Official Luthiers Forum!

I am in a bit of a pickle,cash is getting tight lately.I have done some guitar repair,mostly miner things like a cracked headstock or two and know how to setup electric and acoustic guitars.
I have successfully sealed a cracked top on one of my guitars.
I plan on offering my services,however modest,in my small town.
Based on my experience what would you guys say is my best option?Offering setup work and the odd repair that i know how to do or just stick to the setup?There are no guitar repair services in this town that i know of,so I will most likely be the one to go to for this work.
The problem is i don't know what the going rate for a setup would be.In my province(Saskatchewan) the last i checked the going rate for repair work was $40/hour.I plan on charging $30/hr once i have more confidence to do major work.
What do you guys usually charge for a setup?I don't want to gain a bad reputation for charging too much,i see these people every day and could really use the business.

I used to do a lot of repair work, I had 3 stores in a small townish area too. Now I only do one store as I have a 'real' job now. But anyway the thing I did was to look at price lists from around the country then take an average and then even lowered that because I was not an expert repair person. As the years passed on I raised my prices. I'm still very low compared to the average but I also don't live in an expensive area of the country (US). I would take on most jobs unless of course things like very expensive guitars or restoration projects.

Repair is different then building in some respects but if you have built a few guitars and did some of the repairs that you are talking about already then you will probably be fine. If a customer demands that crack repairs come out perfect like new then maybe it's best to have them ship it to a master. If it's anything like my experience most of the stuff you get in will be simple.

Thanks for the advice,so far i have one customer wanting a floyd rose setup.From what i've seen it looks like a little challenge,nothing i can't handle.I'll have to look around to see what the going rate for a setup is.

I'd sure be doing a lot of practice repairing cracks/neck resets /refrets /fret leveling/ gluing new bridges/removing fretboards, refinishing and touchups... etc. old junker guitars before touching someones $2500.00-$5000.00 baby.....or even someones $500.00 baby for that matter. I spent 23 hrs. replacing a bridge/rebonding a top crack and a back crack....sanding the whole body down and respraying a new finish and a on a severely abused Yamaha accoustic that was worth $20.00 more when I was done with it. Knowing when to say to a client...it's not worth the effort and $ is the big question. No Charge to my niece for that repair.

KB

_________________
Wood Creations by Kent A. Bailey
EXCELLENCE IN SCULPTURE, CARVING, LUTHIER, ARCHITECTURAL MILLWORK AND DESIGN

http://www.kabart.com

Oh God! Good luck with that. That is one setup that I typically charge double for

yep .. floating trems take longer .. 50 reg setup, floyd 80 .... adjusting the locking saddles is tougher too, as once the screw is loose, without a floyd setup tool, they move all over. Trying to move one forward a pinch is a b%ch

_________________
Tony Karol
www.karol-guitars.com
"let my passion .. fulfill yours"