Nick Rail was the visionary founder and dedicated president of the Southern California retail chain that proudly bore his name, starting in 1986. Nick began his career in 1974 as a talent...
David Reid is a guitar luthier who not only designs, builds and repairs guitars, he also teaches the art of instrument making. Located in London, David designs and builds both acoustic an...
Bret Rhoades began his career in the music industry by working for Ken Stanton Music in Georgia. Bret learned band instrument repairs while attending college, and after a short time as a...
David Rhodes was mentored by Wade Fuller, a lifelong musician whose family legacy is deeply woven into the fabric of Fuller’s Music, a beloved store originally founded by Wade’s grandfath...
Jimmy Risdal found himself in Grass Valley, California, where he crossed paths with Mary Ellen Sorci, the owner of Foggy Mountain Music. With a background in construction, Jimmy quickly n...
Tim Roethler found his calling during his service in the US Army, where he played saxophone in the army band. Recognizing the importance of instrument repair, Tim honed his skills in wood...
Ron Sadler’s great grandfather settled in Aurora, Illinois, outside of Chicago, to establish Sadler Piano. Over the next 123 years, the company has faced some unique times and made an imp...
Robert Saied took great inspiration from his father, James. Robert’s father formed the Saied Music Company in Tulsa, OK in 1946 after serving as a band director in various schools in the ...
Eric Satterlee founded Meridian Winds in 1984, in Lansing, Michigan. The store specializes in wind instruments and has a very innovative repair shop. In fact, the repair shop is the bir...
William Scarlett has dedicated his career to band instrument repair and the history of the many instrument makers in and around the mid-west. He studied the York Band Instrument Company ...
Mel Schiff and his wife Sally established All County Music in Tamarac, Florida. The first store opened in 1976 with a strong focus on band and orchestra music and repair. However, Mel’s...
Sally Schiff and her husband Mel moved from New York to Florida where they decided to open their own music retail business. All County Music in Tamarac, Florida first opened in 1976 with...
William Schultz turned the struggling Fender Musical Instrument Corporation into an industry leader after purchasing the famed guitar company from CBS in 1985. Born in McKeesport, PA on J...
Gilberto Serna is the keeper of the Deagan flame! The mighty vibraphone company once produced professional level instruments used by symphonic and popular musicians alike. Shortly after t...
Jeff Shrieve was playing drums in a rock band during the 1960s when he was offered a job at Muncie Music Center. Jeff was hired in 1968 and became one of the store's three road reps call...
Richard Sigman was trained on instrument repairs on the plant floor of the Conn-Selmer factory in Elkhart nearly 40 years ago. He began working in the music industry with the Vincent Bac...
Cindy Singer met her future husband, Danny, when they were young kids. They began dating in their late teens and were married soon after. Inspired by their love of dancing and music, they...
John W. Smith was playing orchestral guitar music when he thought it might be fun to begin playing the cello. He walked into his local string shop, Keller Strings in Kansas and …. met his...
Dan Smith was inducted into Fender’s Hall of Fame for good reason. Dan designed the re-launching of the famous guitar company after it was sold by CBS. Dan’s vision was to bring the produ...
Steve Soest played in several local rock bands and studied hard on the makes of electric guitars and amps, an expertise that came in handy around 1972 when he began repairing musical inst...
Ervin Somogyi began his career as a instrument repairman, which is how he learned the important elements of a guitar. He studied what went wrong with guitars, their weaknesses, and what h...
Tony Spano began repairing instruments in high school and was perfect for the job as a retail store repairmen, which he started doing in Ohio after the army in 1957. He later worked with...
Jim Stella began playing the trumpet in the fourth grade, continued through college, and attended instrument repair school immediately after. He began working for Leblanc in the Martin Ba...
Lindsay Stodden's career in the music and audio industry has had to do far more with helping his customers find the right product for their needs rather than pushing a given make and mode...
Virgil Storm was trained on instrument repairs on the plant floor of the Conn-Selmer factory in Elkhart over 30 years ago. He began working in the music industry with the Vincent Bach Co...
David Straubinger started a small business in 1969 to repair and rebuild woodwind instruments. He determined early on that one area of consistent concern was they way flute pads were repl...
Ed Strege is known within the band instrument repair world as “fast Eddie” for his speed at repair and short-cut tricks he has taught members of NAPBIRT for several decades. His classes ...
Syndenn Sweet was the first woman hired as a luthier at Bookmans Entertainment Exchange in Tucson, Arizona. This distinction is one she makes with pride, especially considering her father...
Poul Marno Sørensen inherited Marno Sørensen Music store from his father located for many years in the heart of Copenhagen. Poul remembers how his father worked as a musician in a circus ...
Wayne Tanabe is a pioneer in the band instrument repair field who has helped create and improve several methods for instrument cleaning using ultrasound and cryogenics. Looking towards wa...
Buzz Tarpley grew up in the music business. His grandmother was selling pianos as early as 1917 in West Texas. The Tarpley family officially opened a music store in 1927 in Pampa, Texas. ...
Fritz Tasch was born in Kecskemét, Hungary and apprenticed in a violin making school in Mittenwald, Germany. He learned the trade of first building violins, violas, cellos and other histo...
