For those of you that are Pro or Semi-Pro Guitar Techs or Luthiers

[Leo Chang]

Hi All,

For those of you that are Pro or Semi-Pro guitar techs and / or luthiers, what advice would you give to someone thinking of going into this field?

I am a lawyer by training, but like many others before me, only discovered that this field isn't for me after significant investment of resources. In turning away from this field, my main options are 1) do some other paper-pushing jobs that are mind-numbing but stable. OR 2 ) take this opportunity to pursue my dreams.

One of my dreams is to be a professional luthier that operates a true guitar custom shop.

Of the numerous luthiery schools on the net, I found this one relatively close to home http://www.luthiers-international.com/index.htm They offer a one year course with a guaranteed one month internship at a guitar shop in Norway. The rest of the course is held in B.C., Canada. That's their longest course, but they also have many courses of shorter duration, from 2 weeks to 6 months.


MY QUESTIONS:

1. Has anyone heard of them by reputation or has had personal experiences with them?

2. Anyone know of other luthiery schools on the B.C. mainland that offers both electric and acoustic guitar content?

3. If you guys don't mind me asking, what is the reasonable range of income that a professional luthier doing quality work could expect? Either doing custom work exclusively, or doing some custom work along with guitar tech jobs.

4. With such a wide selection of quality USA isntruments and affordable (yet still good quality) import guitars, not to mention the established true custom / semi custom shops out there.... what are the prospects of another custom builder entering this industry?


This will of course not be my only source of information, but I know that we have some pro techs and luthiers on this Board, and I do value your opinions. Thanks


- Leo.

[Roidster]

the only shop i know of in the lower mainland is Larrivee,i think they are in north van,and i believe they have drop their electric line and are doing acoustics only,you could sign up here, http://mcs.acidpit.org alot of guitar builders here,that can give you a lot of useful information in the brotherhood of wood thread,this guy is in montreal http://www.lutherieliberatore.com/ he may be able to give you info,after a shearch abit lado guitars has a school http://www.lado-guitars.com/Ladoschool/directory.html there in lindsay ontario
hope this helps you leo

[Leo Chang]

Roidster: Thanks for the reply, I'll check those out

Yeah, I knew Larrivee has a presence here, but my main interest is in electric guitars, so I am not that interested in a pure acoustic guitar environment. But thanks for the info, much appreciated.

[El_Kabong]

Larrive packed up and moved to southern California and took his busines with him. His building was right in the middle of 'the 'kiddy stroll' below Hastings.

Have you ever built your own parts-o-caster? Was it fun? Did it turn out well? If you haven't, Dan Erlwine's guitar repair book is a must as well as ordering unpainted wood from Warmtoh and rolloing your own.

I knew the school in Qualicum Beach in the late 80s third hand, as I had ties to a large overly funded music store and venture that dissolved around the same time period . I saw some student made strats and spoke to them about the school. I am sure things are much betterr there than they were 20 years ago. It was clear by the workmanship on the guitars that it was a money making venture with little regard for what the students went home with. If the sessions ran an extra 2 weeks, students could have gone home with a good guitar. It seemed like MacLuthery from a distance.

I used to know the top repairmen in the lower mainland. One on the North Shore was surly. I wasn't in awe that he took care of some of Brian Adams guitars, when he lived in West Van. He made it seem like it was a huge favor to work on my guitars. Another young looking fellow that would pick up repairs from shops and work on them at home was clearly a hardcore partier. One very talented young guy downtown was fired for cutting his boss out of the loop doing most of his repairs on the side. Good qauality of world style repairs could be had at a tiny shop in New West, just as Kingsway turned into 5th. TMT was great during the 80's in Richmond for all things metal.

*None* of these people were well off. The only one who makes a large amount of cash is an amp tech and the maker of Wizard amps. If money is a consideration, consider it a possible hobby. With CAD and CNC, shaping the wood is a lot easier than it once was. Set ups and soldering are the main skills that for some prove that they have a talent for it. Some, stiil build their own jigs and do all the work with their hands and typical shop toolsthat you saw in junior high woodworking class.

It takes talent, the right persona and clientelle to make a decent living. The days of taking your guitar builds to arena rock shows like PRS and Travis Bean did and having stars play your creation on stage are long gone as we all know.

The finest Canadian builder that isn't making better burst copies is Scott Heatley: http://www.heatleyguitars.com/ He has been patient, kind and non judgemental with the people that would drive most nuts. He is in Campbell River on the Island. You may wish to contact him. All of his contact info is on his site.

Before you even start, take a weeks vacation and go somehwere enjoyable to clear your head. I don't know what type of law you practice, but I imagine the burnout factor is there. But then again, it could be your saving grace. I came to Japan to teach 7 year ago and 5 years later I was on a university faculty. Good luck.

[missionguitars1]

I'd say it's a long way to the top....

I've been selling parts for a while, and the margins aren't that great (my warehouse comes to me rent-free - that's the only way to make it work). I started as a "parts-caster" maker, and they sell for a discount of the sum of the parts - not a good plan. Basically, it takes a long time to get a "reputation" (usually slaving as a tech in a shop to get a "clientele"), and by the time you are able to get a premium for your work, you've already filed for bankrupcy...

The better route? Rather than blowing a lot of cash on school, I'd start my own business out of my garage on nights and weekends making parts-casters and see where it takes you. I was in the same situation (a suit and tie job that I absolutely hated) when I started my biz. Didn't make any money, but I was creating something with my hands, and that filed the void that paper pushing couldn't fill. I was beat at the end of the day, but I improved and narrowed my process so it's at a point of taking care of itself.

Oddly enough, I also changed "real" jobs too, which is in the same field (finance), but a different area (money management instead of trading) - completely changed my outlook! I have the best of both worlds now!

The funny thing is my cousin's a lawyer in West Van as well, and I think he actually thought about going back to his old summer job of painting houses for a while a long time ago! It might just be a matter of moving into a different area of law for you as well!

[Leo Chang]

El_Kabong + missionguitars1:

Thanks guys, that's the "dose of reality" that I was looking for.

I just started my vacation, and I am enjoying so far. Definitely was long overdue for one...

When the weather gets better, some friends and I are going to start doing some woodworking in one of their garages.... partly just for fun, and partly for some spending money. We've got several experienced woodworkers in the group, one of which is a guitar player too... we'll see where it goes from there.

I ordered my Carvin Bolt Kit not too long ago, should be here any day now. I am looking forward to painting / finishing / assembling it. That will be the first guitar I build from parts. I can do my own setups and some simple fretwork.

However, sounds like luthiery is labour intensive / time consuming full time job that rarely pays well. In that case, I am probably better off doing 2 or 3 "normal" part time jobs. It'll be just as tiring / time consuming, but at least the money will be better.

I'll be in Taiwan in a month or so to visit family, I'll look into employment oppurtunities there too, though I am unlikely to end up on the faculty of a Taiwanese university

Thanks guys, you've given me lots of things to think about, and a better sense of direction (Luthiery is out for now)