How to Become a Running Dog

of the Capitalist Imperialist Music Mongers (and love it!)

by J.R. Beall

Originally published in Guild of American Luthiers Newsletter, Volume 3 #2, 1975



I’ve just finished re-reading R.E. Bruné’s last article on making it as a luthier and on most points we are in agreement. On the matter of commercial sales, however, I’m not as stuffy as R.E. and must admit that a good portion of my income is derived therefrom. R.E. is a purist and I can admire him for his willingness to live the austere life, sleeping on his workbench and eating puree of spruce shavings and rosewood dust. I am, by his standards, decadent beyond redemption, with a legal wife, a comfortable home, and plenty of expensive grub, but I offer no apologies, I am disgustingly satisfied with my life-style and have no difficulty justifying my comfortable existence.

In my opinion, the biggest problem with any one-man operation in our line of work, is that it is just physically impossible to turn out a sufficient number of any kind of instrument in any given time period, to earn as much as any average factory worker. For example, a good guitar builder, working alone can build one guitar every two weeks. That adds up to 24 per year, times $600.00 = $14,400.00 annual gross. That sounds pretty good to most of us but remember he must then pay for his materials, his maintenance and utilities, his traveling and advertising, taxes and the rest. If he can net $8,500. after expenses, he is doing well and we all must agree that in these times $8,500. is not big money.