$12 Guitar Needs $8 Neck Shim

Why are there starving artists?

Because so many artists supply art in an abundance far beyond actual demand.

Your moms refrigerator only has so much space on it to pin up photos and other art.

I call that vertical real estate.

The value of vertical real estate is often overlooked, even though it may cost more to rent certain billboards than it does to rent an apartment twice its size

So a child’s artwork occupies space on their parents refrigerator, because its sentimental,

And this childs artwork is competing for this very valuable space with all the commercial “art” that would like to occupy space on your refrigerator... things like magnets for local food places, your car dealership, your next dental appt...

So when the supply of art far exceeds the demand for art, the price collapses to zero, or less,

And in some cases, just to stay warm, some people burn will paper money, which is just paper, with some “art” on it,

“art” that in most cases devalues the blank paper its printed on.

So anyway, musical instruments are kind of the same way.

Musical instruments are mass produced to the point where pianos are often given away for free, if you haul...

How does this relate to the title of the post?

Ive never worked in a guitar shop, or accepted any money for a guitar repair.

That being said, i see the economics of a guitar shop like this

Is it better to sell one $1000 guitar,

Or to sell ten $100 guitars?

Consider the relative economics of a set of new strings

If i bought this guitar for $12, then a $6 set of new strings is a relatively big investment compared to initial investment.

Are new strings worth it?

I think new strings are always worth it!

Because its not just the feel of the new strings, but the rest of the guitar set up.

Micro-adjustments. Cleaning.

So in the musical instrument business, there us always far more of a supply of work that needs to be done, than can ever be supply of the skilled labor it takes to do the work.

Every guitar needs to be tuned.

Every piano needs to be tuned.

How many people do you personally know who can tune a piano?

So the reason i was able to find a nice guitar for $12 is because the guitar was bought at a big box store, and then the guitar broke a string, and the guitar got returned to big box store as defective.

Big box store decides to “donate” 4 guitars, (along with other defective “goods” ) to a local charity (maybe thru goodwill idk)

I buy 5 string guitar for $12

Which is kinda funny because i would put new strings on even if one string wasn’t broken.

There’s really no good substitute for the feel of brand new strings

Brand new strings bring an instrument up to an established standard, or starting point.

So if i buy a guitar for $12, and “invest” $6 in new strings,

plus the $60/hr “shop rate” my time is worth

($1/minute shop rate is common. Literally charge by the minute)

But if i spend a minimum of 3 hours cleaning, adjusting, etc thats $180 in labor

So what is the guitar worth?

Look it up online. Find out what they sell for brand new.

I was standing in line at pawn shop to buy what i thought were good deals on gear.

I looked up value of two items, and both items were priced exactly what they were priced brand new online.

That was a big “ah ha!” Moment for me. How did pawn shop know what item was worth? They looked it up!

How much did pawn shop pay for item?

Its irrelevant to the price now!

They probably pay as little as possible, and get back as much as possible.

Buy low, sell high.

In the musical instrument repair business, you are handling other peoples sentimental belongings,

So right away there is separation anxiety of guitar owner when guitar is dropped off at guitar shop.

Then theres the frustrating feeling that it is taking way too long to get your instrument back to you...

And if you scratch, or ding, on accident?

You will be working with heavy, hard tools, such as wire cutters, in close proximity to a soft, high gloss surface that will show any ding or dent if you drop a tool just wrong.

So for me, its safer just to buy an instrument outright, own it outright,

and then if i take too long,

Or if i do some experiment that goes horribly wrong...

never wet a magic eraser with rubbing alcohol!!

And by experimenting with my own instruments, i am able to continuously improve my guitar tech skills,

without all the risks of working on other peoples property.

There’s a million $12 guitars. They are sitting in attics, and garages, and closets, and under beds, and in car trunks, and storage units...

They have one broken string,

And nobody to fix it.

So i buy a cheap guitar, practice my guitar tech skills, and...

No... I don’t sell my guitars.

My dream is to have a library, of sorts, of musical instruments that are available for people to check out like books from a library,

And on the Library end, have students and apprentices who service every instrument when its returned.

This means finding owners manual online, printing off a hard copy to keep with instrument case, at library shop, etc.

Binge watching how-to videos, before ever attempting to do a job, so you know what tools you’ll need, etc.

And building a small bay, with a good work bench, and a kits of good quality tools, and supplies, for each instrument.

It used to be that you could “rent” an instrument, but the economics of that seemed to have failed where-ever it is tried.

So how can we make good quality, well set up instruments available to people to use for a while,

while on the other hand anticipating the problems of the instrument rental business.

I feel that every piano that is not tuned, is a lost opportunity for someone to learn how to tune pianos.

And that the local musicians are always limited, by how well the local instruments are adjusted and tuned.

So is it worth it for me to shim this neck?

Probably some day but not today.

Sanded shim by hand the first time.

Looking for excuse to buy bench sander now.

Bench sander may be $80 to $500.

Stew Mac sells shims for $8...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kIUzd0IjchU

https://www.stewmac.com/tonewoods/shop-tonewood-by-instrument/electric-guitar-bodies-and-necks-and-wood/electric-guitar-necks/stewmac-neck-shims-for-guitar.html?utm_source=bing&utm_medium=cpc&utm_campaign=CP%20%7C%20MF%20%7C%20BNG%20%7C%20SHOP%20%7C%20NBR%20%7C%20All%20Products&utm_term=4578572614422301&utm_content=All%20Products