The Hub

I had lunch with a friend and client this week and we got on the topic of 'who did what and where' in the area, in terms of guitar repair. They brought up something that really felt like an object lesson in how rumors are propagated by people that don't understand the work that we do and I felt compelled to share. This was repeated person to person and originated from the shop it happened at: a certain someone at a certain music store…

The concept of overtime exists in all other industries. I decided some time ago that I needed to implement overtime into my business model because I was working very hard to accommodate rush jobs at much inconvenience to me and much benefit to the client, and I had come to realize how unfair that was to me as well as to my family. Here is how I did this. I do most of my transactional interactions with customers by email. Sometimes I’ll m…

What do you do with instruments never picked up? Non-responsive ghost customers.

Maybe there’s already a place for this but someone wants an old sentimental guitar modified with a Floyd rose and I haven’t done one of those in forever. Thinking back to when I was younger in the trade and stuff like this came up I would’ve loved to have a place to go where helpful repair folks hangout who might help me to avoid underbidding the hell out of a job. I used to bid everything low because I was thinking about the client and…

Good Morning, Looths. I am looking for some advice regarding a new shop I may be opening up. There is an opportunity that has presented itself to me to utilize a basement space below a Consignment Instrument Shop that an old friend of mine is opening up. The shop is filling the void of a local music shop in downtown Montpelier, VT (Which has not had a shop since May). The owners of this new shop have retail experience and are avid longtime…

Hey all. I need some advice. When getting started in your career, or even after you're established, what side jobs do you do to help make it all work? Quick background for me. Based in Austin, TX. I've been doing guitar repair evenings/weekends for 14 years now. I've been working an office day job this whole time. Day job pays me $30/hour. As a looth, I charge $70. I can make the equivelent of one day job paycheck loothing in the evening…

Hey y’all, I’m new to the patreon but I’m lovin all the info. Excuse me if this is the wrong place to mention but I’m freshly graduated from the building course at Roberto-Venn and am looking to get a career started in Atlanta, Ga (or surrounding areas). I’ve had some interviews and have talked with some repair shops in the Atlanta area but if anyone has any open opportunities or tips for entry level jobs for building/repair or apprentic…

Truss rod is broken and skunk strip is popped. If you are interested in this project DM for details.

Hey guys! Ive seen some of you are certified Techs for brands such as Fender Gibson Guild Taylor and Martin. I would love to know about your experiences and how it's the process to become certified. As some of you know im a small shop in Caracas Venezuela. I don't have any real distributor of any brand near me (The shops around here are just resellers that buy from US stores). I started learning the craft while I lived and worked on a b…

I might be sending a guitar to Germany. I have no idea how I would go about shipping it. Is there an obvious choice for a carrier? DHL or something? It's a $2k guitar and I've tried to talk the guy out of buying it, I'm scared shipping might be horrendous.

I've been Loothing for around 10 years in busy shops in the Seattle area (Mike Lull's & mike and mikes guitar bar) and went out on my own in a home shop a little over a year ago. Just this month moved into a new repair space and showroom for my custom guitars, which was the largest driver of the move. Having a good space for people to play my builds seems pretty paramount. My regular customers that have been plenty of income over the p…

Anyone ever done any advertising? What things did you highlight? We've got a videographer in our shop for two days next week to record. We are doing several short social media ads and one longer video that will live on Youtube. We have a great local following, but plan to target a 100 mile radius. WE regularly get people driving that far. Curious what you've learned were good things to focus on.

Hey all, curious if any of you use a system for managing estimates, invoices, and payments. I have four guys working in the shop so being able to organize workflow is important. We also need to be able scan a credit card when the customer comes to pick up their guitar. Currently (since outgrowing Square Invoices) we are using a free version of Zoho Invoice that can create a trello card for every quote. My guys LOVE using Trello. When th…

Hello all, New to the group but I didn’t see this topic in my limited searching. I am just getting my business going. I am trying to figure out what kind of insurance I should get as an independent repair tech. In asking my current home and auto insurance, they seem to have no idea what kind of insurance I would need for my business. I am working out of my home so I have some insurance in that regard but am wondering what some other shop…

I’ve only buying buying, fixing, selling for quite a while, no customer repair work. As I’ve sold gear I only work via emails which not everyone cares for. Those people are probably the ones I do not want to give my phone number to so it works fine. However, I’m considering doing repair work for customers again. If I know the person, not a problem, they either have or can have my number. People I don’t know, reaching out to me throug…

Hello looths worldwide ! 🌍 I just moved into a bigger space, called "Comme un Établi" here in Rennes, France (https://www.commeunetabli.fr/). It's a pretty cool space, with shared tools and knowledge, in which I have 13 square meters dedicated solely to my loothing business. People here have different jobs (leather work, wood work, metal work, book repair, furniture repair, etc.), and are used to offer workshops to people. I'm looking for…

He Looths, my friend Armand Sentous from Argentina is looking for someone to repair guitars and hep in building his electric guitars in Columbus, OH. He has taken out a booth at the summer NAMM show and is making guitars for it now. His phone is: (614) 313-2551, and his website is: www.sentousguitars.com He is looking for someone for 6-8 hours a day, and depending on the persons experience can pay up to $2k per month. He is also willing…

https://www.bizbuysell.com/Business-Opportunity/53-Year-Old-Extremely-Well-Established-Banjo-Manufacturing-Company/2091041/