...I know a lot of these guys have been around a while and they have ego's like most musicians. When some customer brings a guitar back complaining of something that tech did wrong, they are usually offended....
Maybe I'm just \"lucky\" to live in an area where the local musicians don't get paid much. Nobody around here that gigs for pay has a big ego. We just don't get much money to inflate our egos. Most of the guys have day jobs that pay the bills. The gigging money mainly goes right back into equipment upgrades and/or maintenance.
My experience with our local tech \"pro\" was not a positive experience, but it was in no way my fault. He was the one who broke any potential future work by charging more than agreed upon, and by slamming my guitar after he worked on it. Despite his poor attitude and crappy business ethics, I thanked him for his work, paid him the extra money over what we agreed, and left never to bring anything back to him. I try not to let bad behaviour of others affect the way I want to treat people.
I know that some of the local merchants have a slim margin on their products. But I also know that sometimes they have items marked way too high. If I really want something that a local merchant stocks, I look it up online to find out how much it would cost me delivered to my door. As a matter of business (I'm a gigging musician with expenses) I just tell them straight out I can get the product for $$$ on MF, can they beat or match that price? Sometimes they can and I buy from them, sometimes they can't and I get the item online. I don't expect them to sell under their cost, but they can't expect me to pay a premium to buy gear from them either. But I always tell them that I want to buy locally first whenever I can and support them if the price is right.
.... Wish my parents would have bought me a guitar when I was a kid... :shock: :roll: I sure wouldn't have btched about free extras! LoL
I paid about $350 for my first real guitar - a used Les Paul copy with hardshell case - out of my own pocket, washing dishes at a local restaurant for $1.85 an hour. Go figure how long it took me to save up for that guitar. Most of that summer. Treated that guitar like my prized possession, I was so proud of it. Same thing with mowing lawns to make money to buy a bike. My parents did not have the money to buy me things like that. They paid for the house, food, utilities, etc. and just did not have anything much left over. But that was OK for me and my brothers and sisters.
Compare that to my younger nieces and nephews who never worked for anything, they had their divorced dad pay for their stuff, and the kids never really take care of anything because dad will just buy them a new one if it breaks. Try to tell a kid to put the bike in the garage because it's going to rain, and then have them tell you it's no big deal because dad will buy them another one if it gets all rusted. WTF? Am I that old already that my values are so outdated?
Sorry about the personal rant about family stuff, but I'm thankful I had to work hard and save up money for my guitars. If my parents would have bought them for me just because they had the money, I don't know if my guitar really would have held the same value to me as it did.
. My parents did not have the money to buy me things like that.
.
:roll: .. the thing is mine did~! but his new harley, vehicles, boats and what not had more pressidents over his child :roll: \" when your 18 you buy an do whatever you want :roll: \" All I ever heard .. yet when I come home with this ole hagstrom I get the third degree .. where you get money for that from who bla bla bla.. frickon some quick thinking there to satisfy the beast... :twisted: very well couldn't tell 'em I trade a nickle of his stash for it!! lmmfao yet I still miss the seventies!
...
WTF? Am I that old already that my values are so outdated?
I'm a little older than you. Trust me...you'll get worse.
I sit out front of my house glaring at the neighbor kids, yelling... \"GET THE HELL OFF MY YARD!\" :evil:
I got soooo sick of the techs around here that I bought every book available and learned on my own.Sad part is there weren't many good books to buy in 1985 :roll: I learned that if you act like a tech around techs,they'll tell you everything but if you let them know your a newbie...they clam up quick Luckilly I was a refinishing expert so that kept me in the loop.....I'd be working on Alan Jacksons car stuff and those stories would get my foot in the door enough to find out tons of tricks :twisted: This went on for years but at least I never had to deal with \"guitar tech attitudes\" from a customer angle.In Nashville,it seems that 1 out of 3 people play guitar so I was always helping friends out with theirs.........I have heard mooooore horror stories :shock:
as far as pesky customers and people who want something for nothing.....I'm glad I'm in the \"private sector\" and get to interview customers and if I think their flaky.....I refer them to someone else and avoid the whole mess......life is better when you can pick and choose 8)
...I know a lot of these guys have been around a while and they have ego's like most musicians. When some customer brings a guitar back complaining of something that tech did wrong, they are usually offended....
Maybe I'm just \"lucky\" to live in an area where the local musicians don't get paid much. Nobody around here that gigs for pay has a big ego. We just don't get much money to inflate our egos. Most of the guys have day jobs that pay the bills. The gigging money mainly goes right back into equipment upgrades and/or maintenance.
Avg pay for bar gigs here is $400- $500. Trust me, I have seen thousands of ego maniacs that pay to play too. It's their friends, their band mates, and other things that blow them up bigger than they deserve usually.
On the other side of this, most of the guys I'm talking about never got out of the basement or had a short live band moment. Their satisfaction is when a real stage player is talking to other guitarists about the work they had done on that guitar and how they love it and recommend that luthier. They never say, yeah but the dude uses profanity.... in reality, I'll bet the guitarist showing his new setup is dropping F bombs in between the descriptions... So I suppose he feels connected some way with his tech..fwiw.
Egos are a personal thing imo and ime. There are players that go to other gigs and rip on the other guys all night long about what they play, how they play a solo note for note yada yada. I don't care, It's bodies and they bring friends. As long as they maintain themselves, they can think what they want. I hear guys say I'll never play that song.... well good. They say that as they see our dance floor packed with people having a good time.
Egos can be good too, since it sets that person apart and helps them maintain a confidence about them others appreciate more. That's why a lot of girls gravitated to the ego head, it's how some athletes or other professionals stay on top of their game. It's cool to humble yourself too, but when you are in a profession, you have to stand out.
[Egos can be good too, since it sets that person apart and helps them maintain a confidence about them others appreciate more. That's why a lot of girls gravitated to the ego head, it's how some athletes or other professionals stay on top of their game. It's cool to humble yourself too, but when you are in a profession, you have to stand out.
I agree.. in this aspect of ego's... What burns me .. is the ego that slams and ridicules a beginer or someone that isn't up to their caliber.. Or the Gods gift to the world working in whatever music store.. etc.. When I see someone that forgot where they came from, that's when I start to rub an ego an see if it will catch fire!
Like the guys face :shock: that had some dude that never tried to play in his life, talked into an $800 accoustic! I happen to be standing around and for some reason the guy asked me what I thought.. LoL .. Long story short, he walked out with the yamaha on sale for $150 .. That sales jerk was PO'd at me! LoL.. But that's ok, I was laughing heartily inside. As he had screwed me in the past!
But then there was the real cool sales dude that got the commision from my Martin purchase. After I got the sales slip I was like \"no case\" He was like, no man that one don't come with a case. All I said was wow thought all martins would come with a case.. He said tell you what, I got a damaged case I will let you have for $20 .. Alls it had was a divet/hole the size of your pinky, that didn't go all the way though.. I was like cool you got a deal.. Don't whine an pitch a fit and demand, some treat you right nice! Them cases were on sale at the time for $100.. 8)
....Never mind, just looked up more alternative definitions of WTF elsewhere and discovered there was one definition that could be offensive to some people if taken the wrong way. :shock:
I'll plead \"not guilty\" on this one, that's my story, and I'll stick to it.
I sure hope SOL (Sadly Outta Luck) is still permissible! Although I've also always used this in the polite form, I've heard that abbreviation can also be taken a different way.
“To me, all guitar players can play, because I know they're getting to where they're at. It's a very hard instrument to accept, because it takes years to start working with it, that's first, and it looks like everybody else is moving on the instrument but you. Then when you find a cat that's really playing, you always find that he's been playing a long time, you can't get around it.”
Wes Montgomery
Words to live by..
When you feel like you're really good, take a listen to this. Should bring you right back down to earth. And I don't care who you are. PRO amatuer, etc..
I think that's something we can all aspire to. You know, I've been playing a long time, and the cat's I've met that are TRULY monsters, as a whole are the nicest guys around. The guys that carry all that ego, as a rule, CANT play.
I've got the best tech in the world right here in Houston. Been using him for years.
Jim Fulton Lone Star Guitars.. http://www.lonestarguitarshop.com/index.html
Excellent luthier, reasonable prices, and one hell of a nice guy..
Highly reccomended.
I just had him do a fret job on my L5. That ought to tell you how much I trust him..
Comments
Maybe I'm just \"lucky\" to live in an area where the local musicians don't get paid much. Nobody around here that gigs for pay has a big ego. We just don't get much money to inflate our egos. Most of the guys have day jobs that pay the bills. The gigging money mainly goes right back into equipment upgrades and/or maintenance.
My experience with our local tech \"pro\" was not a positive experience, but it was in no way my fault. He was the one who broke any potential future work by charging more than agreed upon, and by slamming my guitar after he worked on it. Despite his poor attitude and crappy business ethics, I thanked him for his work, paid him the extra money over what we agreed, and left never to bring anything back to him. I try not to let bad behaviour of others affect the way I want to treat people.
I know that some of the local merchants have a slim margin on their products. But I also know that sometimes they have items marked way too high. If I really want something that a local merchant stocks, I look it up online to find out how much it would cost me delivered to my door. As a matter of business (I'm a gigging musician with expenses) I just tell them straight out I can get the product for $$$ on MF, can they beat or match that price? Sometimes they can and I buy from them, sometimes they can't and I get the item online. I don't expect them to sell under their cost, but they can't expect me to pay a premium to buy gear from them either. But I always tell them that I want to buy locally first whenever I can and support them if the price is right.
I paid about $350 for my first real guitar - a used Les Paul copy with hardshell case - out of my own pocket, washing dishes at a local restaurant for $1.85 an hour. Go figure how long it took me to save up for that guitar. Most of that summer. Treated that guitar like my prized possession, I was so proud of it. Same thing with mowing lawns to make money to buy a bike. My parents did not have the money to buy me things like that. They paid for the house, food, utilities, etc. and just did not have anything much left over. But that was OK for me and my brothers and sisters.
Compare that to my younger nieces and nephews who never worked for anything, they had their divorced dad pay for their stuff, and the kids never really take care of anything because dad will just buy them a new one if it breaks. Try to tell a kid to put the bike in the garage because it's going to rain, and then have them tell you it's no big deal because dad will buy them another one if it gets all rusted. WTF? Am I that old already that my values are so outdated?
Sorry about the personal rant about family stuff, but I'm thankful I had to work hard and save up money for my guitars. If my parents would have bought them for me just because they had the money, I don't know if my guitar really would have held the same value to me as it did.
:roll: .. the thing is mine did~! but his new harley, vehicles, boats and what not had more pressidents over his child :roll: \" when your 18 you buy an do whatever you want :roll: \" All I ever heard .. yet when I come home with this ole hagstrom I get the third degree .. where you get money for that from who bla bla bla.. frickon some quick thinking there to satisfy the beast... :twisted: very well couldn't tell 'em I trade a nickle of his stash for it!! lmmfao
...
I sit out front of my house glaring at the neighbor kids, yelling... \"GET THE HELL OFF MY YARD!\" :evil:
I got soooo sick of the techs around here that I bought every book available and learned on my own.Sad part is there weren't many good books to buy in 1985 :roll: I learned that if you act like a tech around techs,they'll tell you everything but if you let them know your a newbie...they clam up quick
as far as pesky customers and people who want something for nothing.....I'm glad I'm in the \"private sector\" and get to interview customers and if I think their flaky.....I refer them to someone else and avoid the whole mess......life is better when you can pick and choose 8)
Yeah, my dad is pretty much there. I suppose it's just a matter of time for me.
Aw Man!! But it's so ... so grown up! ''
Avg pay for bar gigs here is $400- $500. Trust me, I have seen thousands of ego maniacs that pay to play too. It's their friends, their band mates, and other things that blow them up bigger than they deserve usually.
On the other side of this, most of the guys I'm talking about never got out of the basement or had a short live band moment. Their satisfaction is when a real stage player is talking to other guitarists about the work they had done on that guitar and how they love it and recommend that luthier. They never say, yeah but the dude uses profanity.... in reality, I'll bet the guitarist showing his new setup is dropping F bombs in between the descriptions... So I suppose he feels connected some way with his tech..fwiw.
Egos are a personal thing imo and ime. There are players that go to other gigs and rip on the other guys all night long about what they play, how they play a solo note for note yada yada. I don't care, It's bodies and they bring friends. As long as they maintain themselves, they can think what they want. I hear guys say I'll never play that song.... well good. They say that as they see our dance floor packed with people having a good time.
Egos can be good too, since it sets that person apart and helps them maintain a confidence about them others appreciate more. That's why a lot of girls gravitated to the ego head, it's how some athletes or other professionals stay on top of their game. It's cool to humble yourself too, but when you are in a profession, you have to stand out.
I agree.. in this aspect of ego's... What burns me .. is the ego that slams and ridicules a beginer or someone that isn't up to their caliber.. Or the Gods gift to the world working in whatever music store.. etc.. When I see someone that forgot where they came from, that's when I start to rub an ego an see if it will catch fire!
Like the guys face :shock: that had some dude that never tried to play in his life, talked into an $800 accoustic! I happen to be standing around and for some reason the guy asked me what I thought.. LoL .. Long story short, he walked out with the yamaha on sale for $150 .. That sales jerk was PO'd at me! LoL.. But that's ok, I was laughing heartily inside. As he had screwed me in the past!
But then there was the real cool sales dude that got the commision from my Martin purchase. After I got the sales slip I was like \"no case\" He was like, no man that one don't come with a case. All I said was wow thought all martins would come with a case.. He said tell you what, I got a damaged case I will let you have for $20 .. Alls it had was a divet/hole the size of your pinky, that didn't go all the way though.. I was like cool you got a deal.. Don't whine an pitch a fit and demand, some treat you right nice! Them cases were on sale at the time for $100.. 8)
What's This Foolishness (WTF)? Abbreviations with Fs are not allowed? http://www.acronymfinder.com/WTF.html
....Never mind, just looked up more alternative definitions of WTF elsewhere and discovered there was one definition that could be offensive to some people if taken the wrong way. :shock:
I'll plead \"not guilty\" on this one, that's my story, and I'll stick to it.
I sure hope SOL (Sadly Outta Luck) is still permissible! Although I've also always used this in the polite form, I've heard that abbreviation can also be taken a different way.
Wes Montgomery
Words to live by..
When you feel like you're really good, take a listen to this. Should bring you right back down to earth. And I don't care who you are. PRO amatuer, etc..
I think that's something we can all aspire to. You know, I've been playing a long time, and the cat's I've met that are TRULY monsters, as a whole are the nicest guys around. The guys that carry all that ego, as a rule, CANT play.
I've got the best tech in the world right here in Houston. Been using him for years.
Jim Fulton Lone Star Guitars..
http://www.lonestarguitarshop.com/index.html
Excellent luthier, reasonable prices, and one hell of a nice guy..
Highly reccomended.
I just had him do a fret job on my L5. That ought to tell you how much I trust him..