Hi Everyone,

as I have said here before, this last year has been the busiest of my career. An increase of about 35-40% according to the books.

That may seem rather modest, but it's a big jump in the amount of work received, given that I was always working at about capacity for years before Covid struck.

And it's enough to make me stressed about the long-term repairs and restorations that have taken a back-seat to the oncoming regular work.

Like most people, I have a certain number of hours each week that I allocate to work. My system has always been necessarily flexible, depending on the number of jobs I have promised to have finished, and dependent on the weather with relation to gluing and painting repairs.

I give priority to the week-by-week repairs, the set-ups and fret jobs and wiring etc. But I also always have a number of major projects in the workshop - restorations, re-builds, re-finishes etc. These bigger jobs necessarily have to fit between the day to day stuff, and during busy times tend to bank up in the dark corners of the workshop.

So I often work weekends to catch up.

But I DO have a limited number of hours each week to do the work, and a 30% increase means that I am over-loaded.

I have no intention of speeding up and doing quick-fixes, that is not my way, so I will continue to apply the same level of focus and care that I always do.

SO...

I will be closed during May. Lisa has booked a few days away for us to goof off and catch our breath (yay!), and then I will be in the workshop without interruptions catching up on about thirty long-term jobs that I've been losing touch with.

If you have a repair currently with me, I will call you when it's completed and arrange a time for you to collect it. If you have a repair with me, and you'd like to know if it is completed, then please call or email. Email is good.

I won't be taking on any new work before June.

Thanks for your ongoing trust and support.

Phew!

Andrew

 Hi Everyone,

still very, very busy! I am trying to balance the new work that I'm booking in with the existing jobs that I'm working through. And balancing the short-term smaller jobs with the longer-term more complex ones.

I don't ever want to rush any jobs, big or small, or give any of them less than my full attention, so there is a chance that I will have to stop accepting new work for a few weeks at least.

I have some family commitments for a couple of weeks in May, so April will be crucial.

Thanks as always for your support and trust.

Just had some bad news: my old friend Doug Parkinson has died. The older among you will remember Doug from the '60s and '70s, and maybe even some of the younger folk will have heard of him. Plenty of obituaries and YouTube clips up there for you to follow. Look them up.

I only knew Doug for a year or two, when we were both working on the hit musical "Buddy!", but he was a warm and splendid chap, and during the show became a "buddy" of everyone in the cast and crew. I grew up listening to music from his generation (including some of his music!) and, along with the other cast and crew members who had grown up with that music, we'd have lots of after-show chats about the early days of Australian rock music and music and the world in general. 

Great singer and a great professional. He played the role of J.P. Richardson (The Big Bopper) the singer who was killed in the same plane-crash as Buddy Holly and Richie Valens. His work ethic (let alone his voice!) was an inspiration to us all on the show.

I was privileged to know Doug for a while.

Sincere condolences to his family, but also massive condolences to the Australian Music Industry - we have lost a giant.

Andrew

FEBRUARY 2021 update

 Hi Everyone,

I'm back open again and as busy as always!

This year is a bit of a milestone as it marks 40 years since I started this career as a guitar-repairer. Almost impossible to believe that it's been that long. 40 years!!

Thankfully, it hasn't been wasted and I've learned quite a lot over that time. I'm pretty sure that I've also helped a lot of people play better and more in tune, and probably saved a few gigs along the way.

It's been fun.

I have no intention of stopping just yet (unless I win Powerball, and even then I'd use that to make a graceful and positive exit!).

I've been figuring out ways to pass my knowledge and experience on to the next generation, and I have a few ideas. Stay tuned!

Keep well, my friends, and stay safe and healthy during these weird times.

Strange days indeed!

Andrew

 Hi there my friends,

2020 has been the busiest year of my life. I've just done the numbers and jobs this year are about 30-40% up on last year (which was also busy!). 

That might not sound like much compared to what many retailers experienced but, given that I only have a fixed number of hours in the week to do the work, it was a pretty big jump. I did a LOT of overtime!

The increase was spread across two "financial years" so hopefully I won't get hit too hard by the tax office! 

The increased business was, of course, Covid-related. The entire industry boomed as folk stayed home and played their guitars. I also got lots of people getting back into it after 20 years or more, lots of new players, and guitars that had clearly been in the attic or the shed for decades coming in for restoration.

So.

I always take two weeks off at the end of the year so that I can do the family stuff and re-charge my batteries. This year I'm going to treat myself to an extra week.

The shop will be back open on Tuesday 19th January.

Best wishes to all of you, take care, be safe, and we'll catch up in 2021.

Andrew

 

 Hi Everyone,

well, it's flood time again! Actually, from the weather bureau's predictions it doesn't look like we'll have another disaster like 2017 but if there's one thing about predictions it's that they are unpredictable. I just heard on the radio that Lismore has had 180mm of rain so far today - the bureau predicted 30mm...

But even that much rain, plus what we've received over the last few days, is still less than we got in 24 hours back in'17. So fingers crossed.

Just letting you know that all completed but un-collected repairs, all repairs yet to be finished, and all consignment guitars are safe and dry on higher ground.

I don't take chances - at the slightest risk of flooding I start moving stuff out of the shop. 

Every time this happens (and it's probably the tenth time I've emptied the place) I wonder if I should move the shop to a higher location. But each time I decide that the idea of being in the centre of town is SO convenient (for me as well as you guys) that I decide to stay. I like my little shop! And have a very good landlord, too.

Stay dry,

Andrew

 

Hi everyone,

it goes without saying that 2020 has been a weird year.

When Covid kicked off, and none of us knew what that would really mean, I had a huge in-coming of work. Lots of big jobs: major restorations and re-builds, lots of regular jobs - refrets, set-ups etc; and lots of guitars that had clearly been stored in the loft for 20 years or more.

During April and May I booked in more work than I have ever seen. At that time, the powers-that-be were suggesting that we'd all be "locked-down" for six months and that we'd all better find some kind of indoor activity to replace the outdoor and social stuff that we were used to.

Clearly guitar-playing was a popular choice!

I booked in work to cover the possibility of this extended lockdown.

But, as "lockdowns" were lifted, my shop went back to "normal". "Normal" for me is "constantly busy", and I've been at least as busy these last few months as I've ever been, so consequently many of those long-term jobs are still on the bench.

I appreciate your trust in me, and the acknowledgement that after almost 40 years doing this gig I’m actually pretty good at it, but this DID leave me with a big backlog of work.

Now I have two options:

Plan A: Take advantage of the situation, cut down on the work I take in, and charge a lot more for each job.

Or, Plan B: don’t take ANY new work in for a month or so and spend the time catching up on the backlog.

Plan B will take us through Christmas and my usual two week break. This break is essential for family and recuperation reasons, and is non-negotiable! Plan B is also the ethically and professionally correct option!

At this point, three weeks or so out from Christmas, the likelihood of me getting any but the smallest jobs done before the break is pretty small.

As always I will give priority to those of you who are working musicians or students, but all (or most) of you should have back-up instruments.

So, for the most part, we are looking at early 2021 for most new bookings.

If you have repair work that you require then please call me. I will have some time available before Christmas, but it will be limited.

Hopefully 2021 will be a bit more regular, predictable, and “normal” than 2020!

Andrew

 

 

 

 

LITTLE WING

Hi,

here is a link to a YouTube clip my good friend Alex sent to me. He called it "Bird Song" (after the Grateful Dead tune) and suggested that it would paste well into a version of "Dark Star" (the legendary trippy Dead improvisation). He's right!

Other folk have responded to the clip on YouTube with their own ideas.

Either way, for any of us that have found regular electric guitar playing to have become somewhat predictable this may be a new inspiration...

It's an "art installation" by a chap that clearly has no shortage of imagination, and there are related clips on YouTube if you want to follow them up.

I might try this on my next album - the noisy miner birds around here will gang-up and attack anything!

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=89Kz8Nxb-Bg