I was fortunate as a child to be well supplied with tools and materials for building my own wooden toys. "Popular Mechanics" and "The Boy Mechanic" had a prominent place on our family bookshelves.

My short college career in engineering and architecture was supported working as an auto mechanic. That was soon followed by a six year stint as a whitewater river guide, during which time my guitar playing took a great leap forward. But my true love remained woodworking, so I settled into a career as a furniture maker and designer.

While still playing guitar, I also began collecting guitars and refining my ear as to what I believed to be good tone. I then had the great good fortune to meet Mark Blanchard and play his guitars, which I believe to be some of the best ever. After following his career for several years I had the further good fortune to be able to study guitar building and Chladni plate tuning with him.

Unintentionally, I had become a luthier!

Through meticulous record keeping I continue to refine my sound as each new guitar emerges. Fortunately, I’ve consistently been able to achieve the sound I set out to attain, which combines a strong, pronounced bass response, a vocal midrange, and full, singing trebles well into the upper registers.