Advice, Opportunity, or Both

[ThirteenStars]

I don't want to get too into side notes... But it's been an interesting past few weeks for me.

I gave up caffeinated coffee, a ridiculously major hobby of mine, I even roast my own beans here, and switched to decaf due to heart palpitations. I started taking CoQ10 and also, for whatever reason, started fasting for 24 hours every other day... I don't know why exactly I did it, sort of came about intuitively... I just did, I wanted to see how my body and heart would respond, and I also, unfortunately, wanted to save some money even though I'm a cook-from-scratch home cook.

The thing that happened was my days opened up. Every other day was no longer separated into 3 segments between meals, spending anywhere from 30 min - 1 hour at each meal cooking and eating and also thinking about it at times. It's wild the things we'll fixate on and fill our days with when we're unhappy.

Suddenly, I had a lot of extra time. I felt true hunger for the first time in a while, physically and mentally... My palpitations went away and my stress reduced. I started spending my time refocusing on my studio and making music and the fact that I'm simply stifled here in FL living with family.

I realized, life is what it is, it's unfair, a gamble at times, fun during others, simultaneously miserable, you can't escape these conditions... And so I don't care anymore if I have to scrape by, as long as I get to do what it is that I feel I want to do inside. That's the conclusion I came to. I don't have vices that will put me on the street, addictions or spending problems or debt... I'm just an average American struggling in the economy and in the pursuit of purpose and talent and reached a boiling point.

For many years I've continuously looked around thinking "What is it I'd like to do"? Gone down paths and career possibilities and this and that, hit pitfalls in life, had to "restart" multiples times, and the only thing that's consistently been a part of my life, has been music, for as long as I can remember...

That's when I spent about 12 hours straight emailing luthiers from around the country. All this time later just the 3 or so have emailed back.

With all that said, I will be video chatting the luthier I previously mentioned on Saturday. Things are looking interesting at the moment.

[ThirteenStars]

Current status : Figuring out an arrangement in the Blue Ridge Mountains to stay for 2-3 months learning to build my first guitar in a master luthier's workshop with occasional supervision from him.

[Howard Klepper]

Thirteen: Where did you get the idea that the dollar is devalued, which you have said twice now? It is now worth more on the world currency markets than it has been in several decades.

Only a literal handful of people have made a good living building guitars, and there is no reason to think that will improve. Most guitar makers have a day job, or a spouse who is the breadwinner. But if you have a chance to apprentice with a master, go for it, or you will always wonder what might have been. Maybe try to keep that yacht building option open, though.

[srick]

Originally Posted by Howard Klepper

Thirteen: Where did you get the idea that the dollar is devalued, which you have said twice now? It is now worth more on the world currency markets than it has been in several decades.

Only a literal handful of people have made a good living building guitars, and there is no reason to think that will improve. Most guitar makers have a day job, or a spouse who is the breadwinner. But if you have a chance to apprentice with a master, go for it, or you will always wonder what might have been. Maybe try to keep that yacht building option open, though.

Yes - Howard has hit upon the crux of the matter. You need to keep bread and butter on the table. That may mean having a bread and butter job so that you can pursue your passion.

Luthiery requires many tools and jigs. And let’s not forget the wood and the hardware. It can get expensive.

Besides woodworking skills, you need business and accounting skills. Plus, as odious as it is to most artisans, you have to learn how to value, and sell, your work.

My financial planner is fond of saying, “It’s all an equation. Plug in the numbers and you’ll get your answer.” And that is where I suggest that you start. Create a budget for your life. Figure out what you need to survive and just break even. Then, figure out how to pay yourself a salary, cover vehicle expenses, cover health insurance, disability, and pizza! Yikes!

It can be done, but do the math first so you have an idea of what you are committing to.

Best of luck!

Rick

[Alan Carruth]

It doesn't take many tools or much space to build a guitar. Don't think you need to have everything a production shop has to get started and learn. Once you know what you're doing you can buy the tools you need (as opposed to the ones you want) to increase production. Hand tools are the basics, and many of the 'old timers' made a lot of instruments with 'just' hand tools. Learn to sharpen and measure.

[IndianHillMike]

I think it's also important to keep in mind that it's "easy" to build guitars but hard to sell them. A lot of beginning luthiers are in the $3K - $4K range. After you account for all the costs (wood, rent, cases, tuners, etc.) let's say you end up with $2K - $3K per guitar (assuming you sell them and don't consign). If you, optimistically, can initially make 10 per year AND are able to sell them all as an unknown builder, it's still going to require a meager lifestyle for many years.

It's a daunting business to get into but there are ways to keep costs down. I started a luthier coop in Montreal 15 years ago and that's been one of the biggest reasons I've been able to focus on building the entire time without repair work our having a second job.