Biography

I first became serious about tinkering with instruments after I bought my first Mandolin, during my teen years, and began a sojourn into America’s rich heritage of old-time fiddle tunes. The sprayed-on finish of that instrument quickly came off, by my hand, followed by personalized inlay work and a re-finish job. Shortly thereafter I acquired a fiddle. Man, I loved that fiddle. After imposing indignities on both of those instruments in the name of improvements, I realized that I needed to find out much more about the building and repair of fine stringed instruments. A short time later I learned of Peter Prior’s new Violin-Making school in Salt Lake City, applied, and was fortunate enough to be accepted. I spent the next four years studying the refined craft of classical violin-making. At that small school I saw some of the greatest examples of the violin-maker’s art ever produced. I was introduced to the woods, finishes and procedures used by generations of European craftsmen. I trained my eyes and hands to work together. Perhaps the most valuable skill I learned is that the finest workmanship could be produced with the simplest of hand tools. That was a rigorous training I’ll always be grateful for.

Eschewing the typical post-school route of moving on to work in a violin-shop, I returned home to Michigan in 1980 and began building mandolins on my own. Adapting the hand skills and traditions of the violin-maker, I have continued to build mandolins in that same, time- honored way, one or two at a time.

Today, I continue to pursue the course of the small independent hand-builder while managing to resist the modern pressure of “tooling-up” and mechanization. I have nothing against that. It’s just not my way. To paraphrase the prolific mandolin- maker Steven Gilchrist when responding to an interviewer’s question; “The efficiency of the eye and hand working together can be astonishing.” I agree with that sentiment wholeheartedly. The lack of reliance upon templates and jigs (a skill borrowed from the violin-making tradition) allows me the freedom to easily change, and re-arrange, the myriad details of form, thickness and angle that, taken together, add up to produce a fine carved-top instrument.

More and more it is being realized that we are in the midst of a true golden age of instrument building here in America. The quality and quantity of truly excellent hand-made musical instruments of all kinds being produced has never been greater. It is an exciting time to be building and I’m happy to be part of it.