My day job taught me to fix things fast, then I spent 5 months on a guitar build and made it worse

Spencer Coleman · 2026-09-23T02:40:03.537762+00:00

I hang drywall 45 hours a week, and in that world you get fast or you get fired. Last October I started building a telecaster style guitar from a kit I grabbed for $180, thinking my hands already knew what to do. Thing is, my hands know how to slap up board and tape seams, not how to set a neck or level frets. I rushed the finish coat and dripped it, then spent two weekends sanding it back down to bare wood. My bandmate Dave picked it up, played two chords, and said it buzzed like a bee in a can. So now I'm stuck between two ways of thinking. Should I lean into my work speed and just accept a rough looking guitar that plays okay, or should I slow down and treat it like a craft, even if that means this thing sits unplayable for another year? Curious what you all do when your job habits bleed into the stuff you actually love doing.

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My day job taught me to fix things fast, then I spent 5 months on a guitar build and made it worse | Day Job Vs Real Life - Thought Shares