MattHatter Posted May 30, 2005 Report Share Posted May 30, 2005 Well i'm 15 and have been thinking about jobs and stuff and was wondering if building guitars would be sufficient as a career. From what i've heard it's usually more of a hobby but could building custom guitars prove to be a job to support at least basic needs? what do you do to learn all the stuff needed to build guitars? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MikeB Posted May 30, 2005 Report Share Posted May 30, 2005 i think i speak for alot of people who would believe that alot is learnt by trial and error. get a good book - build your own guitar by melvin hiscock read and research alot. build a kit or 2, then make a guitar from scratch and see if you can make something good enough to forge a career on. LGM, rhoades and myka are 3 professionals from the board that would spring to mind - apologies if i have left you out, but i have a bad memory! there are obviously guys with vast knowledge that dont sell em - cough cough Drak!!! hynsu, wes, guitarfrenzy, matt, *memory is failing* Mike Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GregP Posted May 30, 2005 Report Share Posted May 30, 2005 It's not notoriously a super-lucrative occupation for most people that I'm aware of, but if you develop a reputation, I don't see why you couldn't make a go of it. That's what dreams are all about! I say go for it, but it doesn't hurt to have a second career option open to you, either. The other side of that would be, "if you really want to do it, don't get tied down to a second career, go for this one with all your will." Something to be said for that, too. Greg Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Drak Posted May 30, 2005 Report Share Posted May 30, 2005 I would say this: Find a job you love to do, then find a way to get paid for it. So, what the heck, even if you change your mind down the road, you will still have learned an awful lot that will carry with you throughout your life and help you no matter if you change streams later on. The way I see it, at least you are setting goals for yourself and have some thoughts to your future, so that's all good positive stuff. Good for you! Sure, give it a shot. But don't be some namby-pamby about it, give it everything you got to give, the worst thing you can do is go in half-committed, that is a sure road to failure. Go to a lutherie school like Roberto-Venn or something like that right off the bat. You're so young you'll have decades to just get better and specialize in whatever you want once you know the basics. If you decide a few years (or months ) down the road you want to change streams, nothing you learn will be wasted in your life, it's all good, solid, trade skills that will always come in handy one day. ("cough cough", inDEED! ) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest gsrguitars Posted May 31, 2005 Report Share Posted May 31, 2005 I say go for it. Better to look back with "wish I had not" than look back with "wish I had". You're young, life ahead of you, go for it. ...but do consider a backup plan! -G Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AlGeeEater Posted May 31, 2005 Report Share Posted May 31, 2005 I was also thinking about this as a career move too, and was just going to make a thread about it lol. Anyways, i still have a -long- way to go yet. I think a year of repair work is a good building ground for building a custom. Hell, im doing my first custom(good one this time anyways) this summer. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Drak Posted June 1, 2005 Report Share Posted June 1, 2005 Personally, I think it's something you have to get out of your system and move on to something else, but as I said, as long as you go to a structured school, you'll come away with some solid skills that will always be with you and probably a lot of great memories to boot. Just putzing around on friends' guitars is an awful slow road to nowhere IMO. You're fooling yourself that way I think, and only giving it a 1/2 or a 1/4 stab at it. If you want to explore it, do it with gusto and a plan, not just dinkin' around, that's no road to a future, although some guys did get started that way, I would bet they would say get some real training right off the bat if they had to do it over...just a guess... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Southpa Posted June 1, 2005 Report Share Posted June 1, 2005 Tough competition out there. And it takes more than just knowing how to build guitars. The really successful 'entrepreneurs" manage to find someone famous to endorse their instruments. But its a long road to that stage. If you find yourself in the right place at the right time and can produce something unique that people actually want to spend money on... . There are 2 ways to make lots of money through building and selling guitars. By making and selling quantity through assembly line production, stamping out low end , affordable guitars. If you don't have the money to start a company you might get lucky and find a job on the assembly line. The other way is by selling quality. Which means your name on the headstock represents exceptional craftsmanship and the incorporation of the finest materials available. Each guitar sells for 1000's of dollars but the amount of time, effort and cost of materials you put into making them might take a big chunk of that at times. If you are serious, I echo the previous posts about formal training and then latching onto someone who will "apprentice" you. Be open to ALL types of stringed instrument building and repair, not just guitars. A tidy sum can be picked up if you are versatile enough to handle any job. But at the same time learn some construction trade (or whatever) to fall back on for those MANY lean times to come. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Maher Posted June 1, 2005 Report Share Posted June 1, 2005 im going down this route. im starting a three year guitar making course spetember. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rhoads56 Posted June 1, 2005 Report Share Posted June 1, 2005 pretty much impossible to get an "apprenticeship". I get asked EVERY week without fail, by some kid, for a job. They even offer to work for free (which definately is not the way to approach someone). Do it as a hobby, learn the skills over time. If you want to make electrics, you dont need to attend a "school" of any type. Just get out there and do it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AlGeeEater Posted June 1, 2005 Report Share Posted June 1, 2005 Just putzing around on friends' guitars is an awful slow road to nowhere IMO. You're fooling yourself that way I think, and only giving it a 1/2 or a 1/4 stab at it. If you want to explore it, do it with gusto and a plan, not just dinkin' around, that's no road to a future, although some guys did get started that way, I would bet they would say get some real training right off the bat if they had to do it over...just a guess... ← I'm not doing that anymore. Just got a -ton- of guitar building stuff from Stew-Mac for my birthday. Bye bye repair work(not for now anyways) And just for the record, they werent always my friends guitars. It does give yo upractice though so you can broaden your skills i guess. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
M_A_T_T Posted June 1, 2005 Report Share Posted June 1, 2005 Guitar Building as a Career? Take a business management course, or something similar. Building guitars for a living isn't just sitting at a workbench making guitars all day, you have to know how to properly run a business. Knowing how to building high quality instruments is just half of it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AlGeeEater Posted June 1, 2005 Report Share Posted June 1, 2005 Guitar Building as a Career? Take a business management course, or something similar. Building guitars for a living isn't just sitting at a workbench making guitars all day, you have to know how to properly run a business. Knowing how to building high quality instruments is just half of it. ← I'm taking a buisness class next year in school, then going to college to a technical school or a trade school, just so i have something to fall back on. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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