instrument.

[@jamesonpace726]

Man that's gorgeous....

[@jrgarciaole]

"Tummy cut? What would you even call that?" Gut cut. Gotta go with gut cut.

[@DavidPiniella]

That guitar is beautiful and the work on it is top notch. I love the name and logo. That back carve-out is great. I even like the Vs that point to each other -- they give it a sort of visual sense of balance IMO.

[@forrestcrabbe]

That's a very nice guitar with some real neat aspects. I especially like the truss rod cover and the recessed tuners, knobs and such 🤘y'all have a badass day🤘🍻🤘

[@andresilva8444]

I saw a Standard model in a shop in Denmark Street once. Really eye catcher. The body and neck matched so well I struggled to find the joint. Also, I like their Mono model. Has a bridge like pre factory PRSs.

[@joshuacondon1]

My strat has a 7.25 to a 9.5 compound radius fretboard and I love it! But I don’t absolutely need a compound radius on my other guitars, it’s not really a selling point for the instrument in my opinion

[@shanethackeray1988]

That is one “ awesome guitar”, reminds me of an Australian Luthiers build ( Crosley Guitars ). Body shape and the way the neck fits and the head stock are so similar. That body carve is amazing I’d love one in my collection.

[@theMisadventuresofaLittleWolf]

That is a work of art.

[@chriscuthbertson]

It's like a Warwick guitar..... I love Warwick basses so i love this.

[@stu_y]

I have a compound 10 to 14 (or maybe 16?) inch radius on one guitar and there's something about the neck that isn't quite as comfortable compared to my other guitars (9", 12" and 16"ish). The neck is far better constructed too; I could never put my finger on it but perhaps it is the compound radius?

[@joda4063]

This has a lot in common with the Ibanez AFD 40 and 45 that was released in 1988. Although those Artfields were bolt on (and 30 frets), the body shape, curving and recesses are quite similar in my opinion.

[@picksalot1]

Gorgeous guitar, and if CNC made the low price possible, that is some awesome programming! I'd like to see a video on string tension, the difference of string length vs scale length, and the effect on tone. It seems to me that Short-Scale Bass Guitar Builders are not taking advantage of using Long String Lengths, and have instead opted for thicker string gauges, which produce compromised tonal results. A smart Guitar Builder/Designer would utilize the existing body length to optimize String Length while maintaining the best/comfortable playing Scale Length. That would be an interesting build. I've seen Piano Builders refer to the tuned string section that exceeds the speaking length, as the "duplex octave." Probably not practical for the guitar, but interesting none the less. 😉

[@tedtolentino9647]

I am looking forward to your doing this sort of thing to a Yamaha Revstar II

[@darrkstarg]

I LOVE compound radius fretboards, but I prefer 12 to 16 inch. Locking tuners are the only tuners

[@MrDCMo]

Instead of poking at it, you can use a more powerful magnet to pull of that truss rod plate.

[@danmarshall3089]

tht one should be in the musiem and in a collection of one hit wonders would be a good collection to have I'm sure

[@DaddyStoat]

8lbs is light if you're a bass player. 😄 There's a lot of bass influence there - the curved body is very Spector, and the outline looks a lot like an old Tobias.

[@RhysP65]

And the spec. on the inside of the control cavity cover is a Wal thing.

[@JosephCarven]

Gorgeous guitar! Feels like I could spent € 2.5-3k (if I had such amount to spent) on one of these guitars instead of analog polyphonic synth. I doubt I would, but it feels like I could. Not an easy choice, I glad I don't have to make one. Regarding the neck radius I personally prefer flat neck as on bronze series BCRich Warlock instead of (unknown) radius of Aerodyne Strat by Fender Japan.

[@wertawonka]

What a beauty. What a sound

[@yfz450rider39]

A gut cut!! Such a beauty of a guitar!

[@rakentrail]

Hand made? Tough one. I get a lot of "home built" guitars in the shop to get playing correctly. When you buy a painted body, licensed neck & all the bits, pickups and parts are you "building" or merely assembling?

[@T0tenkampf]

I appreciate the smooth rounds ever since I bought an Ibanez Prestige S series. Always ordered that on my Carvin models that weren't super pointy. To me, the flat slab strats just look like inexpensive butcher blocks.

[@jeroen914]

Ned Steinberger came up with the curved body design for Stuart Spector in the mid or late seventies Spector basses have been like that ever since (except for some of the cheaper versions) I think in the late eighties / early nineties they also did a guitar like that for a short period

[@carwynvan]

It looks smooth like a pebble! I really hope I have the lucky ticket

[@kimballormsby9908]

I prefer a compound radius. My favorite guitar has a 12"-16" radius.

[@oogkauwgum5123]

What a gorgeous guitar that!

[@danielegger6460]

Putting the details of the guitar on the inside of the cavity plate is a brilliant idea and somehow I doubt this adds a ton of cost -- if any at all, especially when compared to the "usual" custom shop spiel (small volume custom binder, sometimes leather with embossing and a certificate printed on expensive paper) this sounds like a huge costsaving method instead...

[@UtoyOnWheels]

oh my god! the attention to detail!

[@kevinwilliams4899]

As someone that cant play! just love the insane skills from Ben & the Crew. That sounded good.

[@peejay6930]

"As someone that cant play!" I'm sure you could :o)

[@kevinwilliams4899]

@@peejay6930 I've tried, So embarassingly dominant R/Handed I cant do anything right with the left hand. I am now 63 so I don't think My brain can work it out anymore.

[@peejay6930]

@@kevinwilliams4899 you should try an electric guitar with an open tuning and a slide, you'll pick up a few "open, fith fret, seventh fret" ditties in a day or two, it will be fun and the more comfortable you get the more you will be able to play🙂

[@fmh357]

I'm sorry life seems to have whacked you in the nads, but on the positive side I do love your content. Fret-board radius is a very subjective matter. If it were me I'd want to know what genre of music my customers play and build their preferred contour on whichever style guitar build. Again, love your content. Thanks.

[@ChrisHopkinsBass]

I’ll buy a ticket if Ben does the Newport Helicopter

[@Fliegenpilzkonsument]

Happy volute... Thanks, Ben. Now I will never be able to not see faces in the back of a guitar's headstock ever again xD

[@olsonspeed]

Smooth and curvy, a beautiful instrument

[@rubysoffner4557]

I totally forgot about Organic guitars, I used to really want one. Yeah, i think with all the attention to detail they just priced themselves out of the market

[@andreb1605]

What to call it? Obviously, there's the belly cut. The other one could be called the (Beer gut cup).

[@e.scottdaugherty8291]

It looks slick [texture wise] or liquid organic thingies.

[@chuckyb_]

6:49 Jokes on you mate, I was already looking at the recessed tuner washers XD

[@teflon1978]

The body contours look kinda like Spector NS basses

[@cbalyn]

Stuart Spector has been building his guitars and bases with curved bodies since the mid-1970s

[@hogthrob]

According to Companies House, Organic Guitars Ltd. was dissolved in July 2011.

[@emersonvella]

This is basically a guitar version of a Spector (which Warwick also copied). Its essentially a Ned Steinberger design (Spector NS2, etc.) with some clever changes. The body curve? Thats lovingly called a Spector Carve. While Spector basses have done well over the decades, their own guitars didn't, and were only produced for a while.

[@sporadicamnesic]

Wondered what happened to the tear down videos. Also noticed the livestreams and WONTB vids have also stopped. Is Josh still around?

[@PaulCooksStuff]

WOTB stopped when Ben realised it was taking the vid editors several days of effort to put together, yet was the lowest viewed series. It didn't make economic sense. Combined with feeling cheeky that students paid for tuition, but Crimson were eating up a chunk of tuition with yt interview vids. Josh went part time after the commute got too much for him.

[@pauldowie1399]

Seriously gorgeous instrument, excellent tear down. I want this in my life... off to the draw site we go

[@SweetTGuitars]

Looks like a BC Guitar or even a Sweet T. I carve my neck heels like that and I've seen you do it as well. Very nice man. I love Padauk and the curves on that guitar are beautiful. I love the finish. It looks hand built even though you've told us it's a CNC guitar. I think a compound radius is a nice touch for some players. I like the fact that the fretboard flattens out a little as you go up the neck. I think I would generally prefer a compound radius on a tremolo guitar however. I'm not sure I would personally want a compound radius on a TOM bridge guitar? ✌️🤍

[@lenwhatever4187]

I would guess the price point has a lot to do with PRS guitars. Somewhere in with the S2? My conversion skills from UK to USD to CAD is not great :P However, I do see a lot of ideas that seem to be PRS-ish. Of course, at the time, PRS was still doing a lot of try this and that as well. The SE line may well be part of what killed this company though. That is not to say this is less or equal to a PRS, I think they were at the time making sure they compared favourably to other production guitars.

[@alexcorona]

Peavey has been using CNC machines to make guitars since 1979

[@Jah_Rastafari_ORIG]

Also, never realized you guys were in the Dorset area. You should see if you can do some sort of guest spot on that new Death in Paradise spin-off... You could play Humphrey's luthier...(who tries to murder him, fr'instance...)