are guitar techs ripping us off.....................??

Keira-WitherKay

right so, i'm not the most practical person with tools ect so anything needing done was sent to the guitar tech...... in last year or so i have had 2 LR baggs ibeams fitted into 2 of my classicals........... the 1st at a cost of about R800(cos i wanted an overnight job so glad to pay more) and the 2nd was about R600 then the third time i wanted one removed from one of my classicals and installed in another which cost (R700) so now i wanted to do the same.............. and was about to take the guitars off to the tech. then someone mentioned ..go read the manual cos these systems are meant to be user fittable......i did.. read the manual............ only to find that the process was not complex at all...........

so i removed the system from the one guitar ........... by taking off one nut and 3 pieces of double sided tape............ took all of 3 min ....... then i needed to drill a hole in back for the strap button /output jack of the new guitar ... i drilled a pilot hole in 2 min no problem finish is fine........ and now just waiting to buy the drill bit for the 1/2 " size............ but i see no prob as i can hold a drill and use it ok

then to my amazement i had visions of the pickup placement being super complex .... but the pickup on the classical is designed to fit over a brace........ and by reading the manual i saw they even say it's all trial and error........ and that slanting the pickup ever so slightly will change the sound and states that for bigger sound place it directly under the bridge................ wow and here i thought it was rocket science........ and required precise measurements and special tools......... and the encouraging thing is even the manual says don't expect the 1st placement to be perfect try a few an pick best tone............. wow thats easy

so now i have already removed the strings had my hands inside the guitar and felt a clear area and the brace.......... so now i just stick it down and the battery just needs to have a piece of velcro (provided) doublesided taped to the inside the volume double side tapes to under the soundhole lip and thats it ................

1 hole and 3 small pieces of double sided tape........ and a bit of experimenting wher i get the best sound...... as in placement .... which btw how can a tech do for you .....since reading the manual it's possible to get the tone "YOU" like but making slight shift in placement ............ so no wonder i only liked the 1 guitars tone and never used the backup guitar live cos it sounded wrong... i blamed the guitar but seems maybe the placement woulda changed the tone..............

so yeah DIY week for me ................ the great thing is that long as the hole is drilled right which it will be............... there is no risk ........... and if it don't work i can take hat in hand .print an appology to the techs and book it in.......... this is only costing me 3 small pieces of double sided tape and i get to get the pickup placed to get the sound i favour not what some tech likes/prefers............

an eye opener ......and maybe the ibeam is easier than others but i coulda bought another guitar or two in my pawn shop hunting with what i spent on installation

PeteM

I don't think it's a case of them ripping us off. They do have to charge for their time after all.

But yeah, as musicians we do have to develop certain skills to maintain our instruments and gear. I reckon it also depends upon how long certain maintenance issues take and whether we have the time to devote to these or whether our time is better spent on developing our music rather than the tech issues.

I-M-Biased

Hi Keira
I guees to say "hello" is appropriate, seeing that I'm new around here, I have been following some of your comments, particular the ones with AJA's 40's amp and your Brazilians.
If you measured the time it took you to do the installation (inclusive of reading the manual and etc. etc) and allocate a cost to your time, it probably cost you more to do it yourself. On the other hand, if you had free time, then the cost of your time is zero, and then you scored.
Try getting a plumber or electrician out if you have a problem and check the callout fee. (I don't have anything against them - it's just reality and I pay them gladly). ?

Bob-Dubery

There are lots of things that one can do for oneself. EG doing the oil change on your car. EG fitting new machine heads to your guitar.

If, for whatever reason, you don't wish to do it yourself then you have to get somebody else to do it and they will want some kind of remuneration for that.

It's the usual story. You have to weigh the time and outlay for doing it yourself against the cost of getting an expert to do it.

Also the i-beam is not the typical acoustic guitar pickup installation. Many are more complex than this, requiring drilling holes in the bridge. Now the ante is upped and a mistake could prove to be costly.

In defence of the guitar techs as a class of people, I should remind the forum of the workshops that Andy McGibbon gave last year. He gave a lot of information, and gave it for free. People who attended those sessions should be much better equipped to maintain their own guitars and also to know when they're in over their heads.

Skywalker

Yeah! I think you're right there Pete.

Techies obviously have to charge for there efforts. Well done though Keira for taking the bull by the horns and doing it yourself.

I still take my guitars in to get a look over every once in a while just to make 100% sure that everything is cool. Normal day to day restringing and setup and replacing a pot or input jack etc. is easy enough to do if you do it regularly enough. Practice makes perfect I say 8)

aubs1

A few weeks ago I took a brand new Strat to a tech who has been "looking after" all my guitars for quite some time. He had to replace my standard PUPs with my new Kinman Woodstock Plus Pups. I called him to book a time when he was not too busy, and asked if we could do it while I waited.

We booked two hours for the next day, he replaced my PUPs, and did a set-up. It took about 3 hours. We also talked a lot of rubbish in-between work.
He charged me R350, including a new set of D'Addario Strings.

The point, it helps to let one tech work on your gear, you get to know him, what he's cabable of, and you can always go back if it's not right. In my case, I never have to.

PeteM wrote I don't think it's a case of them ripping us off. They do have to charge for their time after all.

Within reason.........

PeteM wrote But yeah, as musicians we do have to develop certain skills to maintain our instruments and gear. I reckon it also depends upon how long certain maintenance issues take and whether we have the time to devote to these or whether our time is better spent on developing our music rather than the tech issues.

I fully agree Pete........but I don't have the time to "experiment", in fact, I'm useless when it comes to technical stuff........rather take it to guys in the know, and tell him exactly what you want. (And keep the techs employed........hahahaha)

Jack-Flash-Jr

Agree with all the comments above... it's only a rip off if they charge you far more than another tech would for the same job. I do think however that consistently charging someone to change their strings for them when they're only not doing it because no-one has ever showed them or told them how easy it is might be crossing some kind of line.

AlanRatcliffe

I don't think they are ripping anyone off. Repairs and setup are labour intensive and labour is expensive.

In the case of pickup installations they are more profitable than most things (they used to be one of my bread-and-butter jobs, along with setups), but there are other jobs that are far more labour intensive (like fretwork) that you just cannot charge anywhere near the true cost in time. So it's often a case of what you lose on the swings you gain on the roundabout. Also nine out of ten pickup installations go smoothly and quickly, but the one that doesn't usually makes up for all the others ...and then some. You can spend days tracking down a the cause of a problematic installation, and there are things a pro will do in fitting that an amateur won't to forestall running into many common problems.

Oh, and they hate the "fixed it myself", "cap in hand" types - nine times out of ten whatever has been done by the user makes the repair twice as difficult.

[deleted]

+1 Alan. When I think about how much you pay for "specialised" trade skills like plumbers...there are far fewer guitar techs around and, as hours of labour go, they don't charge all that much.

PeteM

Stratisfear wrote +1 Alan. When I think about how much you pay for "specialised" trade skills like plumbers...there are far fewer guitar techs around and, as hours of labour go, they don't charge all that much.

+1 to both of you. It's a dedicated skill and I don't think they are getting rich off us.

Ray

aubs1

PeteM wrote
Stratisfear wrote +1 Alan. When I think about how much you pay for "specialised" trade skills like plumbers...there are far fewer guitar techs around and, as hours of labour go, they don't charge all that much.
+1 to both of you. It's a dedicated skill and I don't think they are getting rich off us.

The other thing is, if you are gonna install after-market stuff (eg. PUPs), it's a once-off.........you probably never change them for the rest of your life!!!!
So paying for a "good" job is absolutely worth it........

singemonkey

The only thing that's an issue is when the tech doesn't really know what they're doing. I remember having to explain when I had my P90s installed that they screw straight into the guitar body. He could have googled it. He claimed to know about P90s. Then how come I knew more? ???

But on a valuable instrument I won't take a chance on my negligible DIY skills. Sure a Bigsby is straight forward to install - string it up straight, drill a handful of holes and screw the sucker down. But no way am I putting it on my Gibson with my level of experience. I want someone who - if they haven't done it before - at least has the measure twice cut once mentality totally down, you know what I mean? So even if the work is simple, I'm paying for not stressing about the person screwing it up (which is also why it's good to get recommendations here first ? The guys my friends and I found before were bums).