As most of you know by now, last week I gave up my apartment in lovely Brooklyn, NY to drive to the wilds of Michigan for an eight-week, intensive training course in instrument-making and repair.
Q: "Gee, Joe, why did you do THAT?"
A: Excellent question.
First, I own a small museum of acoustic and electric instruments. Living in the East, seemingly always by the water, these instruments require a minimum amount of adjustment as the seasons change, and their wood expands and contracts accordingly. With seasonal "set-ups" (adjustments) averaging around $60 per instrument, per season, I spend rather more than I'd care to on keeping my arsenal in good working order.
Second, a year or so ago I was asked by a close friend to weigh the feasibility of buying an established boutique, high-end guitar store located two blocks from the main gate of the
U.C. Berkley campus, a stone's-throw from San Francisco. The store was a great opportunity, but I wasn't comfortable with my lack of technical knowledge of the construction and repair of guitars and basses. Instrument repair was a large part of the store's income. For the same reason a person who doesn't know how to cook might pass up the opportunity to buy a restaurant for fear of that fateful night the cook calls in sick, I took a pass. I'd like to be better prepared next time.
So, as a way to save myself some easy maintenance money, and to acquire skills that can perhaps facilitate bigger things down the line, I've ponied up the tuition, packed up my car with "essentials" and left New York. For two months...
(More to come...)
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