$40 for a tune up??

[Bones]

Re: $40 for a tune up??

My setups plus the strings have always been 20 by my local dude. Maybe you go to a bigger shop. He's the only one that works in his.

 

[Lewguitar]

Re: $40 for a tune up??

I do all of my own work, including refrets. Any adult who's realy good at what they do deserves more than $20 an hour...especially if your overhead (rent, electricity, etc.) is included in that $20 an hour. A plumber makes more than that! Lew

 

[Zerberus]

Re: $40 for a tune up??

Having several friends with shops, running real businesses (overhead, payrolls, insurance,etc.) I don't see how anyone doing it for a living could charge less than $45 for a setup, it can't be worth doing it for less. You are paying for a professional's time to do a professional job, if that isn't worth it to you then you take your chances. There is always someone who will do it for less.

I do all of my own work, including refrets. Any adult who's realy good at what they do deserves more than $20 an hour...especially if your overhead (rent, electricity, etc.) is included in that $20 an hour. A plumber makes more than that! Lew

Exactly what I was getting at. Why should we do setups at all if we can make more in the same time working @ a grocery store when the dust settles and the costs are paid?

 

[Lu_B]

Re: $40 for a tune up??

Whereabouts in Brum is that if you don'tmind me asking? Birmingham is quite local for me.

The guys name is Trevor Birch and his workshop is in PMT Birmingham. (He doesn't work for them he's freelance)

Professional Music Technology
136, Lawley Middleway
Birmingham
West Midlands B4 7XX
View Multimap

Tel: 0121 3595056
Fax: 0121 333698
email: birmingham@pmtonline.co.uk

 

[FenderBoy]

Re: $40 for a tune up??

Having several friends with shops, running real businesses (overhead, payrolls, insurance,etc.) I don't see how anyone doing it for a living could charge less than $45 for a setup, it can't be worth doing it for less. You are paying for a professional's time to do a professional job, if that isn't worth it to you then you take your chances. There is always someone who will do it for less.

I agree. I see it as I'm paying a craftsman for his artwork on this. The guy I went ot in Boston ( Jim Mouradian) had a stream of people dropping off and picking up on a Saturday. He told me that in the1 1/2 hour he'd been there that day he hadn't soldered a single connection due to all the interuptions.

Everyone needs to make a living

 

[UCSDBoy]

Re: $40 for a tune up??

I agree. The problem with better, faster, cheaper is nobody appreciates the value of labor. Unless I want to ship my guitar off to India for a setup, lol, I better be able to pay a guy enough that he can live in San Diego.

Ack, that's the same way I feel about working for the government - so many other agencies ask you to do work pro-bono. Since I started working for Uncle Sam I've come to the conclusion that only half of all government workers slack off - the ones with any talent are busy doing more with less...

 

[Mac-P]

Re: $40 for a tune up??

What??!! Only $40? What a STEAL!! In NYC, an string change and basic setup by a decent tech will set you back $75 + strings.

Oh yea. NY is rough.

I agree on learning to do it yourself. I wont let anyone touch my guitars. They certainly can't do as good a job as me because I know what I like, and will spend as much time as it takes to get it EXACTLY how I like it. NO one will give it that much attention.

I'll put on a movie and take a few hours getting everything JUST right. Action, intonation, string and pickup balance - everything.

And then keep tweaking it as it needs it.

That is one of the most valuable skills you can aquire. It will save you MUCH heartache and cash over the course of your life.

:burnout:

 

[Xeromus]

Re: $40 for a tune up??

man o man. I love my local tech. He does all kinds of weird wiring crap for me and sets up my guitars and does a fantastic job. He never charges me over $25 for any of it most of the time and he gets it back to me the same day. Great guy too. I'm just lucky. Before I moved here though the nearest decent tech was 45 minutes away and he charged about $75 for a full setup.