If you ask ten employees how you could best ensure their loyalty, the answer from nine would no doubt be a resounding: RAISE, PLEASE! It’s true that in this day and age, employees feel that the only thing that should bind them to their employer is the promise of a higher paycheck or a job with greater responsibilities. This is in part due to what is surely a lack of inspirational managers nationwide, but is also attributable to the decline in what consultants call ‘internal marketing’ – efforts that attempt to elicit loyalty from employees.

Human relations consultants agree that two of the best ways to instill employee loyalty are through comprehensive training and through the establishment of an collegial corporate culture. Oddly enough, both of these methods of increasing employee loyalty can be far more economical than just doling out Christmas bonuses, when you consider that video has the power not only to teach but to instill values and inspire. Training videos are the most cost-effective tool for any small-to medium-sized company where employees have basic competencies in their respective positions. They require an instructor to instruct once on video as opposed to ad infinitum for each ‘training session,’ and can be watched by employees when they are off the clock. And as far as building corporate culture is concerned, videos showcasing the highlights of the company’s achievement – cheesy sports music and all – will remind employees that they are doing good work for a company so unique as yours.

Yet if you’re going to implement either or both of these two strategies to improve employee loyalty at your business, you’re going to need to hire someone familiar with corporate video production. These are often the same firms that will produce your television commercials, etc, who will generally produce training and/or ‘internal marketing’ (read: propaganda) videos for a fraction of the price of a commercial, and for less than it would cost you to produce in-house. Besides, if you really want to improve employees’ respect for your company, why do a shotty job of trying to convince them you’re worthy of their respect by producing some thrown-together piece of video garbage made in-house on an iMac? Shell out a couple thousand bucks for better-educated employees with higher morale; you’ll be glad you did, and so will your employees, when they see that you care enough about their career development to allow them to ‘train on their own time.’

Why not make your own guitar? Well I can think of more reasons why not, than why you should. For the most part, building a guitar is for advanced woodworkers. I don’t mean a general contractor who builds houses either.

A guitar maker is called a ‘luthier’, and by any standard a luthier is considered to be one of the most crafty wood workers jobs of all.  Obviously different types of guitars have different degrees of difficulty to  make.  Basically, for all practical purposes, (Is making a guitar practical?) you have electric solid body guitars and a variety of hollow body guitars. From acoustic, acoustic-electric and some electrics to classical guitars that have hollow body’s.

A common characteristic that exists between folks who play the guitar and someone who makes a guitar is “patience”. Obviously, having the proper equipment is a must. The equipment needed depends partly on whether you buy a ‘kit’ or ‘build it from the ground up’. Other variables to consider equipment wise may be the type of guitar you build. Meaning that an acoustic guitar utilizes more tools and types of tools than an electric solid body guitar. Patience will be your most important tool.

Something that Popeye The Sailor used to say that cracks me up is “Me has so many patients, me should have been a doctor” (patience, as opposed to Dr’s. patients), holds true to the art of guitar making, no matter what avenue you take. Myself, being a guitar maker and having a repair shop has similarities to something else I have done at a high level, rebuilding car transmissions. The precision and attention to detail are similar vibes, every piece of work performed must be done with a calm and focused  approach to detail. And, being able to stop and correct, or take as much time as necessary to spend on even the finest details. No grease of course, which is refreshing after rebuilding transmissions for 25 years.

Buy a kit or build the whole thing. Both ways require a certain amount of tools. Some of the tools are: big clamps, table or radial arm saw, band saw, joiner, planer, router/s, drill press, wood jawed vice and sanding equipment. Sanding meaning power sanding tools, all the way down to elbow grease. Including some special luthier tools for some of the assembly, and the final setup of the guitar after completion.

No matter how you look at it, it is a lot of work, and for most home guitar makers, a labor of love.  If you have what it takes to make your own guitar, both personality wise and tool wise, don’t cheat yourself and go for it. Building a guitar may be one of the most satisfying things you ever do. Enjoy.