zeppelinchld Posted July 19, 2007 Report Share Posted July 19, 2007 does anyone think it would be possible to make some money selling only bodies/necks. for example i would buy some alder(maybe) and cut/route out a telecaster body or i guess any other kind of body then sell it on ebay. would this even be worth my time? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fryovanni Posted July 19, 2007 Report Share Posted July 19, 2007 does anyone think it would be possible to make some money selling only bodies/necks. for example i would buy some alder(maybe) and cut/route out a telecaster body or i guess any other kind of body then sell it on ebay. would this even be worth my time? Please take this for what it is worth. How the hell would any one know what you can do or what your time is worth to you? Only responce I can think of is this. You are going to be up against a lot of companies that have been doing just that for a long time. They buy materials a lot cheaper than you will be able to, and have invested in efficient, accurate tooling. You can probably make a couple dollars on the side and most likely will have little to show for your time if you actually calculate ALL your time and overhead. Do what you want and see what you find out. Be dead honest with the quality and exactly what you are selling. Let us know in a year if you made a go and are willing to continue. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RGman Posted July 19, 2007 Report Share Posted July 19, 2007 (edited) It could be done if you had a CNC router, i can't see it happening if it was all by hand. At work we use a Biesse rover 20, the thing is a beast, fast and bloody expensive too but perfect for guitar applications even though it is a panel machine (we made a new body for a strat project one of my co-workers was working on, worked very well) That is the sort of machine that i would have if i was to be making guitar bodies and neck, for the sake of accuracy and time Edited July 19, 2007 by RGman Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Drak Posted July 19, 2007 Report Share Posted July 19, 2007 It could be done if you had talent, integrity, honesty, experience, and a background in business. Otherwise, if you have to ask that here on a forum, probably fuggedaboud it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Logical Frank Posted July 19, 2007 Report Share Posted July 19, 2007 I guess you could. It would be tough though. I just bought a blank off eBay and noticed that very frequently routed bodies actually cost less than blanks. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WAK Guitars Posted July 20, 2007 Report Share Posted July 20, 2007 If you were to get into that business, it would help if you had something really unique to offer. Sure you could sell the telly bodies and strat necks etc. But it would be easier to make a profit if you had something that nobody else offers. I guess this goes with almost any other type of business but i thought it would be worth mentioning. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jmrentis Posted July 20, 2007 Report Share Posted July 20, 2007 It could be done if you had talent, integrity, honesty, experience, and a background in business. Otherwise, if you have to ask that here on a forum, probably fuggedaboud it. +1 one everything stated by Drak! Well put. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ihocky2 Posted July 20, 2007 Report Share Posted July 20, 2007 I'll say that Drak and WAK are both right. If you are doing standard shape bodies, you better have a good lumber supplier cutting you a sweet deal and a CNC router. A solid client base locally to get stuff moving wouldn't hurt either. Thing is you have to compete with Warmoth and even Mighty Mite. And those are some of the first names that come up when you do a Google search. If you can come up with so different designs, that you can find a demand for, then you have a shot at it. There is a guy on the Jackson forum that makes Demon shaped bodies, and sells quite a few. But I am pretty sure it is nothing more than a side business for him at best, might even be nothing more than a self sustaining hobby. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ralpal Posted July 21, 2007 Report Share Posted July 21, 2007 does anyone think it would be possible to make some money selling only bodies/necks. for example i would buy some alder(maybe) and cut/route out a telecaster body or i guess any other kind of body then sell it on ebay. would this even be worth my time? It depends what your aims are. I have sold a number of my guitar bodies on ebay, typically nicely figured Ash Strat style bodies. I make enough money to buy the next piece of timber. I promised my wife when I started buying all the tools that I needed to build guitars that I wanted a hobby that would eventually pay for itself. It just about does that, but not much more to be honest. Be realistic in your outlook. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
soapbarstrat Posted July 21, 2007 Report Share Posted July 21, 2007 Good luck trying to make money doing anything that can be done just as well over seas. Buying small batches of materials, pretty much like opening a restaurant and buying your supplies from the regular grocery store. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
low end fuzz Posted July 21, 2007 Report Share Posted July 21, 2007 if you seriously want to go about making bodies to sell without having to assemble or wire or finish (just for the sake of playing with wood(i love it too)), i wouldnt mass produce one kind and try to sell them; but i would have it as an option on the side to do for people both custom and generic; that way you make them to order; no order, no waste there could prolly be a market for that, but to cover your time and materials the cost would be easier to swallow if customers came looking for you, instead of a deal on ebay Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fryovanni Posted July 21, 2007 Report Share Posted July 21, 2007 if you seriously want to go about making bodies to sell without having to assemble or wire or finish (just for the sake of playing with wood(i love it too)), i wouldnt mass produce one kind and try to sell them; but i would have it as an option on the side to do for people both custom and generic; that way you make them to order; no order, no waste there could prolly be a market for that, but to cover your time and materials the cost would be easier to swallow if customers came looking for you, instead of a deal on ebay Two problems with custom. One most people only buying a body are going to be cheap, if it is a factory replacement that is different. Second you will spend a lot of time figuring out what they want, and explaining why some things have to be made a certain way to be functional. Keep in mind though, you will have trouble getting neck specs, knowing if the hardware the are using will require special adjustments and so forth. If they have no idea what they are doing(and that is VERY likely) and they get a neck with an odd heel, or try to use a TOM and don't ask for an angled pocket, don't give you the correct scale length and on and on.... They will figure you blew it. Them being cheap, the details being complex, unreliable, custom jigging per. project, and time consuming and risky nature of this kind of business makes it less likely to be profitable. Note you also had better have your chops up if you are going to be smart enough to adjust for every contigency and read your customers mind(LOL). There is are good reasons why custom guitars cost a lot(and it has nothing much to do with materials, although people who buy bodies are not willing to pay for a real professionals time to put the instrument together properly). Peace,Rich Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
marksound Posted July 21, 2007 Report Share Posted July 21, 2007 You would probably be better off doing repairs locally by word of mouth. Believe me, once people find a competent tech they will tell everyone they know. There's a guy here in town that opened up a shop 3 or 4 years ago and within 6 months he had more business than he could handle. The poor guy's a wreck. Start small and build up. Conventional wisdom is not often wrong. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rjhalsey Posted July 22, 2007 Report Share Posted July 22, 2007 I buy most of my bodies and necks from those who make them in their garages. I get the same quality as Warmoth but without the cost and then there is the few I trade parts for wood huh Mark? If you build it, they will buy it as long as it is quality. I have even started to build my own bodies from scratch. Some I plan to paint with nitro and sell on ebay soon, so I hope there is a market out there for it because I am betting my retirement on it! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
killemall8 Posted August 31, 2007 Report Share Posted August 31, 2007 ebay never treated me good when i sold finished guitars. all of my guitars went up to like 19 bucks and things like that. stupid people tried to tell me that it wasnt worth 20 bucks. stupidest thing ive ever heard. 1 part on the whole guitar is worth more than that. it drives me insane. why people think that i will never know. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ihocky2 Posted August 31, 2007 Report Share Posted August 31, 2007 That is what a lot of people trying to sell stuff don't get though. I could take a Squire Strat throw in $500 in pickups and electronics, but it is still a Squire and still would only sell for like $100. Like everything in life, a product is not worth what you think it should be. It is worth what people are willing to pay. Look at some of the ceramic figurines. To collectors they are worth hundreds. To me they are worth maybe $50, but I don't collect them. Is oil worth what we pay for it, probably not, but we are willing to pay the price so that is what they sell it for. Hamburgers only cost McDonalds around 10 cents. So why do they cost $1.50 or more. Because we are willing to pay it. The same reason that oil prices have gone up is the reason that it is not $8 a gallon for gas. There is a point where people are not willing to pay a price. You can charge what ever you want for what ever product you have. But it is still only worth what people are willing to pay. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rick500 Posted August 31, 2007 Report Share Posted August 31, 2007 Gas was pretty darn close to $8 a gallon when I was in the UK in May. (Well, $7.35 by my calculations, anyway.) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Geo Posted August 31, 2007 Report Share Posted August 31, 2007 ebay never treated me good when i sold finished guitars. all of my guitars went up to like 19 bucks and things like that. stupid people tried to tell me that it wasnt worth 20 bucks. stupidest thing ive ever heard. 1 part on the whole guitar is worth more than that. it drives me insane. why people think that i will never know. That's horrible. The projects you've shared on here are amazing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ihocky2 Posted August 31, 2007 Report Share Posted August 31, 2007 Countries in Europe and Asia are a different story there. Less people drive and mass transit and walking is the main transportation. But they can get away with charging that because people that want to drive somewhere are willing to pay it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cole Posted August 31, 2007 Report Share Posted August 31, 2007 I've done alot of dealing on ebay. The thing with selling on ebay is people go to ebay to get the "Deal of the century". So if your trying to make some money selling bodies and necks good luck. You might have a better chance setting up a site, but like stated previously you cant compete with the bigger outfits. If you looking to make money you really need to find somthing that nobody else offers and focus on that, like everyone is saying. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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