The title is about my weekend section related to the things that happend around the workshop. There's been something on my mind since last Saturday, but I didn't have the time to sit down and let the train of thought settle and guide the ideas into a cohesive rambling. Since it is a topic related to musicians, I thought it could get some feedback around here.
The problem on simple. Last Saturday, I got a message from one of these recognized musicians from traditional music. The guy is an eminence on this side of the country because he's been the Venezuelan Cuatro player for many of other important figures around here. Chances are that if there's a recording that requieres someone who knows their way around Traditional Eastern Venezuelan Music, these is the person to look for by default.
You could guess my surprise when I got connected by this person. There's were some enquires about materials and times of construction. Usual things. But then the thing got a bit more serious once we got to the deal of an instrument. We talked about wood, strings and tuning machines, fretwire. The works. It was all good until I proposed a budget. And first I gotta say, my budget was way off the actual price range. An instrument like the one being requested would at least be in the range of 600$.
My estimate was 400$ thinking that this kind of client is exactly what could make my breakthrough into the Professional market. However, the response wasn't something I expected from a professional musician. It was the typical thing you'd hear anyone around in this town say about buying something.
One of the things that I despise about this town is misery. Misery is everywhere. You see thing breaking apart. New stuff doesn't last a month when the paint starts peeling. Misery is a lifestyle of the people. They are miserable and try to make everyone else miserable. I wish a wave came by and wiped this town clean. But it isn't the thing.
Pretty hardcore stuff. The thing is that this guy came with this upsetting idea of wanting me to charge only my work. He said he'd supply the materials. That wouldn't be a problem by itself. If it weren't by the fact that people do not understand what "materials" mean for an instrument. All they think of is timber. If only it were so simple!
So after some quarreling and explanations of why I don't do that, which included some bad compliment about how it shouldn't be a problem since I have the skills, I decided to throw a price I knew this person wouldn't like. And, matter of fact, it was such. He thanked me for the information and didn't say anything else. I went ahead and got him on my blacklist. Just right to the peoole who are waiting for me to experiment a lot to buy me an instrument.
You might be wondering what's the problem with the approach of having materials delivered from someone else to craft something. It is simple. Too much responsibility in hand. If that stuff breaks, then the costs go up. And who knows by how much. This is a topic I have discussed with many other luthiers and it usually ends on the same note. Don't do it. It makes people get the wrong idea about the value of the work.
I'll give you an example of the realtionship between work and materials. Back in the Renaissance, the cost was split in 7/8 for materials and only 1/8 for all hand work. This thing has been changing all throughout time. Nowadays, this fractions are the opposite. Knowledge about making instrument is far more valuable than any other thing. That's why Spanish guitars are so expensive of they are tailor-made. That's why bowed-strings instrument are the most expensive one of all strings instruments. They take a lot of time and knowledge to make properly.
Going a step back and talking about materials for a moment. People tend to forget that timber by itself is useless. Sure the whole instrument is conñrised of it. But you need glue to stick it together. Then, there's more timber implied on ornaments and exterior pieces. Tuning machines and strings are another expense. Fretwire shouldn't be forgotten. And the last thing is all the finish. Is it French Polish? Or the usual varnish, polyurethane or else? All these need different processes to get them done. And we haven't even started with grits of sandpaper.
How much do you think actual materials costs?
Getting around the price of an instrument is a tricky thing. One often pulls a figure which doesn't exactly reflect the total work and materials used during the crafting process. For me, this thing of saying "I'll bring you the materials" is an insult. Is it that you don't trust my expertise for making this? Or what? Do you think I use bad materials?
What about my assumptions? If you want to lower the price of an instrument made by me, it is pretty clear you don't have the money for it. You might need to reconsider what it is you wanna buy. I often tell potential clients, especially those who are new to the whole music learning experience, that they should go to a store. There they can find something that suits their price range if my prices are too expensive. But it is just a thing of people not understand the worth of hand work.
The last thing that pisses me off greatly about the thing with this so-called famous musician is the fact that if he's so accomplished, how come he's begging for a cheaper instrument in this way. And before you come and tell me something about this issue, let me through a little nugget of information. When you do something like accepting materials, you need something to prove the net value of stuff. A bill works fine. That way you know how much discount to get out of your price. The funny thing about this is that this guy has the nerve to tell me those materials he gets for free.
So, you want me to drop some dollars of the instrument for materials you get for free? That's a big "No No" for me. How do you suppose I can get a fair idea of how much to take off from the price? What about if you just came plainly and told me you wanted to screw me over with some stupid deal? I think that's a sincere way of saying all this. Cumaná and its misery goes a long way down.
"¡Por eso Cumaná está como está!," that's a phrase we use a lot around here. It means "that's why we are screwed". No one wants to admit what the others does has value. It's always a game of trying to screw the other to get a benefit. It is sad to see that even our artistic figures fall into this category. But there's nothing more to do that keep working. Maybe some day people will get their heads around this kind of work. One can only hope.