Becoming a guitar tech might start from being interested in guitars and wanting to help out a friends band. Many guitar techs may have taken courses in guitar repair at a college or lutherie school. The salaries and working conditions vary depending on whether the band is unsigned and doing a small regional tour or if they're a major international touring act. [1]
A guitar tech has two main jobs to perform: Setup & Soundcheck and Maintenance & Repair
Setup & Soundcheck
Before a show, guitars need to be strung and tuned with an accurate electronic tuner. A guitar tech needs basic guitar playing skills and an ear for tuning to strum some chords on the guitar to ensure it's in tune. Guitars need to be carefully placed on racks, straps need to be securely on and cables securely connected.
During a show, a guitar tech needs to be ready to hand any instruments to their guitarist(s) that they may require. This may be due to an unfortunate technical failure or string snap or may be preference for a different sound for a different song. Every guitar needs to be re-tuned again before the guitarist needs them because strings tend to slacken due to hot stage lights or humidity. A guitar tech may hand towels to the guitarist to clean sweat from their hands which corrodes strings and other things like bottles of water. Guitar picks may also need to be set up in easy to access places such as double-sided taped to amps or mic stands.
After a show, cables are unplugged, all instruments are cleaned and packed back into their cases.
Maintenance & Repair
On a guitar there are plenty of important variables that need to be maintained: string action, fret dressing, intonation etc. Valves on valve amps need to be checked along with cables and batteries on effects pedals, tuners and pre-amps. Any crackles or buzzing (or silence) to do with any equipment is checked and repaired by a guitar tech after troubleshooting. A guitar tech often has to be a jack of all trades. They need to be good at electrical repairs (e.g. re-soldering loose connections inside guitars), swapping out damaged speakers, repairing damaged guitars and other similar tasks. If a guitar is beyond repair, it is a guitar tech's duty to find a replacement guitar or part. Of course there is regular restringing of guitars which on a tour is often before every show.
The conditions of work for guitar techs vary a lot. Some guitar techs for much smaller acts may set up guitars for all of the performers. They may also have to take on tasks beyond guitar tech work such as helping to set up sound equipment or soundcheck the mics. On the other hand, guitar techs for huge international touring bands may be part of a large road crew team which includes amp techs and guitar techs for each guitarist. In short, they may have less to do as there will be more members of staff to carry out specific jobs.[1]
The salary can vary hugely depending on who a guitar tech is working for. If you start out working for a small local band that you know to gain experience then you might just work for a cash payment rather than having a proper salary. In small touring acts the guitar techs may be paid through a simple contract during the tour. and there may not be health or dental benefits. They might even have to have another more permanent job and tech on the side when their band is on tour. A guitar tech for a band on a short regional tour may stay in cheap motels whereas a guitar tech travelling with Green Day, for instance, may stay at the same 5* hotels as them and eat catered buffet meals or have their own catering crew. The guitar techs for the most famous international guitarists such as Jimmy Page can become a minor celebrity within the guitar enthusiast community because of their close contact with musicians who are considered to be 'rock legends' and for their in depth knowledge of how a certain guitarist's unique tone is created.
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