For those that have used a guitar tech...
- Thread starter GoDrex
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Wow, that's $325 too high. Aren't you the guy who just moved to LA? I'll assemble and setup your guitar for a case of sierra nevada and a fatburger, if you bring it to my house, supply every part and you're not talking about a finish. If you're not in LA and are sure you can't do it yourself, I wouldn't pay more than $100 or so. I mean, all the tough work is already done, it's just screwing stuff together and some easy soldering.
GoDrex
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No I'm not that guy. I'm planning now to do the job myself, I'm just worried that it's not going to turn out as good as I wanted. I failed wood shop hahaha. It's just tough for me with the way my house is. I really don't have a good work area, and I have a very grabby two year old. Hehehehe. Now I need to figure out what tools I'm going to need. Is there a thread for this - like which drill bit sizes and what-not?
SkuttleFunk
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I had been around $100 plus materials (copper foil or shielding paint, misc wire.solder, screws, etc ...) when my shop was open. In a couple cases I needed to route pickup cavities and other custom work - and I charged a miniscule amount extra for this as well.
my Saturday away from the family comes at a price, although $100 for 3/4 day's worth of assembly/set-up work I consider a bargain
all the best,
R
my Saturday away from the family comes at a price, although $100 for 3/4 day's worth of assembly/set-up work I consider a bargain
all the best,
R
Okay. Couple things I learned:
1. Drill a little pilot hole with your smallest bit first, that way mistakes are more easily filled (god forbid that you drill a wrong hole). It also helps you drill the bigger holes true.
2. If a screw is getting at all tough to get in there, back it out and drill a little bigger / deeper. Don't force it, you're very likely to strip one off.
3. Go really slow, make sure each thing is done right before you move on to the next thing.
4. Dude, have your wife get the little guy out of the house while you do this! This is brilliant stuff for an 8 year old, but disaster time for a 2 year old (can you say 'soldering gun'? 'drill'? exacto knife? dozens of tiny screws all of which are essential?). Please don't try and assemble a guitar with a two year old anywhere in the house. You must have a buddy's house you could do it at, or something, if you can't get the little angel out of the house for 3-4 hours.
Quality Phillips screwdrivers, all three head sizes. Make sure you've got the right size screwdriver for the job; the neck plate screws want the big boy, getting the right screwdriver helps prevent stripping screws. Hand drill and basic set of decent bits. Soldering iron and good solder. Needle nose pliers, little wire cutters, exacto knife. masking tape is useful. Whatever size allen wrenches you need to adjust the truss rod and saddle height. I'm sure there's other things but those are the keys.
1. Drill a little pilot hole with your smallest bit first, that way mistakes are more easily filled (god forbid that you drill a wrong hole). It also helps you drill the bigger holes true.
2. If a screw is getting at all tough to get in there, back it out and drill a little bigger / deeper. Don't force it, you're very likely to strip one off.
3. Go really slow, make sure each thing is done right before you move on to the next thing.
4. Dude, have your wife get the little guy out of the house while you do this! This is brilliant stuff for an 8 year old, but disaster time for a 2 year old (can you say 'soldering gun'? 'drill'? exacto knife? dozens of tiny screws all of which are essential?). Please don't try and assemble a guitar with a two year old anywhere in the house. You must have a buddy's house you could do it at, or something, if you can't get the little angel out of the house for 3-4 hours.
Quality Phillips screwdrivers, all three head sizes. Make sure you've got the right size screwdriver for the job; the neck plate screws want the big boy, getting the right screwdriver helps prevent stripping screws. Hand drill and basic set of decent bits. Soldering iron and good solder. Needle nose pliers, little wire cutters, exacto knife. masking tape is useful. Whatever size allen wrenches you need to adjust the truss rod and saddle height. I'm sure there's other things but those are the keys.
SkuttleFunk
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and make sure you use brad point drill bits - it eliminates the need for pilot holes, and gives you a more accurately located hole with less drift
all the best,
R
all the best,
R
Lets consider the price -
Say its all painted, all parts are there, nothing together.
Ream/sand tuner bushing holes, mount bushings, place tuners, drill tuner screw holes and attach tuners.
Sand neck pocket, mount neck - holes are there already.
Mount bridge.
Possibly sand string ferrule holes and press in ferrules
Mount pickups - possibly holes drilled for rings.
Mount pots and switches. Solder things up, adding capacitors.
Mount jack, probably more holes. Solder that up.
Mount pickguard, drill holes for that, install screws.
Drill holes for strap buttons, mount them.
String it up.
Do a trial setup.
Correct anything.
Fine tune the nut slots
Fine tune the saddle slots.
Do the final setup. Fine tune the pickup elevation.
Ya know, I can see spending a solid three hours on it, if its Warmoth stuff with a pre-installed nut. Give another half hour if he has to install the nut from scratch.
So, lets say he figured 3-1/2 hours work. Half a day. And thats for parts that he's not seen. That $300+ figure is looking more in line if the guy has a full time shop. Small private luthier... who's work is a full time second career, I'd still say $200 if he's serious about what he does.
Say its all painted, all parts are there, nothing together.
Ream/sand tuner bushing holes, mount bushings, place tuners, drill tuner screw holes and attach tuners.
Sand neck pocket, mount neck - holes are there already.
Mount bridge.
Possibly sand string ferrule holes and press in ferrules
Mount pickups - possibly holes drilled for rings.
Mount pots and switches. Solder things up, adding capacitors.
Mount jack, probably more holes. Solder that up.
Mount pickguard, drill holes for that, install screws.
Drill holes for strap buttons, mount them.
String it up.
Do a trial setup.
Correct anything.
Fine tune the nut slots
Fine tune the saddle slots.
Do the final setup. Fine tune the pickup elevation.
Ya know, I can see spending a solid three hours on it, if its Warmoth stuff with a pre-installed nut. Give another half hour if he has to install the nut from scratch.
So, lets say he figured 3-1/2 hours work. Half a day. And thats for parts that he's not seen. That $300+ figure is looking more in line if the guy has a full time shop. Small private luthier... who's work is a full time second career, I'd still say $200 if he's serious about what he does.
GoDrex
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Actually the guy saw all of the parts. I got this estimate after it was all looked at. It's a for a pretty basic LP with the studs/ground wire already installed and pickups already on the rings. No pickguard. Nut not installed, but it's pre-cut.
I was quoted by a busy shop, around $180 for 3 hours work at $60 an hour. Though I could be waiting for around 2 weeks for that. The $325 (plus tax!) is a set up guy for Martin guitars and this is what he charges Eric Clapton hehehe.
One thing I noticed was that my neck went into the body pretty easily. It's tight but not so tight that any sanding is needed, even with finish on the neck. The tuners though are super tight and won't go in.
I was quoted by a busy shop, around $180 for 3 hours work at $60 an hour. Though I could be waiting for around 2 weeks for that. The $325 (plus tax!) is a set up guy for Martin guitars and this is what he charges Eric Clapton hehehe.
One thing I noticed was that my neck went into the body pretty easily. It's tight but not so tight that any sanding is needed, even with finish on the neck. The tuners though are super tight and won't go in.
Funky Phil
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Yes, but what about dressing frets?-CB- said:
GoDrex
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tfarny said:
I know I'm dumb but come on man, please give me a little credit OK? I'm fully aware that I can't work on the thing when he's up and about. That's one of the reason I wanted to have someone else do it. Just to not have the stress of doing myself in my home situation. I plan to work on it at night when he's asleep. It's just going to take me longer to get finished.
Few techs want to mess with a precut nut - its easier to fit your own, and cut the slots than having to deal with a precut
Tight bushings are the norm - and they need to have the holes eased a bit to fit right
Three hundred is high, but for really good work, its not "that" high. For a man that will do more than just press over tight bushings in, and use a hand drill to haphazard the holes... If you want someone who will afford the care to the assembly, watching the finer details, taking care to make it right, correcting the little things as he goes.... expect to pay.
Tight bushings are the norm - and they need to have the holes eased a bit to fit right
Three hundred is high, but for really good work, its not "that" high. For a man that will do more than just press over tight bushings in, and use a hand drill to haphazard the holes... If you want someone who will afford the care to the assembly, watching the finer details, taking care to make it right, correcting the little things as he goes.... expect to pay.
GoDrex
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btw - I have PW tuners - - no sign of bushings. Just washers, nuts and little screws. These holes need to be sanded, I think. No way they're going in otherwise.
And I totally agree. The quote just surprised me because of the situation (which I haven't explained at all).
And I totally agree. The quote just surprised me because of the situation (which I haven't explained at all).
No offense intended, godrex, I was just imagining my inhumanly destructive nephew busting in on a warmoth-building session and got a little carried away. Though he's less dangerous to himself now that a piece of his thumb went missing and his whole right hand is in a cast.
GoDrex
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It's OK man - - holy crap that sucks. I hope my kids don't lose any digits...
btw - lightly sanding the inside of the holes (where the finish went in) helps move things along nicely and still keeps it tight. So... yeah. If I get tuners on tonight I'll be happy with myself.
btw - lightly sanding the inside of the holes (where the finish went in) helps move things along nicely and still keeps it tight. So... yeah. If I get tuners on tonight I'll be happy with myself.
GoDrex
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Funky Phil said:
I had wondered about this. The neck I got from Warmoth looks and feels like the best fret job I've ever seen. Granted I haven't seen many, but I have had frets dressed before and I really don't think this neck needs it. I certainly could be wrong. The the fret edges are nice and smooth (unlike guitars I've bought "off the rack" and everything looks fine. I guess I won't really know until I get strings on it. Does Warmoth do leveling and all that? I've never had a bound fret board before so maybe that's why the edges are so nice?
jackthehack
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I've bought a lot of Warmoth necks of various types and never saw one that needed any form of fretwork out the box.
jackthehack
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JamesL said:Haha.. No, I'm the guy who just moved to LA :icon_biggrin:. I paid 150 for mine (just because I didn't feel like screwing it up)
That's way to high
If you're talking about a complete assembly and setup from a box of parts, $150 sounds pretty fair to me, especially if you're in an area with higher overheads like LA.; you're talking 2-3 hours of labor.
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