Requests for information

Despite having given up practically everything i know on YouTube I get personal requests for advice which usually start: "(insert another luthier's name) does so and so, such and such a way. I think that (offers opinion) . What do you do and what do you think...? And so it goes on. Anyone else out there struggling to politely deal with such? What's worse is when they have openly confessed discussing my work with other luthiers and then wanting my opinion on said luthier's work when in truth, I don't get to see much of my peers stuff. I sometimes feel very backed against the wall and ready to bite back. I learnt so much by trial error, by looking and comparing, playing and reading, doing and undoing. It seems most of the time, these inquisitors are tying themselves up in knots asking as many people for their opinions, getting too many and then expecting me and others I am sure to make the decisions for them. Frustrating or what?

the problem is you can't change the way you are always trying to help what i say is if you can help one person it's worth it and your so at your job just ask all the people you have made ukes for keep smiling nige

I get those emails too. It is frustrating. When I get people fishing for info then I typically am very slow to respond to emails. My experience is that they get an idea in their head and they need to substantiate it, so they'll track down whomever they can to have a dialog with about it. I find that if I wait a day or so to respond, they've already moved on to their next obsession. I simply avoid those discussions. My answer is usually along the lines of "This is how I do it and it works for me, but I don't know how the other guys does it so I can't give a fair answer."

Last week I got an email that said, "Why does my Kala baritone buzz?" :wallbash:

The Kala baritone buzzes because it doesn't know the words...

All you can do is to say, "This is how I do it; if you want to try some other way, be my guest..."

There are solid reasons for every technique I use, every choice I make in woods, every tool I choose. Some of those choices are of economy, some come out of well examined tradition (note that phrase...), some come from my curiosity as it relates to other fields including electronics, digital signal processing, architecture, mechanical engineering, etc.

Too many aspiring luthiers want the short cut to the top of the hill, and they have little respect for those of us who have paved the road up.

I think the hard part for me is the constant drilling down for answers that I frankly don't have. I didn't pay attenyion when I was at school, I'm no scientist and you know how bad my spelling is. I do not know the physics of things and unless I have amickey mouse schematic cannot wire a pickup, understand why you need capacitors and resistors or barely understand the tools in my CAD program... But like Rick, I've done my 10,000 hours at the bench over and over and am still on a journey of discovery. I just wish some of these guys would make the effort themselves for the journey alone would yield gems. And I am more than sure that if we were to all lay our techniques and thoughts on the line, the uninformed would be perplexed at the variety of approches that all seem to unite in products which are deemed acceptable by our clients and keep us in business. My recent abalam thread shows the worlds of difference between myself and Chuck whom I admire, totally respect but haven't a hope in emulating - I'm not that boutique builder and don't pretend to be. Yet I hope that my instruments would be equal in sound, projection, intonation and sweetness as any of my peers.

I wish 10,000 hours was enough time for mastery. It's not. That's only 5 years of 40 hours a week times 50 weeks a year. The figure should be closer to 30,000 hours.

The inquiries I love are from people having someone else build an uke for them and asking my advice about it!
"So and so is building an uke for me, do you think I should get a radius fret board and what kind of wood will sound best?" Those crack me up.
Then I get "So and so is building an uke for me but doesn't do inlay work. Would you do the inlay work for me?"
Or, "My builder refuses to use Pegheds. Would you be willing to contact him and convince him to do so?" (Or sell him some 5A koa, etc.)
Someone recently finished an uke building class (not from anyone here) and brought it to my shop to show me. After seeing my work he asked if I could bind his uke, install a rosette, change the fret board wood and do some inlay on it. Oh, and refinish it of course!

These inquiries are annoying but just part of doing business, especially if you have some degree of exposure. If you are used to sharing information freely it's almost expected that you are offering a public service. I usually respond lightly and succinctly.

Remember, most customers have no idea what we do. It's part of out job to inform them what we can and can not offer them. Don't take it too seriously. Feel flattered that they think you know something!

That's really funny Chuck. Boy you get all the good gigs!

My beef is not with customers who are obviously paying for your expertise. It's with those budding builders. They just drive me nuts. I feel like saying, "You either got the mojo or you ain't. You clearly ain't buddy.... go watch some more videos and build a few more ukes yourself"

As a budding builder (well really budding repairman at this point and future budding builder) I can say there is so much information out there it is crazy and it is difficult to sort through. It seems like there are dozens of ways to reach the same goal and dozens more ways to do it wrong. Doing something one way will have great results for one person and their building methods and it would spell disaster for another and his methods. It is hard for new guys to understand why that may be. In a lot of ways I have come to see the pros and the hobby guys with a lot of builds under their belts as mentors or teachers even though we've never met or had much interaction. It's sort of what happens when someone posts so much information out there (wow that sort of sounds creepy and stalker-ish, sorry). I think people are trying to stand on the shoulders of the giants and get lost in the clouds.

I have benefited greatly from this forum and some of the big name guys that post here (and some of the budding builders). I have also asked some pretty dumb questions. People have been kind enough to answer me. Many of the pros here drop pearls like crazy, others less frequently but often enough, and still other just put all of their knowledge on Youtube so there isn't much to ask them (or shouldn't be if you're watching). I have spent hours reading through the luthier forum and I still haven't hit every post. and that is just this forum alone, nearly every guitar, mando, banjo, uke forum has a luthier section packed with info. What i have decided to do it take the best advice I can use. There have been some things that have sounded like great ideas but they are beyond my current level of skill, or they use tools I don't have access to, etc. I think the best advice I've seen in this thread is, "build a few more ukes yourself."

I am in a different field (one of my side jobs) and I had to start charging a consultation fee. If they book with me it goes towards their balance. It is nonrefundable. My time is valuable. So is yours.

The time I spend building is very valuable... to Stew-Mac, LMI and a variety of tonewood suppliers.

A little off topic, but... i get a kick out of the people who look at the ukulele as a toy, then they see my price tag. When people are exposed to years of Ibanez, Martins made in Mexico, and Oscar Schmidt, they dont have a frame of reference for hand crafted instruments. I can't tell you how many college students I have run into for whom 300 bucks in an expensive, high-end guitar.

Rick Turner said:

Too many aspiring luthiers want the short cut to the top of the hill, and they have little respect for those of us who have paved the road up.

Click to expand...

ChrisRCovington said:

I think people are trying to stand on the shoulders of the giants and get lost in the clouds.
"

Click to expand...

Both nicely put.

I "like" it when after telling a customer what the problem is, why it happened, how to prevent it, how it shall be fixed etc, they say "but I read on the internet.......(insert something involving liquid nails here)"

HA! You folks should worry...see what happens when you accidentally let it slip in a bar that you're an IT engineer and consultant. In 20 years, I don't think I've had one single person buy me a beer for sorting their problem or spending 2 hours advising them on IT strategy/computer upgrade path/best software for a given task/how to get coffee out of a keyboard/stop their kids looking at p*** (tip:you can't).

The Big Kahuna said:

HA! You folks should worry...see what happens when you accidentally let it slip in a bar that you're an IT engineer and consultant. In 20 years, I don't think I've had one single person buy me a beer for sorting their problem or spending 2 hours advising them on IT strategy/computer upgrade path/best software for a given task/how to get coffee out of a keyboard/stop their kids looking at p*** (tip:you can't).

Click to expand...

hahahahhaha.
I've never seen the words 'stop' and 'p***' in the one sentence before!

Hey Pete,

You should feel flattered that people ask for your advice. (no one asks for my advice but I give it anyway )

Maybe you should just create a FAQ document for yourself. Then you can cut and paste responses quickly whiles sounding reasonably nice.
I'd end each response with a disclaimer, something like....."There are many different and valid techniques used to build ukuleles. Builders can achieve success with very different designs and building theories. The final choices are up to the builder's preferences and goals. The final results are up to the builder's skill"

Pete, because you so freely put out a ton of videos people naturally assume you enjoy sharing information. You've sort of set yourself up to be the go-to guy for building information.

I know the feeling, I advertise to buy certain vintage items and get maybe 75% just looking to get a value, because they want an offer then don't respond back when I want to meet to give and exact value that I will pay after I give a ballpark quote.

Maybe think of it as a chance to build your reputation as a good guy. I second the idea in ksquine's post of just putting together a a draft that says

"Here's the books I found helpful, here's the list of my videos, here is a list of luthiers who do building workshops, here's my top ten dos and don'ts. We learn by DOING and by trial and error. Only you can define your personal preferences. Have fun and watch your fingers!"

It doesn't help anyone to be upset by it, for you ( or any irritated builder) especially in that you are the one who carries that feeling in your body; it does nothing to anyone else. By this I just mean that our feelings are our feelings. Time is money absolutely, but there is the tribal knowledge aspect and to some extent karma, in that it is good to mentor and teach. I would as a potential buyer suggest that any luthier leave the questioner feeling okay rather than rejected by giving them the copy and paste reply. You can open with "Because of my busy building schedule I don't have the time to answer personal questions, but here's a list of resources I have complied to help new builders. I have spent years developing my own techniques and so has everyone else. You will too. It's a rewarding journey. If you would like to be on the list for one of my workshops, please let me know and I will advise to of the dates and locations coming up."

Even if it doesn't answer their question, it's a nice reply, it's just copy and paste, it could even generate sales, and as Chuck noted you already have great videos up, I have watched a few and thank you very much!

I hereby nominate Teek as head of public relations for the lutherie industry.