Did you go to a school for this? How much did it cost? How much do you get on average for this? Any tips I should know? How often do you have to move from place to place? Finally, have you gone to the Atlanta Guitar Works school? I'm 20 years old and really eager to do this, unfortunatly i've only played guitar for 6 years and have no clue on how to fix them. THANKS!
2006-12-11 11:48:15 · 1 answers · asked by bob888 3 in Business & Finance ➔ Careers & Employment
Oboy, this is going to be a long answer (sorry)...
I used to teach a 4 year course in a vocational high school concentrating on guitar repair and construction. The first 2 years were strictly woodworking, making everything from table legs to roller coaster models. Year 3 was filled almost entirely with building a first guitar from scratch. Year 4 was developing design and theory and using it in a new guitar design.
The best way, in my opinion, to learn how to build guitars is to first have a very solid background in woodworking. Understand precision woodworking and you'll be far ahead of the pack. By doing so you'll have a much better idea of what is and isn't possible with wood. Learning this includes the use of all tools, the characteristics of materials, making patterns and jigs, sharpening tools, and finishing among other stuff.
Next is to have an understanding of electronics. Learn what potentiometers do, discover the difference between an SPST and a DPDT switch, figure out how a tone control works, learn how a pickup, er, picks up.
Find out what a scale length is, what compenstion does, and how intonation works. Learn the difference between even tempered tuning and equal tempered tuning. Discover how a string vibrates.
During this experience you should be reading everything you can get your hands on that has to do with building and repairing... although a repairperson will be ahead of the game by understanding construction the two disciplines are very different.
Play every guitar you can, whether it is a $49 WalMart special or a $20,000 custom built triple neck acoustic. Ask questions. Take notes on the bad and the good. Fill notebooks and keep them in a safe place. Ask others opinions but don't let somebody elses ideas be the end-all-and-be-all of your work. Never decide that a particular guitar, or even a particular pick or string is the best. Keep experimenting.
Guitar work is not really very lucrative and you'll probably find that you'll need a second job to stay alive. It is also a never-ending learning experience. A typical job in the industry (unless you have your own shop) starts with apprenticeship which usually pays about minimum wage. You'll sweep floors and learn finer points.
Next, if you don't get discouraged, is being a technician. this can pay pretty well if you are frugal... at least enough for one person to live on and buy an occasional guitar or special tool. You'll install braces on acoustics, rout solidbody guitars, and learn how to fret, and how to bend sides. You'll make more scrap than you could imagine. This step seems to take forever, and it very possibly could. The best builders are always learning new things.
Finally, if you continue your struggle, use all that you learn and begin to build your own way.
There is this old quip, and the longer I am in this business the more I believe it is true... "If you want to end up with making a small fortune in guitars, start with a large one."
Here are some books you can start with. I used them as textbooks. All together thay'll cost you about $500... a VERY cheap introduction to your chosen profession:
-Complete Guitar Repair by Hideo Kamimoto
-How to Build Your Own Electric Guitar by Melvyn Hiscock
-Pearl Inlay by The Duke of Pearl
-A Guitar Makers Manual by Jim Williams
-Classic Guitar Construction by Irving Sloane
-Guitar Repair by Irving Sloane
-Guitar Making: Tradition and Technology by W. Cumpiano and J. Natelson
-Guitar Electronics for Musicians by Donald Brosnac
2006-12-12 08:21:40 · answer #1 · answered by bikeworks 7 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Go to a lutiers school so you can build guitars other than electric. When you are well rounded, you can build acoustics, classicals, travel guitars, mandonlins, maybe even violins and cellos and such. Being just an electric guitar maker will be very difficult to get marketed unless a big name performer recognizes your skills and begins to use yours exclusively. Learn as much as you can now that you're still young.
2016-03-13 05:54:04 · answer #2 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋