History

Some years ago, Northern California mandolin icon and long-time acquaintance,
Alan Bond, kindly put up a biography of my early building career.  Following is a more concise version.

The journey began in the early 1970’s in the Northern California gold rush town of Nevada City, where I settled down after growing up in the Midwest and fumbling my way through the turbulent sixties.  Through the influence of a local banjo player and numerous other musicians and bands in Northern California, I became engrossed in bluegrass music, eventually taking up the mandolin.

Needing a better instrument, the sawdust in my veins took hold, prodding me to try my hand at building.  One thing led to another and before long people began approaching me, wondering if I had any mandolins for sale.

Between 1974 and 1981 I produced 16-18 instruments.  Back then, labels were dated but not numbered and I kept no records, so the exact number is uncertain.

Pictures of some of these early instruments can be found in the Gallery.

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