interesting thread
kinda got off the original question topic of how & where to recieve your education as a luthier
i started playing about 4 yrs ago when i retired from a 30 yr technical career
playing guitar was something i had long wanted to do
being mechanically inclined & a hard core shop rat i knew up front i'd want to do my own repairs/mods to my guitar
so i started with yard sale specials
my first one was an old black cort strat knockoff that a friend of my son bought at a yard sale for $5.00 cause it had a duncan invader in it
my son ended up with it (minus the duncan pickup) & gave it to me to start with for play/repair practice
couldn't tell the difference between it & a nice guitar at that point as a player
plus i didn't want to practice tech work on an instrument of value for obvious reasons
i bought erlewine's book "guitar player repair guide" & his video "how to assemble a solid body guitar"
these two items covered virtually every aspect of construction & repair to various degrees
i now own virtually every book/video title he has published plus others as well
kinda pricy but cheaper than tuition/travel/lodging for a school
plus all of the info with visuals (nothing like visuals to make a concept clear) & text explination are always here for review
started with setups, fitting/cutting a new nut, basic electronics & on to fretwork, etc.
started as a hoby but i kept getting better & better
then players in my network started calling wanting me to do this or that to their ax & it is becoming an exponential thing
long story short...in the last week i've taken in over $600 in work to be done ( 2 fret jobs & an assembly from parts)
not enough yet to support myself but heading in that direction
i'm now into acoustic neck resets (more books/videos) etc as well as the solid body stuff
the key to being a technical artisan if your going to work for yourself is that you MUST exercise self discipline to study/work
in this arena their isn't a boss to crack the whip
if you can't motivate yourself to work you'r doomed before you begin
another thing...focus on absolute quality in your work & the $'s will be there as a byproduct of competance
hope this gives you practical input for thought
dr