Gill":12bh3n81 said:
Here we have a youngster who might be a gifted musical instrument maker for all we know, and yet all the negativity is coming out again. It is possible to produce musical instruments and earn a living - there's a guy just a few miles down the road from me who does it making violins.
Gill
Anecdotal evidence doesn't really prove that it is possible to make a living making musical instruments. though, does it?
We only need to do a few simple sums to see whether or not it is possible to make a living making musical instruments
For instance how much might it be reasonable to charge for a violin? £1000? £500? £3,000 I don't know, but I'm guessing that perhaps a £1,000 might be achievable. Now subtract the cost of the materials, £150 maybe. How long would it take to make a violin of this quality? Lets say 4 weeks. Gross profit £375 pr week. Not too bad. Now lets subtract the cost of the workshop- let's say £100 to include heating, light, rates, insurance (although the insurance will be difficult with all that inflammable stuff around). We're now down to £275pw. Not too bad still.
What is absolutely going to mess things up is the cost of the advertising, enough to attract sales of 12 £1,000 violins every year. By the time that's been paid for (even if it could be done at all) there isn't going to be enough to live on.
Ask me how I know
Gill":12bh3n81 said:
Although it may be a difficult career path, let's try to encourage people in their aspirations instead of demoralising them from the outset. The initial question was about how the lass could make a success of a career as a luthier, not about the perils of trying to become one. :x
Gill
In my previous post I said that
"Musical instrument making, in this country anyway, should be considered to be an interesting and rewarding hobby."
Perhaps I should have added that one might as well do a course on that as go to Oxford and take an arts degree.
But I believe that it is only fair to let people know (because I don't think the colleges themselves are doing it) that, your friend's experience to the contrary, the economics of it just don't work
John