Letter: Making a Living as a Luthier

by Bob Benedetto

Originally published in American Lutherie #3, 1985 and Big Red Book of American Lutherie, Volume One, 2000



Dear GAL Staff and Members,

I have been a Guild member for about ten years and always felt it to be a very worthwhile organization. No doubt, it is the single most important thing that has ever happened to our fine craft. Guild members have, by means of the Quarterly, supplied me with invaluable information and continue to do so.

I would like to touch upon a point that concerns us all: making a living as a luthier. It’s a subject we all like to discuss at times and, of course, must concern ourselves with. I have had the pleasure of meeting many makers, repairpeople, and restorers over the years. Some make money and some don’t. Why do some of us succeed while others fail? The reasons I have found to be both consistent and predictable.