Guitar repairs vs. Amp/electronic repairs comparing the sim/diff in each business

[AudioWorks]

Well i allways think about what would be a more secure business to start up if for whatever reason you couldnt do both or you wanted to put all your time in only one. Saying your eqaully skilled in both electronics and guitars.
Things ive noticed is that there is alot more Guitar setup/repair places then amp repair shops in my city. Would you think this is due to there being a bigger demand for guitar repairs then amp and proaudio repairs? Or is there just more people skilled in guitar setups and customization then then are amp/pa techs. Is it easier to start a guitar shop less equipment needed or is it about equal or harder. Just looking for what people have found in there own expeirinces and what any ones attempted themselves. I sometimes find shops that do both can sometimes do both at a lower quality then the shop that specializes in being really good at one. Also ive seen alot of trade school that teach guitar repair and building but i think ive seen just one that teaches amp repair and design.
At one point i was looking for a guy that could do every aspect of guitar repair and customization and it was hard to find some one who could do things like custom paint, neck work body work... I had alot of guys tell me they could do set ups fret work electrical and that was about it. Maybe the ones i was looking for allready had there own shop. I dont plan on doing guitar work anymore that was like a year ago when i wanted to feel it out but im still curious about the comparisons in profitablity, knowledge and skill needed, and difficulty in all aspects of a business.

[jrfrond]

Since I do both, and have for an equal amount of time (got into both when I was around 15), I think I can make an unbiased statement here:

If you want to talk electronic troubleshooting vs. guitar setups and basic repairs, electronic troubleshooting is the tougher of the two. And actually, the skill level comparison is somewhat skewed. Electronic troubleshooting and repair is a skilled trade like luthiery. Guitar setups and basic repairs requires an eye, some creative and basic skills, but is NOT luthiery per se. You don't need to know how to build a guitar even to do a decent fret job. One of the best setup guys I know really doesn't even play guitar! Neither did Leo Fender.

There ARE specialty amp shops, as well as specialty guitar shops. At both, you will probably receive a high caliber of specialized service, maybe even have an amp or instrument designed for you from the ground up.

The unfortunate part is that the demand for custom-built amps and guitar, as well as complete restorations and refins is minute as compared to everyday repairs and maintenance, and many shops I have seen personally that are too highly-specialized usually bury themselves by not being flexible or versatile enough.

So, why does it need to be one vs. the other? You do yourself AND your client base more justice by being able to do both. On a retail level, the last thing you want to do is send customers elsewhere for another service. This is why, in our shop, we service all phases of pro audio and musical repair, as well as maintain manufacturer authorizations that pay squat. At tax time, it's the shop with the largest paying client base that wins. Your profit comes in little pieces, one hour of labor at a time. More customers = more billable hours = more money = open for business. The more services you can provide, the better off you will be.

[AudioWorks]

Well thanks for the input there. I used to be really intent on having a guitar station in my building. Had a few guys ready to go after searching for the longest and not finding anyone reliable or reasonable. Started advertising for it and got a very very small response in comparison to electronic repairs. I know i might not have given it long enough for word of mouth to come around but it was much less response then i even got when i first opened my doors to amp repair.

Then i started getting more and more orders for electronic repairs from customers and companies and all the referrals that i just got busy with that. We allready do pretty much all pro audio electronic repairs like keyboards, mixers, effects, all kinds of amps, not only tube amps though i really do love tube amp work most of all, analog synthesizers and more. We even do electromechanical repairs like Fender rhodes, wurlitzers, clavinets... And ive just set up a speaker recone station thats picking up pretty well. But i added things based on demmand. I had lots of people asking if i did recones so i started offering it.
I might feel it out again if i find a reputable experienced guitar guy. I just feel it must be very saturated in this area for me to never get asked about it like i do with other areas of repair. It really was surprising to me to get such a comparatively smaller amount of guitar setup/repair request as opposed to other work

[Alex R]

I just do electronic repairs and the odd setup if someone really wants it. I talk a lot to local guitar techs here in the UK. There are many more of them than there are amp techs here also.

They tell me that the work that makes the money for them is the simple set-up type jobs, but that they like to take on more interesting things at times, and get satisfaction, though little profit, from building complete guitars.

I think the guitar work is much more localised and has a stronger need for a client base than amp work. For a lot of guys getting a setup is a bit like going to the barber's. Once you build up your regular clients it's good business I think. Whereas amp work is more often a response to an unexpected emergency, so you need to be advertising in such a way as to be found when someone suddenly discovers a need. So the difference is, guitar guys have more regulars and are more local, so it takes a while to get established, whereas amp work is more of an emergency service so if they need you and you have advertised right they will come to you. Not that I don't have regulars - about 40% of my work comes from returning customers, but they'd be returning more often and there'd be a higher percentage of them if I was doing guitar work.

I think that electronic troubleshooting is a rare skill and hard to teach. I get a lot of EE degree-holders bringing their amps to me, and a lot of hobbyists with lots of experience. People who say things like 'I took every component off the board and tested them all and I still can't fix it'. Maybe it's experience but whatever it is it's a skill worth having and very much in demand from people with expensive electronic equipment that they can't afford to throw away. For guitar work you need slow-build craft skills, but I think that they are easier to acquire over time for a wider range of folk than the electronic stuff, which is more dependent on adopting a mental attitude, a kind of open-mindedness, both a willingness to learn and an openness to the unpredictable, and on a wider range of other attributes such as understanding of current and voltage (some can't get this at all ever), and so on. So maybe that's why there are fewer amp guys than guitar guys. Or maybe the amp guys have a higher rate of attrition what with the high voltages and all...

[jrfrond]

Besides overall management of our business and techs, I do much of the specialized work, e.g. guitar repairs, speaker reconing, SMD replacement, digital mixers, vintage synths, et al. These are all VERY different functions requiring a separate skill set and tools as well. Unfortunately, having only 2300 square-feet of space here in uber-rent NYC to squeeze six techs, two frontmen in a reception area, a parts department, shipping, two small offices and unit/supply storage, we need to multi-task at each bench, mine especially. I have metal shop drawers in my bench and a cabinet behind me to house everything I need, and when I need to shift gears, one set of tools gets put away while the others get pulled out. You don't need A LOT of space to do a lot of work, but you need to be smart and efficient in your layout. So really, there is no reason to NOT perform extra functions, as long as you have the ability. Each one you do chips away at the red ink on the books.