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I was thinking about starting to offer local repair services in addition to building guitars. I was wondering if anyone else did the same and had experience with still having enough personal time for creating masterpieces. I love doing it but I think its time to give back to the kids with $200 starter guitars and set them up properly.

Mainly I'm just polling the field to see how many of you all repair guitars in addition to working on your own. Do you enjoy doing both or do you sometimes wish you just stuck with one?

I would probably just put my services on a site like http://www.repairmyguitar.com since I don't want to fuss with having a website and advertising specifically for that. Don't feel like doing the craigslist thing. Anyone listed on there and have feedback? Seems like getting even one job a year would pay for itself.

Thanks for your responses.

I do repair work for a limited few local pros, friends and clients that have commisioned guitars in the past. I use to advertise repair work but I ended up doing far too many. It cut so deep into my build time that I now take a very limited number of repair jobs in.

From what I've heard, repair and maintenance work is often the primary source of income for many luthiers (almost all of the ones I've spoken to so far) and building guitars is more often than not a secondary source of income.

I think the viability of it really depends a lot on what your current position is. I would imagine that repair and maintenance would be a much more steady source of income than sales so from a financial standpoint, offering repair services could certainly make sense. On the other hand, once you start offering such services, I think it's really easy for your schedule to fill up with repairs and set-ups, either forcing you to turn away orders or sacrifice time that could be spent on building, which would cut down the number of guitars you're outputting.

Whatever the case, it's really going to come down to your location and clientele when deciding one way or the other or finding a proper balance between the two. Take some time to think about it and see what's best for you not only financially, but also which path you would find more enjoyable as well.

Personally if given the choice, I would probably avoid repair work like the plague for 2 main reasons:
1. Once you start taking on repairs, I've found that the number of tools and jigs required (or at least to make things go quicker) can rise pretty quickly.
2. God only knows the history of many of these instruments that you deal with and personally I hate going into situations blind (ie. taking an order and THEN finding out the last repair guy did something that is going to make your life harder)... especially when dealing with someone else's property.
But then again, that's just me... and I also realize and accept that if I'm ever to get into this professionally where I currently live, I will probably have to take repair jobs whether I like it or not if I am going to pay my bills.

If you're anything like me in that sense, you may want to consider a limited maintenance service (simple set-ups and whatnot) as opposed to a full repair service.

- Just my 2 cents..

Building and repair are quite different trades. They have a fairly good swath of skills that cross over, but still limited in the big picture. It's much easier to go from repair to building than the other way.

It's a great thing to get to learn, and aside from being a more practical and reliable source of income for most, the evaluation and problem solving skills gained from experience in repair can be invaluable in building as well. As a repair person you get to see everything that fails, which is important stuff to know when building your own. Be prepared for a lot of surprised and riddles you never would have expected.

Still, prepare for a very long learning curve. Even doing repair full time under supervision from a master can take years before most could confidently hang out their own shingle as an independent full service repair shop. Obviously if you're doing it on your own it can be much more of a challenge, but keep in mind it is important to try not to make the instruments suffer as you learn. Know your abilities, know what not to take in, know when and where to seek guidance, and know what instruments and circumstances provide acceptable risk when learning.

As soon as you begin working on other's instruments, the golden rule is First Do No Harm.

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Eschew obfuscation, espouse elucidation.

I've never done professional repairs or professional building, although I've done a lot of both for myself. I think the responses thus far offer great insights. Still...I've got to tell you that I really like the idealistic attitude you stated about "giving something back to the kids." (I'm probably paraphrasing) That is just great! If you think you would find fulfillment doing that, then I encourage you to try it for a while. If you find that it is not to your liking, you can always quit accepting repairs at some point in the future.
Patrick

I started out in luthiery as a hobby builder who then began to take on some paying projects as my skills improved. I didn't really consider doing repairs at that time but then I also had a full time job that provided my main income stream so I didn't need to look to luthiery for cash flow. When I left my full time job that meant looking more to luthiery for income, and for me that meant repairs. I had an opportunity to begin doing some repairs for a local guitar shop that had lost it's repair man. At first I saw it as a stop-gap thing, but soon learned that repairs provided a much more steady income stream than building. This may somewhat be a function of the fact that I'm a small shop guy, and was never really interested in building guitars exclusively for a living for a variety of reasons. However, I found that doing repairs AND building was a satisfying way to build a career in the business and generate cash flow sufficient to make it profitable. Today I build only a few guitars a year on custom order, and I'm not anxious to build more than I currently do. Repairs offer a break from building, which can become monotonous at times if that's all I do. I find repair to be less so, and to offer more and varied challenges than building alone. I've discovered that for me spending a majority of my time repairing means that building remains a treat that I can indulge periodically and thus neither gets boring. I also generate and sell kits and buy/sell vintage flat tops. The other thing that makes doing all these different things satisfying is that when one thing is slow (custom orders, repairs, or sale) generally one of the other parts of the business is there to take up the slack.

Wow, You've all offered great advice and have led interesting guitar lives! I still have a non guitar full time job so the income issue doesn't factor in for me. I guess I just like to try new things from time to time. The only certain is that it MUST deal with guitars of course! I guess I need to have the will power to say 'no' if I do start repairing and feel like it is encroaching on the other things I love doing. May be stick to the small things like setups in the beginning so I don't get involved with buying extra tools that might be needed.

Keep the comments going! I'm sure all your great insights would be useful to a lot of other luthiers on this board. I should probably just sign up on the website and see where the wind blows! Speaking of wind blowing, maybe I could build sail boats...

I am a repair guy. I have a small one man shop. Most of my work is set-up, frets, electronics, cracks, etc... I love it! Finding a niche and working in it was most important to me. Being in LA there are a ton of repair shops and talented folk. I have several friends who build and repair. I do a lot of referrals. For instance, other than touch-work. I do not do finish work. I send that to the finish guy. In return, he'll send set-ups and electronic work to me. This arrangement allows me to not just say no, but send the customers to a better source. Sometimes a shop that does factory warranty work is better choice for a customer. However, there are people that you must read as difficult personalities, and simply find a way to move them down the road. This has been a very important point to learn! I've been planning on building for the past five years, but never can find the time As a local shop with three teachers I get tons of work from young folks. I give discounts to students and local kids. It's good business. Time flies! I have kids that were dragging around half size guitars and working out with Mel Bay in what seems like yesterday. Some of these kids are now on tour and have endorsement deals! Customers for life.

Oh yeah, I am on http://www.repairmyguitar.com. I didn't sign-up. I just got listed. It is not effective for me. It generates a very sparse email form with vague information. One of my golden rules is never quote a price over the phone (or email). Which is in effect what the site prompts you to do. I absolutely must have the instrument in my hands. I've exchanged several emails with the web site owner. He's a very nice enthusiastic young guy. However, he is not very well informed about the guitar repair business. He is not a guitar repair guy. IMHO - His good intentions kind of miss the mark when it comes to real world execution. I never got a job from it. It does not generate real leads for me.

Best of luck in your guitar adventures!

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Tom Krebs

I started in the business about 11 years ago. I was fortunate to have good people mentor me along the way. Steve Kovacik was one of them. Like Steve I started building , and gravitated to repair. Don't expect to become an overnight success and Steve and I as most Pro's can tell you , it takes time. You do need to be able to self promote yourself but don't take on a job that is above your skill level.
I repaired alot of Junk guitars and still will get a junker if I want to experiment on a new technique. It is easier to burn a mistake , than explain why you ruined an expensive guitar. This career has taken me places I never thought possible and I can tell you patience and perseverance are traits you will need.
Dave Nichols , Steve and CF Martin are some of the reasons I got to be where I am. Not all repair guys can build a good guitar nor can all builder repair. The skills needed must be learned . Read , Study and listen. Symposiums are a great place to share information . I don't miss the ASIA symposiums if I can help it and one is coming up in June. Good luck.
john hall
blues creek guitars

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John Hall
blues creek guitars
Authorized CF Martin Repair
Co President of ASIA
You Don't know what you don't know until you know it

In the 30 + years i've made guitars I've never stopped doing repairs.

I've turned away a few-mostly weird finishes-but I find repairs keep me aware of the changes in both factory & build guitars.
hand built guitars.-electronics,finishes,neck joint sets ....

it's also a good cash supplier !!

But as stated before here -it's not the same as building-but as a makers I think we have a better understanding of how a guitar is put together than any repair guy that's never made a guitar !
That is -we've glued on braces,we've bent wood,we've made bridges,
we've installed frets,we've finished from bare to look at this !!!
We have a knowledge only makers have.

I've heard many repairman only say"I know how to make a guitar,i just have'nt yet"

well untill you do -you do not know what it is like!
Mike

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Mike Collins

Tom hope you're doing well. I'm still a little shocked that you don't see the value of our site and that you think we do not "generate real leads" for you. Let me say that only 2% of the people searching our site for guitar repair are ever sending an email ( I wish it was 50%). Even though you're against answering over email (which is fine, no one is forcing you), it sparks a conversation between you and the customer and gets things rolling, people want to know they can trust the luthier and that they are willing to engage to find out the problem, I'm sure most could careless about any estimate you give them unless it's more than the value of the guitar. I'm 100% certain people don't have the time to drive all over LA and show their broken instrument to 6 luthiers to see who they trust the most, which is why I try to generate these sale leads for you.

After looking up your stores stats, over 370 people have viewed your listing, only 9 sent you an email. If you're implying that you think not one of them ever made it to your store, then you might be missing the value of this free advertising. Now I know they aren't going to open your door and shout "hey I found you on repairmyguitar.com!". So I have to rely on you all to understand that.

I want the repair techs on our site to see the value. If you're not happy, as I always offer, I can remove your listing. Just let me know. I hope you stay, I know you're great at what you do, and I want our visitors to use your services.

Woodhands, and any other luthiers from this forum, we would be happy to have your services on our site. I will gladly add them free of charge just send me a message.

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RepairMyGuitar.com - The Guitar Repair Directory