mat_swo Posted April 21, 2004 Report Share Posted April 21, 2004 I have attended guitar repair scholl in Red Wing MN for two years and am now in search of a job in this field. Does anyone have any advice on jumping into a building or repair shop straight out of school? Anthing you know about shop rates, hourly wages of pecetages as far as getting paid are concerned would be nice to know as well. Thanks! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rhoads56 Posted April 21, 2004 Report Share Posted April 21, 2004 Two years in a school and you know nothing about rates, finding work, percentages, etc??? I suggest you talk to the school.... All schools i know of find their students a job after completion. which school was it, and why two years, geez, thats a very long time. $$?? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guitarfrenzy Posted April 21, 2004 Report Share Posted April 21, 2004 You might as well have gone a couple more years and become a Doctor.. lol.. just kidding Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
soapbarstrat Posted April 21, 2004 Report Share Posted April 21, 2004 With big-time training like that, I think you want to apply at a big company like Fender, Gibson, Martin, or if they are a little too big, apply at Anderson, Suhr, etc. Most little shops are run by someone who likes to tackle repairs themself, or has a buddy who does that. They'd probably see you as a threat. Just about every repair guy I know who has gone to Red Wing or Roberto Venn (or whatever it's called), worked at places like PRS, Fender, etc, and when you find them in a smaller shop later on, it's because it's their own smaller shop. You mean these questions you have haven't even been addressed at your school ? Man, that would piss me off. I'd assume they'd go over all these details until you can't stand to hear it anymore. Didn't realize these schools would be so "isolated" from the rest of the business on all levels. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mat_swo Posted April 21, 2004 Author Report Share Posted April 21, 2004 The school is minnesota state southeast tech. The school has a job center with very high placement. Seeing as I only have 2 instuctors I get a very limeted amount of opinions about the way things should be. One of them hasn't even worked in a repair shop since the 80s and the other also works in a shop in Wi. I was just trying to get a wide variety of opinions so I can make the best decision foy myself. If you aren't going to be serious don't bother to post a reply! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brian Posted April 22, 2004 Report Share Posted April 22, 2004 Hi mat_swo and welcome to the forum first thing I would ask myself (being you) is what am I completely confident in when it comes to working on guitars......... That will help me to know about where you should look as well as the pay scale your probably going to get......... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Devon Headen Posted April 22, 2004 Report Share Posted April 22, 2004 I don't know about pay rates, but my advice would be this. What else are you going to do other than guitar repair, if you've just been in school for two years learning it? You aren't going to get any more experience with guitars by flipping burgers. I say do a little research call around, and generally follow job-seeker rules. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Southpa Posted April 22, 2004 Report Share Posted April 22, 2004 Hmmmm...opportunities are few. But you have a few options. Being a 2 yr apprentice you have a better headstart at making a career out of it than many others. The big corps. were already mentioned and it doesn't hurt to send them each a resume with a cover letter stating your goals, skills, who trained you etc. etc. Also a letter of introduction from your instructor(s) can go a long way towards your getting a foot in the door. Be prepared to move. You could possibly wind up working on an assembly line but there is always something new to learn. In the mean time you could be working on stuff at home with a secure income, and hey! its still guitars for the time being. The other option is to find someone willing to apprentice you further. I can't give you any names and I can't say what kind of money/benefits are involved. Lets just say its a tough business and you better get good at it because a lot of the instruments you get that warrant the price of a repair are expensive unto themselves. I've seen guys that do great work but still having trouble building a reputation. They live on a subsistance level and have to suppliment their guitar income with a side job. On the other end of the scale there is a woman who lives near here who she is selling hand built custom dreadnoughts at a starting price of $7,800 and archtops starting at $11,000. She has built a reputation from a few famous musicians who play and endorse her guitars. She is a busy little bee, builds 15 to 18 guitars a year and there is a 3 yr waiting list if you want to buy one. Thats a nice chunk of change IMO. Its nice to find something in that field of work while everything is still fresh in your mind. Your question should have been asked shortly after your luthier training began, rather than now. I don't want to harp on what should have or what could have happened. This is now. Just dig out those yellow pages and start knocking on doors. Here is a start, browse thru the list on this page and start contacting folks. A lot of them are likely individual people who have no interest in hiring an employee but you never know, there might be a few who need a hand and have more for you to learn. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
krazyderek Posted April 22, 2004 Report Share Posted April 22, 2004 or you could take the classic route, find a builder of brand you really really like and want to work with, then bug the hell out of them, send resumes, evaluate their guitars, why you want to work on their's over everyone else's, what you could bring to the table other then just the generic repair skills and basic knowledge, show them you have ideas that are going to make their guitars better, and will eventually make them more money. or of course... if you have enough original ideas try and start your own small line, it's not like you have to compete with fender just to make a decent living, just get a good base of loyal customers, and make good quality instruments *cough driskill cough* i duno, maybe that sounds foolish but either of those would be something i would probably do... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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