Years on the bench, in shops across the country.
Trained at Minnesota State Southeast Technical College in guitar repair, building, and violin family work.
This started at sixteen, when I decided to build my own version of the $3,000 dream Taylor I couldn't afford. The first kit went badly. The second one — a Stewmac HD-28 — actually came together. By the time it was finished I'd already started build number two, and number three before that was done.
After the first five, I went to luthier school in Red Wing, Minnesota — a year on guitar repair and building, then a second year on violin and cello. I've worked in shops across the country since, mostly on acoustic guitars, drawn especially to the big scary jobs other people don't want to take on.
Teaching turned out to be the most rewarding part of any of this. Stringing up your first guitar is a wildly bigger moment than stringing up my next one alone. Two hours on the phone walking some guy through his first dovetail neck reset is still the highlight of my week. Every group of four students teaches me more than I teach them.
Now I'm back in the Atlanta metro, the shop is set up, and the work continues — repairs, builds, classes, and whatever the next mailbag brings.