Members whiteshadow Posted November 13, 2005 Members Share Posted November 13, 2005 Is anyone on this forum a luthier? or do you know any? Is it a worthwhile profession and is there a good market for it? I'm thinking of going to Luthier school... but I'm uncertain. I would love to be able to make my own guitars. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members PB Wilson Posted November 13, 2005 Members Share Posted November 13, 2005 You might want to ask over at MIMF.com. There are a bunch of amateur, semi-pro and professional luthiers over there. What kind of instruments do you want to make? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members whiteshadow Posted November 13, 2005 Author Members Share Posted November 13, 2005 GUITARS:thu: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Non-Digital Tom Posted November 13, 2005 Members Share Posted November 13, 2005 I think it's like pedal makers and amp makers - the market seems saturated, and yet people keep doing it. Therefore, there must be a market. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members ginnboonmiller Posted November 13, 2005 Members Share Posted November 13, 2005 There are certain careers out there, that if you aren't obsessed with what you are doing all day, you shouldn't try to get involved in them. The law is one -- I know plenty of lawyers, some of the best in the country, including a US Supreme Court Clerk, and the ones that got into it for financial stability as opposed to love for the law are all miserable without exception. The same goes for just about any career involving music. Building guitars will not make you rich, and probably won't even make you comfortable. The reason people build guitars for a living is because they have an almost creepy passion for building guitars. I've never known a luthier that got into luthiery after surveying career choices to see what they might want to do for a living. So if you asking because you think it might be cool to build guitars for a living, you probably aren't ready for luthiery school yet. Build a guitar. Use a kit -- it's easy. If, in the process of building a guitar from a kit, you discover that it's as natural as breathing and you are frustrated that you can't build the parts yourself, you can go to luthiery school, or just self-study, and spend the rest of your life doing almost nothing besides building the best guitars anyone could play. Otherwise, you're kinda sunk in the field. Have you done any work in a guitar shop before? Like learning how to do setups and simple guitar repairs? Did you love it above everything else you did? Then you're good to go. But don't jump in blind. You might just hate it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Non-Digital Tom Posted November 13, 2005 Members Share Posted November 13, 2005 What GBM said. Start with simple guitar repair and see how you like it. I got a whole bunch of those Dan Erlewine Stew-Mac guitar repair videos in the early '90s because I thought I might like to get into that. I learned how to do my own set ups and a bunch of other stuff, but eventually my interest waned. Now I have a guitar tech that I take all my instrument to. Yeah, I could do a lot myself (and I still do the really simple stuff), but it's good to have your axe set up by someone who REALLY knows what they're doing. Plus, I learned enough on my own so I can go and pick his brain for more advanced stuff. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members whiteshadow Posted November 13, 2005 Author Members Share Posted November 13, 2005 That sounds like great advice. I haven't worked in a shop before, but I love the idea of noodling with my guitars and amps. I have not much knowledge in guitar repairs or setups, which is why I would like to learn from somewhere. Maybe I'll take classes as a pass-time. If I really love it, then I'll become a luthier, if not, at least I'll know how to fix my stuff. What about amp repairs, where does one learn that? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members riffdaddy Posted November 13, 2005 Members Share Posted November 13, 2005 I work with two. The money isn't great, but job satisfaction is super-high. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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