Unlike many luthiers who came into the craft because they were talented players wanting to build instruments, I came in because I love to build things. Yes, I do play guitar and have for many years, but I never progressed beyond campfire chords and only used my trusty old D-35 to accompany myself singing.
After a 35-year career as a geek with a major computer company, it was time to retire and see if I could transfer the skills learned from a lifetime hobby of model and furniture building to the construction of acoustic stringed instruments. I began by reading books, watching how-to videos and building a few kits. My initial attempts were successful and as my experience developed (and my collection of tools grew!) it became clear that building instruments from scratch was much more satisfying than building from kits. I began crafting by hand everything made of wood with the exception of rosettes, purflings, and kerfing.
Attention to detail and a feel for working with a variety of woods is essential to lutherie and skills honed over 50+ years of model building proved to be invaluable as I continued to learn the craft. Over a span of 11 years I built over 40 instruments, each one hand crafted, one instrument at a time. In this way I could devote all my attention to one particular instrument, making each creation distinctive and unique.
At the moment I’m not building instruments, but the shop door has not closed permanently. We’ll just have to see what the future brings.