Hey Everyone,

more-or-less back to "normal" now. I've caught up big-time with the long-term repairs and restorations (although not quite "finished"), so I'm very much open to taking in the regular work again. Pretty-well back to the usual one-week turnaround on smaller jobs, such as set-ups and similar fixes.

Shop is open as usual. Yay.

Having said that, there will be a few random days when I have to take Lisa to various doctor's appointments - these specialist appointments are like gold, and sometimes become available with just a day's notice. So if you turn up to the shop and there is a "sorry" note on the window then that's the reason. Apologies in advance...

Lisa's illness also means that as well as having to care for her I also have to spend more time on domestic chores, so some of the longer jobs - the ones I have to do in a number of stages over a period of time - may take a bit longer than usual.

But we are edging our way to the way it was pre-covid, pre-illness, and pre-flood. Yay again.

My "Shop" page hasn't been up-dated for ages,but that is about to change! I will be up-dating it over the next week or so, and there will be LOTS of interesting things there for sale.

I've decided to sell off some of my personal collection. And, if you know me, you will know that it is all very good stuff.

I know that I WILL regret letting some of it go - but that's how it is. Lisa's ongoing illness, and her continuing inability to work, means that we have to consider ways to supplement my guitar-repair income. I'm always pretty busy, but Lisa's work as a medical secretary always paid as many bills as my job did! So some of my "superannuation" is now for sale.

So. If you are interested please have a look at the shop page. It will be a few days before the first up-dates appear, but after that I'll try to update it regularly.

Meanwhile, keep well and hope to see you soon!

Andrew

 Hi there, it's me again.

It has actually been a month since I asked you all to please give me two or three weeks to catch up on the backlog of repairs before bringing any new work in. My answering machine has been playing receptionist.

I've tried not to turn anyone away, except for one or two big jobs that I've booked in for next month. So I've still had a few new jobs as well as the ongoing stuff, and I'm not quite as caught up as I'd hoped.

So. Done lots of neck resets, refrets, gluing jobs, broken and flooded guitars, as well as trying to get up to date with all of the smaller stuff. Getting there.

I have a few badly damaged and/or flood disaster victims that I have to make big decisions about - some of them are possibly not fixable. I probably have to review my optimism reflex, and also learn how to tell the patient the bad news. I've always been bad at this. My default setting is to try to fix things. 

Back when I was an apprentice, I leaned a lot from my "master", but one of the things I struggled with (and which he was brilliant at) was the ability to look someone in the eye and say, "sorry, it's not fixable".

And of course, telling them that it's not fixable six months later only delays the disappointment.

I still have quite a few lacquer finishing jobs on the go, as well as a few twisty ones that I'm either still trying to figure out or trying to get obscure parts for, but I made good progress these last few weeks.

If you can give me one more week that would be splendid. I'll be taking new work in again from Tuesday 28th March.Yay!

There is an old adage: "if you want something done well, take it to the busiest guy you can find".

Oh dear...I just made a "sales-pitch"...

Andrew

 Hi,

OK, one step forward two step backward...

It would seem churlish to complain about too much work...but at the moment I have too much work!

My regular friends and customers know that this happens from time to time, and that I usually close the shop for a week or two to catch up.

This time I'm going to play it a little differently. My shop will be open as usual for collection of completed repairs, and for you to browse the nice guitars I have for sale, but I won't be booking in any new work until the backlog of repairs I already have booked in is completed.

Sorry, but that's it.

For over 40 years I have been proud to work on your guitars, to keep you playing happily and in tune, but for the first time in all of those years I'm beginning to be stressed by the workload.

The last couple of years have been tough - some of you know the personal challenges that Lisa and I have been through due to her illness, surely everyone understands the disruption caused by the flood, and then there is Covid and the government's erratic reactions to that.

I plan to keep on doing this gig, keeping your guitars in tune, and fixing the broken ones, for some time yet. 

But I need to take a short "time-out"! 

AK

 

 

Hi there my friends,

my shop is back open as usual - Tuesday, Thursday and Friday 1.00pm - 5.00pm.

During January I made good progress on the large backlog of major repairs and restorations, and your guitar will either be finished or getting very close to being!

Still quite a bit to do, and I'm booking in new work with respect for the folk who have been patient regarding their ongoing repairs, so I'm asking for a two-week turnaround rather than a one-week turnaround for standard set ups and wiring and all that stuff.

Getting there!

The last year was such a scramble - some of you know about Lisa's illness, and ALL of you know about the damned flood and the consequences thereafter - but I'm almost back on track.

And hoping that the next few years will be rather more uneventful!

Andrew

Hi Everyone,

just a short post to keep you up to date.

I'm making good progress catching up on the backlog of big jobs - neck resets, rebuilds, restorations etc.- all the things that backed up in the workshop during the disorder of 2022.

The weather has also generally been dry enough for me to catch up on the spray-painting part of the restorations!

My shop will be back open from Tuesday January 31st.

Meanwhile, if you have a completed repair that you'd like to collect or have any other enquiries, please send me an email at ak@andrewknightguitars.com.au and I'll get back to you.

Back soon!

Andrew

 Howdy,

it's me again. I guess you guessed that... 

My business is open after the holiday break, but my shop is not.

I have such a big backlog of repairs to finish, including a lot of 2022 flood repairs, as well as a couple of dozen non-flood jobs that were interrupted by the flood ones.

And not having both electricity and telephone for just over five months, in the wake of the flood, also rather disrupted my gig.

I have tried to keep up-to-date with the smaller, regular jobs and that has worked out pretty well.

January is the big catch-up time for all of the big ones. I'm doing pretty well!

If you have a repair with me, then please contact me via this email.

Getting there!

AK

Hi,

best wishes to all of you for 2023. Hopefully it will be a better year than the last one.

Having said that, we really just had one bad DAY last year! February 28th. The rest of the year demonstrated the resilience of our town, and showed a positive spirit (by lots of folk) to re-build, re-invent, and renew. Walk around the city block today and there are more businesses re-opened than not, and even more than a few new ones!

A lot more residential properties seem to be occupied as well. I suspect that most of those are owner-occupied rather than rentals. Just like the businesses - if you have true personal connections to a place (whether financial, emotional, or both) you simply have to defend it. And re-invest.

2022 was so broken and disrupted that it's only really been in the last month or so that I've had a fully operational workspace and been able to get back into top gear.

I have quite a big backlog of major repairs to catch up on, as well as a few dozen minor ones, so I will have to close my shop for a few weeks to catch up.

The nature of my gig means that I usually have to pull the shutters down for one or two weeks each year (to catch up!), but the chaos that was 2022 means that this time I have to do it for a few weeks.

My shop will re-open late January and hopefully things will be back to "normal" after that.

Best wishes to everyone, and I look forward to seeing you in 2023.

Andrew