Bryan Parris Parris Guitars
Forum Replies Created
-
I guess the best way to describe my arrangement is that I have a clean shop and a dirty shop. The dirty shop (still at home) has a spray area, the table saw, the big bandsaw, most of the sanders. I only have a spray area at my house, but I’ve moved most of the hand tools at the shop. I thought I would carry more things back and forth, but it’s just too difficult. Too expensive to duplicate EVERY tool, so I was finding things migrating back and forth between shops.
-
We had one once and it was not a big deal. I don’t remember all the details but it wasn’t hard to understand. Just familiarize yourself with the various adjustments. One of my techs set it up and didn’t have an issue. I remember when the guy brought the guitar (an ibanez bass). he pulled the pin and pulled the headstock and tenson rod all the way out of the neck. It’s funky, but at the end of the day it’s just a different way of controlling the geometry you’re used to on every other guitar.
-
Have you considered contacting Schaller and seeing if they can ship the part you need? I’ve been amazed at how accommodating manufacturers can be.
I know you can purchase single tuning machines (saw Schaller BLM on Warmoth) and rob the ferrule you need. I’ve purchased whole guitars before just get a part I needed! 🙂
-
So we used Ryobi 600rpm ones for a few years but have now switched to the Milwaukee M12 screwdrivers. We use them for all kinds of thing, including string winders.
-
We also bought the rotary tools that work with the same batteries. They are great cleaning out fret slots. And I got the oscillating flush cut tool for it I haven’t tried yet.
-
-
I wouldn’t want to give them a percentage of repairs. A lot of the reason would be the bookkeeping required for that arrangement. The other reason is I think that would work out majorly in their favor. I don’t know what kind of percentage they would want, but there’s a good chance your shop could do better than a small store taking guitars in on consignment. My rent is about 10% of my revenue so you could keep that in mind as you budget and project. When I started it was more like 30% but as we’ve grown the rent is making more sense. I would want my business to be COMPLETELY separate from the store. Figure out a plan for how you can help each other, but I would be careful…with both your finances AND your friendship with the owners.
Another thought: I think if you want to open a shop, you should open a shop with or without them. If it works out to help each other, that’s awesome. But don’t let someone else’s plan be the reason you make that move. It’s your business, your plan, so figure out how they fit with what you want to do. Sounds like a good opportunity for a space that will generate some natural traffic, but be real intentional about keeping everything separate.
-
I’ve got a real unusual path in this. Because I wanted to build something bigger than just me, I opened a shop, hired employees, while I worked a seasonal business hanging Christmas Lights. My reasoning was that if I built a business, rather than a side hustle, when it grew enough for me to be there full-time I could quit everything else then. I could have just gone full-time and been fine (my wife has always stayed home…so I’m our only income), but it would have always been just me. I basically used the revenue to grow the business first, then hired myself.
Like I said, it’s unusual, but that’s the way it happened. 🙂
-
This isn’t super elegant but it’s all I’ve ever used. It heats to exactly 142 degrees. another one just like it may heat differently but this has always worked for me. $5 yard sale find about 10 years ago.
-
In case anyone is interested. Here is the video we made for our shop. This will live on Youtube and Facebook. Probably on the website for a while. For me it was just great to document this point in our history.
-
if it is the jack blade making contact with the shielding inside the jack hole, then you could try a puretone jack. It’s got a smaller footprint and two smaller blades that contact the tip rather than one large one. Most likely it is something very simple that’s been overlooked. I’ve had guitars that go silent when tighting a screw in a pickguard and weird stuff like that.
-
I’ve been using a corded dremel for this for about a year and it’s been great. Just found this milwaukee cordless rotary tool and it’s really powerful, with a wide range of variable speed. We first bought the M12 screwdrivers to use for pickguard screws and tuning, but wanted something else that would also use the batteries. This (tool only) is on sale at Home Depot for $79. I use .020″ end mill bits and the stewmac fixed base.
-
I found enough photos online to see that this was a thing on some of their smaller ukes. No additional saddle. The strings break off the edge of the bridge. 🤠
-
I would like this. I have nice things to sell sometimes. I buy nice things more often than I should. 🙂
-
I’ve done a basic setup class where we covered electric guitars only. It was three hours and included measuring and evaluating action, adjusting truss rods, changing strings, pickup heights, action at the saddle, action at the nut but I DO NOT recommend letting people cut their own nuts unless you’re prepared to teach them to fill and recut also.
-
People keep asking for a soldering class, but I don’t know how to pull that off in my space, but if I had workstations with soldering irons, I would have everyone build a telecaster harness… (or something like that)
-
-
We use the stewmac mats and really like them. I’ve gone through a dozen or so on the five benches in four years. They get kinda yucky from cleaning chemicals I suppose and kinda turn a booger green after a while. lol. But I love the weight and texture of them. Kind wish they were black, but they say the color was intentional. I tried the music nomad ones and they are too thin. Carpet traps little pieces of solder and wire that can scratch the guitar. So for me, butcher block and stewmac mats.
-
I am going to make that sign about storage fees, or put it on the invoice, maybe. The percentage of bad customers we get is very low and this is a first for me. Most are amazing…this lady is not amazing. lol
-
Thanks. I’ve had to do that in other businesses where I was working on a person’s home. Unfortunately, I don’t collect physical addresses for guitar repair, only email and phone.
These are crap guitars and the cost of the repairs exceed the value of the guitars. I really just want them out of the way at this point.
-
It’s a custom build that was damaged in shipping, so yeah it needs to be convincing. I was hired to refinish the face of the headstock for the buyer. Apparently the veneer was super thin in that area so I sanded through it really fast.
-
Good deal. You’ll figure it out. Starting a business with overhead is a scary risk. I would sit down with a piece of paper and sketch out your projections. Make a plan and get after it! If it’s what you want to do, you can make it happen. Maybe a realtor friend could help you figure out what fair rental value would be. Maybe you could negotiate a 1 year plan with the option to change it up after you get things rolling.
-
If it’s 20% only of jobs they specifically refer to you, then maybe. But i think that’s too much, personally. You may easily find yourself paying them far more than reasonable rental value on that space. I’m not in your shoes, so take it for what it’s worth.
-
They filmed in our shop for two days. Most of that video was filmed in one day. The reason we did two days, is because we also filmed some shorter social media posts (30 second) that were filmed in portrait mode rather than landscape like the youtube one. They were really good too but I haven’t decided how to use them. This one tells a better story.
-
We got the Plek in June of this year.
-
Ian, I hired a videographer (@catalyst_video on instagram) He did a great job!
-
Thanks Doug. I’ve got a “Pre-proper” TotalVise but have the Proper’s station on order. This is perfect. I didn’t know it would do this. Problem solved. 🙂
-
It’s yours. PM sent
-
Honestly, ShopFlow is a great deal and well thought out for our business. The reason we don’t use it is because it requires a computer and mouse to get the most out of it…and we use ipads everywhere in the shop. We want to work from the phones and tablets.
-
I still have the subscription to Repairshopr. I keep looking at it, but honestly can’t get my head around it. In fairness, this has been a really busy season and I haven’t had time to really test it all. Keeping the account with hopes of figuring it out when things slow down.
-
Hi Dale, here’s what our trello board looks like. Inside each card is a checklist and a link to the initial estimate. All created by Zoho Invoices when we establish an estimate. Happy to get on a call with you some time to explain more. It is working well. I don’t know if it’s scalable to 100 jobs a month, but for now it’s working. My number is 865-403-0046
-
Hi Al,
That’s exactly how we have done it for four years. Our issue has been workflow. We were using Square estimates as our queue for work, but didn’t have a good way to organize it. When we got up to 60 guitars in the shop it was unmanageable for people to figure out what they are supposed to work on that day. So we created a Trello board….which my guys loved. But it was all double entry. Create the estimates, then at the end of the day create all the trello cards. We each have a column in Trello, so when my electronics guy finishes his part, he can move it to the Plek list, or the Setup Queue, etc.
What I’ve done is move over to Zoho Invoices, which is free, but capable enough to do what I need and through a Zapier link, I can now create trello cards automatically when an estimate is created in Zoho. The trello cards have a checklist so we know when everything is done. The Final column on Trello is “Ready to Invoice” so I know to go in and invoice all those jobs.
We take in 15-20 jobs a week. Really I was looking for something that would integrate well with Trello and have found it for now. Attaching a couple screenshots of our Trello board.
