Musicians Institute..

[Hetfield]

OK guys me and my friend are going to enroll in this college...

will this help us get a job at a jackson factory..
we are going to take the custom guitar building class and get certified,

if so how much do these guys get paid.??
anyone know..
maby an estimate??

[Lev]

Re: Musicians Institute..

It would help but you'd most likely need a few years experience in guitar building outside of school before Jackson would take you.. you should e-mail the people there, no one here would really know, besides maybe Black Mariah and Kevin Easton.

[rodrigo_echeverri]

Re: Musicians Institute..

how long does that program take?... [img]graemlins/scratchhead.gif[/img]

[AlexL]

Re: Musicians Institute..

I doubt it will help you get a job in the Jackson factory. If it does help, you won't be building Rhoads your first week, I promise.

I don't think a starting position is going to make that much money at that sort of thing. Low 20's?

It's a tough biz that doesn't pay much. Try computer programming.


- Eric

[Hetfield]

Re: Musicians Institute..

i've heard it was the lower 20's but thats still ok///

i have built some bolt ons .....mabs i can post pics...

oh yeah its a 1-2 yr course

[Ace]

Re: Musicians Institute..

Did you build bolt-ons from parts or from scratch? I have a book here called Build Your Own Electric Gutiar, or something like that, it's in the bathroom and my friend is in the shower. Building guitars from scratch, like actual WOOD is real tough work, I've thought about doing it someday, but I am nowhere near the skill level I need to be at. While it is correct that you will not walk on to a job at Jackson right out of school, the guys there that build guitars DO start someplace, and I can't imagine that MI is a BAD place to start. I've purposely avoided the place as a guitar school, because I know too many people who've gone there, and I can usually pick out an MI musician in a heartbeat because they all sound damn near the same. Very technically proficient, and usually very cold and sort of burned out on playing. Here is a link to a luthier supply store if you want to practice building guitars. You may notice quickly that it is NOT ALWAYS CHEAPER to build your own guitar. I guess you would technically be buying a "made in USA" guitar, but whatever that is owrth is up to you!!

Luthier's Mercantile International

[rodrigo_echeverri]

Re: Musicians Institute..

how difficult is it to be admitted to MI?...

[Ace]

Re: Musicians Institute..

Which part? The guitar school you have to be able to display a certain level of proficiency, but from what I hear it's not very high at all. They WANT you to go to school there so that you pay them money, so it is in their best interest not to turn too many people away.

[ May 06, 2003, 11:26 PM: Message edited by: Ace ]

[DamnationAngel]

Re: Musicians Institute..

MI is a joke!! [img]graemlins/brow.gif[/img]
I went there back in "87" and the only cool thing about it was the one on one lessons with Paul Gilbert and Frank Gambale!!
If you consider being a Studio/Session Guitarist who must master all styles of Music, go ahead.....but if you don't.....save your $10,000 buy some Jacksons and work on your "own" style!!
Besides, livin in Hollywood was an experience i'll never forget!!! [img]images/icons/frown.gif[/img] Not everyones cup of tea!! [img]graemlins/refuse.gif[/img]

[syrinx]

Re: Musicians Institute..

Originally posted by DamnationAngel:
MI is a joke!! [img]graemlins/brow.gif[/img]
I went there back in "87" and the only cool thing about it was the one on one lessons with Paul Gilbert and Frank Gambale!!
If you consider being a Studio/Session Guitarist who must master all styles of Music, go ahead.....but if you don't.....save your $10,000 buy some Jacksons and work on your "own" style!!
Besides, livin in Hollywood was an experience i'll never forget!!! [img]images/icons/frown.gif[/img] Not everyones cup of tea!! [img]graemlins/refuse.gif[/img]

<font size="2" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">I know what you're saying, but they probably don't have the choice of $10K for MI or $10K for Jacksons. More likely
it's a matter of talking their folks into spending the money on MI instead of University of Michigan, or whatever state
they're in. That being the case, it's worth going, but bear in mind it won't make you godly if you don't already have a knack, and in the band scene there an MI degree is more of a hindrance than an
aid to getting in a band. Most popular rock bands, you'll notice, write and play at a skill level that takes 6 to 12 months for a talented and motivated student to reach - especially with all the drop tunings that make your EAD a root/5/octave power chord for index finger power chord riff-o-mania! Lots of those guys are intimidated by someone who
understands some theory and knows a few scales.

AS for guitar building at MI, a new grad
would probably have a somewhat hard time
getting a job with Jackson or any other
USA maker, since there are people who've been working at it for years still on those waiting lists. If you did get a job with Fender, Gibson or Jackson, it would probably be something you'd consider menial at first, til you established yourself. It looks like Fender may consolidate Jackson Ontario into Fender's Corona plant, so there'll
probably be guys laid off there that'd be ahead of you to get back in. DFW employees maybe too, if any wanted to move to LA.

Most likely the easiest job you'd find on getting out would be as a setup/repair tech for a retail music store. Not that glamorous or highly paid, but if you love
the work there it is. There are a lot of
working guitar techs out there who aren't
that good, so if you ARE good you can get a job.

[Lev]

Re: Musicians Institute..

If you're going into music its always good to have a back up plan.. take a minor in econ or something in another college as a part-time student so that you'll atleast have some security.. a musicians life is too unpredictable.

[Ace]

Re: Musicians Institute..

I wouldn't go to MI. There are a whole lot of musicians wandering around this town who have been to MI, and for the most part, I wouldn't want 90% of them in my band. People usually come out of MI proficient, predictable, and pretencious. Not my thing.

[JacksonShredder]

Re: Musicians Institute..

Contact The Jackson Custom shop they have entry level positions were they train you and they pay $8-10 an hour, which is not much for Southern CA.

Also you might want to try the oldest Luthier School out there, roberto-venn In my opinon the best also Phoenix is way cheaper to live while you are going to school

They have been doing it for 30 years and they are WAY cheaper then MI and the course is shorter.

[ May 08, 2003, 02:37 AM: Message edited by: JacksonShredder ]

[Newc]

Re: Musicians Institute..

Even with a degree in luthiery most places will still put you on an apprentice program where you watch everyone else work and study their techniques and sweep up their sawdust. Unless you're highly gifted at it, you won't cut wood for the first 2 years. They might let you hack away at a piece of scrap with a pocketknife on your breaks.

IMO the quickest way to get a builder position outisde of apprenticeship is to build customs from blanks and build a reputation as a good builder. You could make 100 guitars from scratch and take them in as a resume, but most of the time no one there has the time or the inclination to speak to someone without a physical history (strong sales).

Newc