How to best approach amp repair for a living...

[Reeltarded]

It's not just amp repair. This is everything in music. I meet more assholes who read the internet last night and that trumps my 30 years of experience in production.. even to the point of I am about to break up with my once friendly partner who has changed his world view toward asskissing garbage.

How to make a living at anything? No freakin' idea.

[dorrisant]

I have recently started repairing tube amps for a local store. I established from the beginning that I was to be given each customers phone number and let them know they may be contacted by their independent repair guy. I told them direct contact with the customer with regard to the amp issue(s) will save the customer labor time. This is usually true... sometimes you are back to square one when you hang up the phone. Most times it is helpful.
Also... the store owner I do work for will usually write a check for any work that I've done when I turn it in. We have an agreement that I get paid for my work even if he doesn't. I am pretty sure he has them sign a document that basically says if you don't pick it up in a reasonable amount of time it becomes store property.
The owner also picks up some vintage gear through trade-ins. I do restorations on these and we split the profit.
I have always felt like doing mostly amp repairs/mods and builds when they come along will not be enough. I also build and modify pedals as well as repairs and mods on guitar electronics. I work with a local luthier doing all of his wiring for all of his guitars. He is glad to have me take over that part of his production and I am happy to do the work for a more than fair price. He seems to have a very solid business on the way up.
The tube tester... I do most repairs without it but it has paid for itself many times over on the jobs when it can be used. There have been a few jobs where I could have kicked myself for not consulting it first. I do consider it a necessary tool.
Seems like a lot of the pros that I deal with are an invaluable source of contacts as well as positive publicity... but most of them expect handouts. So much so that I expect it.
Gonna go check out that book now...

Tony

[Prairie Dawg]

However this takes shape for you, the most important thing is to keep your overhead as low as possible, and that means working from home. Having a bricks and mortar presence, even if it's only $200 a month represents a lot of opportunity cost. If you spend $200 that you do not have to, then you have to go out and earn another $200 just to get back to where you were when you started, and then you've got to earn another $200 to be where you should have been in the first place, all of which takes time and shoe leather. A dollar not spent is worth $1.28 if you're in that tax bracket. Saving money has an immediate benefit and overhead will wipe you out.

As you look around you will find all sorts of ways to get an edge. When I buy parts or tubes I always look for opportunity buys, and if I have to special order something I load up the order with my stuff so as to take advantage of the cost break on shipping. I'm always looking for free shipping deals. Also remember there are a lot of people in China who sell pretty good stuff at a price and are happy to sell you a boxload. I buy things like tube sockets and capacitors from overseas.

Every time I special order something I think I have a use for I buy four or five and put them in stock. It helps to develop a network of friends who can help out with parts and such.

A good tube tester is a valuable tool and my Hickok, which is older than me, has sorted out a lot of dogs and sold a lot of tubes, which makes me money. I also built a tube matcher which has also sold me a lot of tubes.

What's worked for me best is being nice to people and not ripping them off. The two other guys here who do amp work have no customer relations skills I am aware of and that gives me an edge.

I'm a househusband and in addition to working on amps I have two other part time jobs, one of which is a 1099 type thing.

I've been down the layoff road a number of times (former aircraft mechanic and inspector at McDonnell Douglas) but after the last round in 1992 I went and got a graduate degree at the age of 48 which produces some income from online teaching. I also moved to a far less expensive place to live and work, and the wife works for the state. Don't overlook the idea of teaching online if you have a skill you can peddle.

And if you have student loans as I do (at age 64) do income based repayment. It reduced my payment from $1400 a month to $150 a month and they'll be discharged when I am 87.

[xtian]

Great advice, PD. Plus, if you work from home you can get a tax break from your rent, a portion of utilities, all your equipment is deductable, etc.

[dorrisant]

This will save you $7.95 + shipping (the cheapest I could find it).

http://www.ectownusa.com/MarkLeBlancGro ... ssBook.pdf

Thanks for the link!

Great stuff guys...

Tony

[Prairie Dawg]

It is a good book to read. You have to have a story to sell anything, including amp repairs. If you're engaged with and passionate about what you do, then you become the story. I never was any good as a salesman-the three jobs I had selling stuff I got fired from. But i have no problem at all talking to people about amp repair. They've already sought me out so that's an opening which is better than cold calling. But even so, it's a lot easier to do when you ARE the story.

A friend of mine is a hog farmer and he started from nothing and built a 3 million dollar a year company selling Berkshire pork to the white tablecloth restaurant trade. His story is like this. "In 1997 when hog prices cratered I figured if I borrowed every dollar I could get my hands on, I might be able to afford going bankrupt. Then, I bought a pickup truck with a freezer and went door to door talking to chefs at the better restaurants in town. Once they tried the product, they liked it and here we are." There he is, a skinny guy in glasses dressed in a workshirt and jeans, and the story's real.

That's what sells.

[LeftyStrat]

Very apropos to this discussion:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u4ZoJKF_VuA

[rdjones]

... I am pretty sure he has them sign a document that basically says if you don't pick it up in a reasonable amount of time it becomes store property.

Laws vary widely from state to state about how you can go about recovering money from an 'abandoned' repair, method of notification and length of time before you can dispose of and whether the original owner has any right to excess proceeds from a sale.
This would be something an established shop in your state may already know, or a lawyer could be consulted.

rd

[briane]

If high schools and college were geared towards doing best for individuals, instead of producing a good work force, business administration would be required alongside every field.

Well it would be good if we geared education to what you need to know to survive rather than just rout skills - did they ever teach you to balance a checkbook, apply for a mortgage, or do the laundry. NO.

my manager called me to try to convince me that Amazon really had a respect for work/life balance. Unfortunately the fact he did this at 11:30 PM on a Saturday night kind of diluted the message.

That guys obviously a lyiing piece of crap- he has to live with who he is, you can go home - he was just tryiing to placate you so he wouldnt have to do your undesirable job in addition to his own - I often remind myself of what someone once told me - do you really think the boss is thinking of you when he sits in his cushy 10k chair at home and pours out a dram of glenlivet?

nope - he aint.

that said, theres a lot of good bosses out there - mine even gave me an additional week off paid so I could attend a wedding in jakarta - and the only reason I needed more time was cause Im taking a lot of vacations right now - he said go - others would have said why dont you scale back - thats a great boss.

[vibratoking]

..Well it would be good if we geared education to what you need to know to survive rather than just rout skills - did they ever teach you to balance a checkbook, apply for a mortgage, or do the laundry. NO.

Really? Do we need to be taught to balance a checkbook or do the laundry? I'll take readin, writin, and rithmetic anyday.

[tsutt]

..Well it would be good if we geared education to what you need to know to survive rather than just rout skills - did they ever teach you to balance a checkbook, apply for a mortgage, or do the laundry. NO.

Really? Do we need to be taught to balance a checkbook or do the laundry? I'll take readin, writin, and rithmetic anyday.

None of which they teach in schools these days, just socialist propaganda.

[LeftyStrat]

..Well it would be good if we geared education to what you need to know to survive rather than just rout skills - did they ever teach you to balance a checkbook, apply for a mortgage, or do the laundry. NO.

Really? Do we need to be taught to balance a checkbook or do the laundry? I'll take readin, writin, and rithmetic anyday.

Well, survival skills should be taught by parents. I even made my son learn how to cook his favorite dishes. And all three kids know how to do laundry. My oldest daughter even knows how to solder.

All three know how to measure resistance. I had a pile of 1/4 watt metal film resistors get mixed together and the colors are too hard to read. I had them sort the pile using a DMM. They were fighting over using it. But of course they were much younger and hadn't heard of Tom Sawyer.

[Reeltarded]

..Well it would be good if we geared education to what you need to know to survive rather than just rout skills - did they ever teach you to balance a checkbook, apply for a mortgage, or do the laundry. NO.

Really? Do we need to be taught to balance a checkbook or do the laundry? I'll take readin, writin, and rithmetic anyday.

Home Eccch!

I was taught how to learn. It worked.. I think.. but I may just be an ego with an asshole.

[LeftyStrat]

but I may just be an ego with an asshole.

I've been called an asshole with an ego...

[Gaz]

..Well it would be good if we geared education to what you need to know to survive rather than just rout skills - did they ever teach you to balance a checkbook, apply for a mortgage, or do the laundry. NO.

Really? Do we need to be taught to balance a checkbook or do the laundry? I'll take readin, writin, and rithmetic anyday.

None of which they teach in schools these days, just socialist propaganda.

LOL: "socialist propoganda."