My Guitar Amp Business FAILED. Here’s What I Learned.

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🎥The Video:
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00:00 - Failures
00:38 - FREE Hiwatt?!
03:36 - The Company
04:45 - Imposter Syndrome
06:19 - HAHA! BUSINESS!
07:10 - TIME
08:39 - Pokémon With Your Friends

Finally the story of how I got my Hiwatt! It's probably not as crazy as I think it is, but it began a journey that ended in me starting an amplifier business.

Starting a business from your passion (in my case guitar gear), can be both exciting and challenging. In this video, I dive into the three essential challenges you must consider when transforming a hobby into a successful business. Drawing from my own experience with my failed guitar amplifier company, I share hard-earned lessons and insights to help you avoid common pitfalls.

Whether you're thinking of launching your own guitar brand or curious about starting ANY business, this video offers valuable advice, learned from my failure as a guitar amp businessman.

"Why do we fall?
So we can learn to pick ourselves up."

Key Topics Covered:
* The Crazy Story of how I got my Hiwatt Custom 50 for FREE
* How that lead to Underwood Amplification being Started
* The 3 things to consider when turning your hobby and passion into your own business
*Throwing an amp off the deck probably

If you liked the video, please subscribe to stay updated on more tips and stories from the world of creative tools and guitar gear.

#businesstips #GuitarGear #MusicIndustry #hiwatt #GuitarBusiness

[DannyUnderwood]

Thanks for watching. I really thought dropping that amp from that high would have turned out differently…

[brendanf]

“I didn’t want a 9 to 5, so I started my own business. Now I work all the time.”

[vibrolax]

I'm a guitarist who spent 15 years studying, repairing, building, and designing guitar amps. It was a great hobby, being able to make exactly what I wanted without waiting for someone else to manufacture it, or dealing with the collector market.

I was so glad my day job was good enough that I was never tempted to turn my hobbies into a livelihood. I've known so many top notch musicians, techs, and builders who have to hustle 24/7 to eke out a living in the music/entertainment business.

[TeagueChrystie]

"Treat your patrons as the saints that they are" is a wonderful turn of phrase.

Very useful video, sorry it went wrong, but it's all fodder for the autobiography. Onwards and upwards.

[SolStudios]

Not everyone is cracked up for doing “The business of doing business”

[ninocarlitos]

10 years Pedal Builder here, I was started my pedal business just because I've build several clones for myself (and friends) and it was really fun tho, just like you did. Then I realized that there are TONS of NOS/Vintage componets around my hometown for really cheap! Ofcourse I smell how much "money" that would be doubled from that because almost everyone on the planet talking about vintage stuffs (mostly fuzz) through social media back in the day (2015-2021). I took the gamble then lend money from bank to grab every vintage transistors, resistors, caps, opamps, from all across my country, then I build lots of vintage Fuzz back then (they're really primitive circuit tho, so it's not hard at all to build). Perhaps I sold over 1K pedals.
However, my inventory goes out overtime, and NOS obsolete parts were near impossible to find this days. So I decided to contemplate wether should I stay in the pedal industry or just start something new to feed my familly & pay the bills. Right now I am still have no complete decision about that, I feel like i won't give up that fast. I just try to learn digital stuffs so i can keep up with what the market wants recently.
Let me give some advices for everyone who think to start a business in electronic:
-SMD/SMT is absolute invesment.
-Digital stuff is a MUST.
-Cost saving is inevitable unless you are selling ARTS.
-If you're not smart enough to learn the fundamental of electronic, then you should stop and keep it as hoby only before you go BROKE too soon!

[DrScientistSounds]

Man your amp sounded fantastic, the HiWatt too, and awesome playing! Lotta wise words in there, Danny, especially to treat your patrons like saints. I bet that red amp you dropped still works and sounds fantastic too...

[RuthlessMojo]

I am a luthier, guitar tech, audio electronics enthusiast and guitar teacher. I’ve been playing for nearly 30 years (I started late) and have accrued and built so much gear over the years I no longer have any more room in my house. Just before the pandemic I set up an online guitar shop, selling guitars, hardware and accessories. When COVID hit it crippled my business. I couldn’t get stock from Asia as everything had been shut down. I ended up going under. I simply couldn’t fulfil orders in a timely manner. Years before I tried to launch my own line of guitars. They were going to be made in China and shipped to me. That was 2008. I had just gotten enough money together to place a minimum order. Then the Market crash happened and the dollar tanked. All of a sudden the currency was worth nothing. I was heartbroken. I won’t open a guitar business again. Now I just build and enjoy guitars for myself. I’m now on disability because of degenerative disease but if I had the cash I would’ve commissioned an amp from you. They look and sound great. I’m now a subscriber.

[velvetsound]

Simon Jarrett from Kingsley amps chose to focus on pedals instead. He said that Amps are expensive to build and ship, have variable parts costs, and if you need to provide customer support you lost all your margins from shipping due to weight. Pedals are cheap and easy to support and ship. I’d highly recommend Business Model Canvas to anyone thinking of starting a business- your job as an entrepreneur is not to build products… it is to build a sustainable business model.

[LucasLeCompteMusic]

This video kinda proves what is wrong with guitar YouTube right now. Channel is small but puts out a great video that you can see has lots of time spent on it. Meanwhile massive channels put out the most lazy boring videos of all time and get massive views. Gave you a sub!

[dekalbes]

You didn't mention, how important it is to marry a girl with money, before starting a new business. Or marry a Doctor
Surgeon preferably Neuro, or heart . Also...if she invents and designs/ patents ..sells, medical devices, she could share the love of making things with you.

[FuzzImp]

I’ve been so close to failure many times. The only thing that kept me alive so far was having way less overhead than anyone I’ve met in the industry. Even so far down to living with my folks and using their garage for my shop.

[bavarianmonkey]

The battery is for biasing the Tube to -1.5 V on the control grid which is pretty suitable for an ECC83. Fixed bias.

[MrJesusCrisp]

Good points!
Building tube amps in 2024 is definitely a brave endeavor with all the hype around amp modelers and plugins plus many affordable options being out there. Having played with the idea of building amps just for myself, the material cost is rather high and at the end of the day selling it for profit you will need to do some considerable markup unless you want to work for free, at which price point you are playing with some of the "big boys".

[jackp]

As a tube amp DIYer I appreciated everything about this video. Your amps sound beautiful, Danny. Your frankenHiwatt *really* got my attention! I'm impressed by your fortitude, I'm not sure I could've resisted the temptation to pick-up from where the mad scientist left off instead of restoring it.

[AveragePicker]

No sane person would wire a AAA battery directly.... oh that hit a little too close to home for me....and brought back memories of my feedback machine. That 6 volt battery was the secret to it working...don't know why...but it solved it.
I've turned hobbies into "businesses" before...well small side businesses and discovered really quick I love my hobbies as hobbies and not as something I had to do. That amp you dropped is a great looking amp by the way! I suddenly want an Underwood! LOL

[James-Customs]

The battey is used to set a constant voltage source to either the cathode or a negative voltage to the grid with the cathod grounded. There's a tube cad journal article from about 10 years ago, but yeah, I've never seen it done in person.

[fxdfxd]

I'm 13 years in this business, and still earning barely enough to live.

But I still keep it going :)

[SpakManGtr]

90% of the world wouldn’t have the guts to start their own business related to their passion, so kudos to you. Hope you keep going even if it’s just as a hobby.

[officialWWM]

This is the same reason why most musicians fail. Creating great music is one thing. Marketing and sales is something completely different…