A few years ago, got to take a violin repair course under Geoff Sietz, highly respected luthioer out of St. Louis, and fiddle for the Volo Bogg Trotters. He had the best line that I bet a lot of luthers live by - I build because I love it, I repair because I need to eat. You can paraphrase that with many things, musicians, for example. Rare is the guy that can perform every weekend and still not need a day job. I know there are a few luthiers, builders. etc. that check out this forum. I hope we can respect what we do, and more importantly, need to do to survive.
Steve