After studying guitar performance with Fred Hand for a couple years, I decided to come home to Chicago and enroll in Product Design at Columbia College. With the support of my professors and the college itself, I focused all my work upon the guitar. At this point in my life I had completed six instruments, the last three being archtop guitars

While making my seventh guitar I met violin maker Michael Darnton and joined the restoration team at Darnton & Hersh Fine Violins. This was the beginning of what was to become a three-year period in which I was introduced to the world of string instruments, the true ancestors of the archtop guitar. While working with Michael I learned and practiced restoration techniques on many museum-quality instruments. To examine, close up, the detail, the knife work, and the overall tradition of some of the most important instrument makers of all time, is paramount in developing your eye. At D&H, I also had the chance to read through and study a library of books written about violin makers and their works. It was also my job to categorize and document every instrument that came through our shop. This was a very repetitive job but it enabled me to see the nuances of different makers and the techniques of their schools.

More information available on listings's web site.