Guitar Repair Education?

[LushTone]

Hello,  :help:

I'm an aspiring guitar tech who is looking into some guitar repair tech programs at local colleges. Mainly, I'm looking into the 'guitar repair technology' program at Renton Technical College in WA. It's fairly affordable at $2000 plus materials, and it is possible to expand the credentials to an 'associate of applied science degree' after some general education. The guitar program itself is for fretted instruments in general.

So, my question to anybody with experience in the professional instrument repair field, is this program of considerable value?

I hope to be start out with just the certificate for guitar repair tech and be able to land a job at a music shop. Then, build experience and take it from there. I appreciate any advice!

 

[mullyman]

They really offer those types of classes? If you think it's worth it then go for it. Personally, I'd go ahead and get the job at the guitar shop and learn as you go from the other guys. That's how I learned. If a course was available though I probably would have been interested.
MULLY

 

[LushTone]

Yeah they have it. It's sounds awesome and the school seems to have a good rep.

I'm really trying to have an official education in repair, because of how hard it is to get a job at my age with no experience in the field.  :sad1:

 

[Cagey]

For a less than $2K you could get a helluva tool collection going. Buy a couple books on the subject. Then, there are a lotta lab rats out there to experiment on where failure sorta is an option. Get the word out you'll do certain things for free or at cost if people are willing to take a risk, and I'm sure you'll have more guitars that need nuts or tuners or setups than you'll know what to do with. When you get good at it, call around and find out the going rates for such work, and start charging for it. Before you know it, you'll be all the way up to making minimum wage.

 

[Johnny]

Ahhh Cagey, really. Buy a book?  With a thousand YouTube videos out there to teach you everything you could possibly want to know? 

Just joking, but seriously, I think it depends. If the courses are good (maybe a big if), you should be able to pick up the knowledge and skills faster than doing it on your own. Plus it'll probably help with getting a job.

With that being said, I don't disagree with Cagey's comments. With $2K, I can get a lot of tools and some bodies and necks to figure out what I'm doing, but you better be committed to it. You're looking for a profession not a hobby.

This is off topic, but one of the stories I like to tell is twenty-five years ago, Ray Henning sent me to a local Luther just getting started with his own shop to fix my Takamine 12 string. The guy fixed it for $70. To this day, it plays beautifully and was crap when I took it in to him. Try getting Collings to do that now.  Of course, if I'd been smart, I would have bought one of the guitars he was starting to make. I can't imagine what one of Collings first guitars would now be worth.

 

[LushTone]

Cool story. ^

You are all right about the possibility of teaching myself these skills outside of a school setting. Unfortunately, people usually only care about what you can put on a resume.

 

[pabloman]

I've never once been asked for a high school diploma, Lincoln Tech certificates or even my ASE cert including the Master Tech certifications. Kinda pissed me off because I wanted to show them to everyone. Now a stupid first aid/CPR card I've had to show more times than I can remember. With trades like this paper is good but the proof is in the pudding. You are more likely to get a shot based on someone's first impression of you rather than a piece of paper. Anyone you apprentice with will want you to do it his way anyway. That being said its nice to go in looking for a job with a strong skillset and a piece of paper showing you paid for it.

 

[alterbridgefan]

Ahhh Cagey, really. Buy a book?  With a thousand YouTube videos out there to teach you everything you could possibly want to know? 

Just joking, but seriously, I think it depends. If the courses are good (maybe a big if), you should be able to pick up the knowledge and skills faster than doing it on your own. Plus it'll probably help with getting a job.

With that being said, I don't disagree with Cagey's comments. With $2K, I can get a lot of tools and some bodies and necks to figure out what I'm doing, but you better be committed to it. You're looking for a profession not a hobby.

This is off topic, but one of the stories I like to tell is twenty-five years ago, Ray Henning sent me to a local Luther just getting started with his own shop to fix my Takamine 12 string. The guy fixed it for $70. To this day, it plays beautifully and was crap when I took it in to him. Try getting Collings to do that now.  Of course, if I'd been smart, I would have bought one of the guitars he was starting to make. I can't imagine what one of Collings first guitars would now be worth.

:cool01: Austinites unite...

 

[LushTone]

I've never once been asked for a high school diploma, Lincoln Tech certificates or even my ASE cert including the Master Tech certifications. Kinda pissed me off because I wanted to show them to everyone. Now a stupid first aid/CPR card I've had to show more times than I can remember. With trades like this paper is good but the proof is in the pudding. You are more likely to get a shot based on someone's first impression of you rather than a piece of paper. Anyone you apprentice with will want you to do it his way anyway. That being said its nice to go in looking for a job with a strong skillset and a piece of paper showing you paid for it.

That makes sense, I agree there.

 

[Jumble Jumble]

The problem with learning in the job is that it might be years before you encounter some of the more obscure problems. Of course, when you do, all those books and videos will still be there.

I interviewed Slash's current tech a while back and he went to luthier school after getting out of the Marines. Instead of repairing the school's instruments that weren't really broken, after a while he started going to local shops and asking for guitars that needed work. Then he'd take those into school and have them teach him to fix stuff. That struck me as a good idea - the best of both worlds. It meant that by the time he finished school the shops knew who he was. So when he got his qualification it was no problem for him to find work.

 

[LushTone]

That's a good idea! ^ I'll try it out.

 

[TheDrizzle]

1) Buy a few cheap guitars
2) Throw them off a cliff
3) Fix them

 

[LushTone]

1) Buy a few cheap guitars
2) Throw them off a cliff
3) Fix them

LOL.