While this may be the most ridiculous thing you've ever heard, let's chalk it up to misunderstanding what was written.
Someone who repairs and builds has a different mindset than one who builds exclusively. They are typically coming from a repair background and will view building from that standpoint. Those who only build are not faced with solving the problems that repair personnel face, like the effects of time and tension, to say nothing of misuse and abuse, or of simple neglect. Builders don't have to remedy crushed lumber under truss rod nuts, broken truss rods, ski jumps, back bows or gross front bows, or the myriad other ills that befall instruments in the field. The list is too exhaustive to print even here.
Ask Martin or Fender. They are in the repair business only out of necessity. It is not a profit center. Rather, it is a giant money pit. The people who do the repair work in those factories have special skills that the average production worker does not possess. The factory is not going to spend the money to train them in these skills unless they are destined for the repair department. It is possible that some of the production folks may pick up some tips from the repair people, or may have an interest in the subject, but they are either exceptions to the rule or destined to transfer into the warranty department. This is true of all manufacturing. It's simple economics: They can't make money fixing the stuff that should have been right when it went out the door. That includes a piece of lumber that decides to behave in a manner not consistent with it's design and milling.
It is not like saying that a carpenter who builds new houses would not be qualified to replace some rotten siding. He may be. But if he's never done it before he is likely to find hidden damage that he might not have been expecting. He may also find that when he has completed the job that he has no desire to do this kind of work again. That decision might be motivated by the dirt or the difficulty. Or it may be that they do not like putting in the amount of time for the reward of the end product.
Take the average carpenter coming out of tech school. He can layout, frame, and install with the best of them. However, put him on a remodeling crew and he is constantly amazed at what he finds doing demolition on an interior that has be remodeled three times before he started pulling plaster. In a year or two he will develop x-ray vision. At that point he'll likely be running his own crew. He will also tell you that building new houses is a piece of pumpkin pie in comparison to day to day in the home improvement industry.
Granted, the small builder may have both skills. But that is a function of the economic necessity. When one starts building and selling instruments they cannot expect to be able to make a living doing so. They learn to do some repair work while refining their designs.
Building is easier than repair work. Once the design is in place it is rote. Repair work involves problem solving on a daily basis. It is also true that after doing repair work for a long time that work becomes much easier. It is also true that something is bound to cross the bench that will cause head scratching, reaching for repair manuals, and maybe a call to others with whom we network. As someone who both builds and repairs, you already know that.
Respectfully submitted.
