# Thinking of Tuning as Side Job- Questions



## avanti1960 (Sep 24, 2011)

Right now my car sounds phenomenal- I know how to setup and tune a car with my RTA system including amp gain, driver levels, time alignment, phase, crossover and slope, etc. I have a few really good sounding RTA curves and believe I can apply these skills on a side job basis. If you pros could answer a few questions I would appreciate it-

1) Is there a demand?
2) Where to begin / how to market?
3) How much to charge? Should I make house calls? 

Thanks in advance.


----------



## jel847 (Nov 8, 2007)

Absolutely would love to have you come tune my car but I'm in philly...
I would be happy to pay someone to tune my car.


----------



## jel847 (Nov 8, 2007)

You could either charge by the hour or by the tune.


----------



## Boostedrex (Apr 4, 2007)

There are several people out here who have made a profitable job out of tuning other people's cars. Most of them charge by the hour with a 2 hour minimum. It's not odd to hear about people going from NorCal to SoCal just to have a car tuned. (Or SoCal to NorCal depending on who you want to tune it.)


----------



## ErinH (Feb 14, 2007)

IMO you'd have to have some way to prove your skill. If you're the only one in your area doing it, then you have no competition, per se. But if there are others in your area and they also have good sounding systems then what is it that makes you different or better? 

In my area there are numerous comps so people get a feel for your skill based on that and their opportunity to demo your vs others' system(s). Do you have something that poitns to your ability to do it right? 


Also, if I'm the consumer, it depends on what you're marketing yourself as being able to accomplish. If you can get a good baseline then I might be willing to pay you X. But if you are able to help with system design, tuning, etc and the outcome is a world class system then I'd pay more. A step further, if you can TEACH me then I'd be more inclined to pay you an extra bit of money. 

To me this is no different than picking an installer. I need to see your body of work, I need to have references I can contact to see what they think. This helps me determine value.


----------



## 94VG30DE (Nov 28, 2007)

Might fill a hole out here in CHI. Your customer is [guy who doesn't want to pay a shop to install but doesn't have enough experience to tune]. Not all hobby people want to pay, because they find the journey (tuning) as or more interesting than the destination (perfect SQ).

EDIT after seeing bikin's post... If you could teach me what you were doing AND the result was good, then there is a much better chance of me paying you. Greater than zero, specifically.


----------



## SkizeR (Apr 19, 2011)

honestly i dont think theres a market unless you can really prove yourself and are willing to travel for cheap. it is a great idea though


----------



## avanti1960 (Sep 24, 2011)

I look at the histroy of my "go for it" system install and it has taken me nearly a year and a half since I pulled the trigger to get it sounding awesome. This includes many many hours of research (mostly on this site, thank you very much), RTA software and hardware, RTA application and use learning curve, multiple test CDs etc. not to mention the system hardware swaps. A DSP active system has so many variables and it took time to understand how the multiple settings affect sound- we all know the drill. I believe I could tune a car very quickly now- probably in a few hours max. 

Although I am a DIY'er and thoroughly loved the journey and learning, I would have to imagine there are many out there who would simply pay for tuning in order to buy a turn key system from an installer / dealer. I would also imagine that getting the sound right would be worth a reasonable percentage of the cost of the install- in other words is the system really complete unless it is precisely tuned to reap the most out of the sizeable investment? 

I know the shops near me do not have a good understanding of the process. 
I may just have to drop by and see if they would be interested. Making the customer happy with their system should pay dividends to a shop in the long run by repeat business and word of mouth. We all know that a properly tuned system sounds jaw dropping- while the exact same hardware can sound abysmal, irritating and frustrating if not properly tuned. The customer may be "happy" if it sounds better than stock but may not get to experience the awe of a sweet setup because he doesn't know any better.


----------



## sirbOOm (Jan 24, 2013)

There is a demand but you need to make yourself in demand. Once I get my 3-way setup in my car and all that jazz, I'm going to need tuning help. If I wasn't working at a shop that can get me at least close enough, then I'd be looking for someone to come do it. There's a guy in Atlanta that does this (among other things). Go to car audio shops and see if they'll contract out tune jobs to you. Gonna have to sell it to gel it, man.


----------



## avanti1960 (Sep 24, 2011)

I would also love to attend a competition. The closest one to me is in Peoria Illinois later this summer. 

Thanks to all replies. Unfortunately the only body of work I have is my own car but I would like to see how it stacks up against the competition.


----------



## ErinH (Feb 14, 2007)

well, keep in mind that your definition of "amazing" may not be someone else's, either. so you have to make sure you know what the customer expects.

there's no way to put this nicely so take it for what it's worth. I've been on here a long time. I've seen a lot of people think their system sounds fantastic. people posting about how their system does X so amazingly and it sounds better than anything they've ever heard. so, I expect it'll sound really, really good. then I actually get a chance to listen to it and realize that it's full of issues. I ran in to this for a long time myself and still battle some things so I'm not saying mine's perfect. that's why I often glaze over the self prophesying posts here. if you have a track record for making a system sound great then you're good to go. if not, you need to build that up somehow.


----------



## avanti1960 (Sep 24, 2011)

bikinpunk said:


> well, keep in mind that your definition of "amazing" may not be someone else's, either. so you have to make sure you know what the customer expects.
> 
> there's no way to put this nicely so take it for what it's worth. I've been on here a long time. I've seen a lot of people think their system sounds fantastic. people posting about how their system does X so amazingly and it sounds better than anything they've ever heard. so, I expect it'll sound really, really good. then I actually get a chance to listen to it and realize that it's full of issues. I ran in to this for a long time myself and still battle some things so I'm not saying mine's perfect. that's why I often glaze over the self prophesying posts here. if you have a track record for making a system sound great then you're good to go. if not, you need to build that up somehow.


Understood and thanks. I was mainly looking to understand if it might be worth taking more steps and what those steps might be- assuming I had a sound and tuning process worth marketing.


----------



## ErinH (Feb 14, 2007)

my degree isn't in marketing but the things I'd be doing would be to try to attend any shows or meets you have nearby. that includes regular car shows for gear heads or import dudes. make your car known in those circles. my previous neighbor is a corvette guy (owns 4 now ranging from a 65 to a 2012 z01) but once he heard my car he was all about trying to add a little something to his daily driver (chevy truck). that's just an example.

secondly, you could do as you mentioned earlier: visit local shops and talk to the owners. 

from there, it's just advertising yourself here and getting word of mouth out. 

how exactly you word or present yourself in these areas is up to you. those are just the things I'd look at.

I will say that I wouldn't expect to go in to this making money hand over fist. You might be able to pocket a few bucks here and there but just try to keep a level head about it.


----------



## Mic10is (Aug 20, 2007)

Ive built and tuned a few IASCA and MECA Championship vehicles over a decade or so time span, on top of competing and having Magazine coverage of my vehicles in 7 countries including a full feature in May 2002 AutoSound Security.

Ive also Judged SQ at IASCA World Finals, USACi Japan Finals, and 3 MECA State Finals, was MECA SQ judge of the year in 2012 on top of judging numerous other local events. To my knowledge, I am considered by most to be a fairly consistent and fair judge.

I consider myself to be a slightly above average tuner even with all those accomplishments and I am still learning each year and improving and honing my skills and ears.

I seldom charge to tune vehicles. Some people buy me lunch or some other things but as far as a Fee for my services, its not something I've ever really even considered.

To me, its my way of paying forward all the work that others have put into getting me where I am today in Car audio. Guys like Eric Stevens, Dell Helmer, Matt Borgardt, Steve Head, Alberto Lopez etc....

I've had some expert tuners help me over the years and none ever asked me for a dime. I've paid people to help tune before and ended up redoing alot of it after I was really able to sit and listen to what they did (ended up winning with the new tune too)

So my point is very much on point with what Erin and others have said---you need to have some pretty strong marketing and the ability to do some remarkable things with a variety of different situations and be consistent with your results each time since you have no real track record.
without a proven track record, dont expect to make much if any money tuning.


----------



## bigfastmike (Jul 16, 2012)

I got in with my local shop as a side hobby. I shared my ideas and learned from them as well. When they started noticing my tuning skills they asked me to help. I did it for free at first just for the experience learning what tune different people like. After awhile I got more people wanting me to tune and help with design. I own my own mfg business so it's not a career I would go into full time but I really enjoy it and cash money or trade for equipment is sweet.


----------



## BigRed (Aug 12, 2007)

My experience with this is once you charge a dollar for tuning, the expectation goes up, and the fun goes down.

I have only taken money to tune one time. The only reason is because I had to fly somewhere, stay the night, and tune the following day. I calculated what I would normally make in a day, and thats what I charged. After that experience, I realized it was'nt worth it. This was for a car that competed. It did well at the next show, but I decided it meant more to me to have it be fun then to make money doing it. 

If I were looking at if as a side job, I would consider the following

* Know your customer, what may sound great to you is not what they are looking for (as Erin pointed out)
* Charge by the hour. you may think it sounds great, but the customer may want a little more of this or a little more of that. Charging by the hour will cover added time
* word of mouth and references would be the way I would market myself.
* most that are willing to pay are probably going to want to hear your car. If it does'nt sound good to them, you won't be hired. I would have different presets for different types of customers (added bass, added highs, midrange presence, high volume)

good luck with this


----------



## Chaos (Oct 27, 2005)

You have to weigh the law of supply & demand against your potential liability in order to determine the value of your time for this type of service.

If you are proficient at tuning and can establish some good references, that's cool, but it can be a double edged sword. If you start out working for friends& family, that will certainly lead you to new clients but all it takes is one person with OCD + your phone number or one busted window switch (or something like that) to really ruin your whole day/week/month. 

Over the course of time, these things will balance out. Starting out though, be prepared for some headaches and make sue that you have the proper insurance coverage in case somebody calls you out over any issues that they perceive once you have worked on their property.


----------

