Rock Clouser is the String Brand Manager for KHS America but would you believe his passion for music started with the zither? His fondness for the instrument ignited a passion for playing...

John Pedersen is a master repair technician with a focus on stringed instruments. John found himself in the position of purchasing a music store with his wife back in 1983. The wonderful ...

Judy Kaufman and her husband, John Pedersen, own Amazing Grace Music, a charming and funky (in a good way) music store located in San Anselmo, California. The couple purchased the store i...

Rick Thacker is one of five kids in his family, all of which became multi instrumentalists. Rick pursued violin and viola beginning with the Suzuki Method when he was just three years old...

Jason Bartel opened Maple Leaf Strings in 2011, right across the street from his father’s business, Baroque Violin Shop, in Cincinnati, Ohio. The two companies helped each other, and ofte...

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...

Rebecca Ensley studied clarinet in college and yet somehow got caught up in the crazy world of stringed instruments as a luthier and repair technician. It all started in 1991 when a frien...

Dave Bresnan had a true passion for music that began when he was fifteen when he learned to play the piano. Throughout the 1960’s, Dave played guitar and banjo in several groups after dis...

Roland Wilfer is a fourth generation master luthier of the Emanuel Wilfer Double Bass Master Workshop. The workshop was founded 1905 and is specialized in crafting fine double basses for ...

Gerhard Klier’s grandfather, Anton Schrötter, owned a violin shop and workshop in Cheb/Eger. In the 1920s several of Gerhard’s relatives moved to the United States. His uncle, Roman Klier...

Bastian Teller is a bridge maker in the 5th generation. Since he was a child, Bastian wanted to step into his father Manfred’s footsteps. After receiving his state certified diploma for m...

Harald Lorenz is the fourth generation of peg turners originating from a traditional farming community named Ursprung/ Počátky in the Czech Republic. The family looks back on 125 years of...

Günter Lobe is a violin maker who is known for his faithful copies of Stradivari and other famous violins. He was an apprentice from 1977 to 1980 in the Ernst Heinrich Roth workshop in Bu...

Rudolf Neudörfer, bow maker, grew up in the Czech Republic after 1945 and went to the Violin Making School in Luby, learning the craft of violin making from his teacher Bohumil Pechar and...

Roland Schuster is a bridge maker in the town of Bubenreuth, which has been the center of production for string instruments in Germany since 1945. He started his craft in the workshop of ...

Pete McClelland teamed up with his wife to open a folk instrument music store in London in 1975. The idea was new and it was unclear if they would be successful, but they dedicated themse...

Joachim Winter is the president of the Jakob Winter Company, a family business since it was established in 1886. The company supplies accessories like cases and violin bows, as well as a ...

Jake Connolly has fond memories of working with his father, who became his mentor in life and the music business. Together, father and son grew their string distribution company from a sh...

Dale Webb wanted to create a new design for the ukulele with the hope that it would inspire more people to play a musical instrument.  His Fluke did exactly that!  The instrument was intr...

Phyllis Webb and her husband, Dale, formed The Magic Fluke Company in 1999.  The company began making ukuleles in the basement of their home in New Hartford, Connecticut. They were inspir...

Chuck Berghofer is the answer to such trivia questions as Who played bass on Nancy Sinatra's big hit "These Boots Where Made For Walking" and Who is playing the bass lick for the TV theme...

Paula Simmons wanted to create a shop where good quality instruments could be accessible to all those who came in the store.  As a teacher, Paula was very interested in providing lessons ...

Gary Chen is the owner of Stein On Vine, the historic horn and string shop in Hollywood, California whose customer list reads like a who's who of jazz and film music.  Gary was hired by t...

Ahmet Ediz grew up in Turkey and began playing the violin at an early age.  He became a professional concert musician and traveled with several orchestras.  Along the way he noticed a nee...

Kate Riessland was born in England in the years following World War II and soon found she had an interest in learning all she could about the German culture.  While in Germany, in 1969, s...

Bonka Peykov has a great deal of respect for the process of making high quality musical instruments.  When she joined her husband’s family business, she worked long and hard to learn each...

Ivan Peykov grew up in the music business as his father formed a company to make traditional Bulgarian instruments.  After attending college with a focus on engineering, Ivan returned to ...

Jim Ransom is the Chairman of the Board for United Wire Technology, which is located in Cleveland, New York.  The company was established in 1938, during the Great Depression.  United gai...

Qian Ni is a classically trained flutist and the President of the Eastman Music Company, making him one of the passionate music makers within our industry!  His devotion to customer servi...

Hans Jürgen Nebel is a fourth generation violin maker from Germany who decided that his skills and talents were best served as a repairman.  He has rebuilt and restored violins ever since...

Richard Keldsen is the president of Saga Music in San Francisco, California.  His first musical inspiration was hearing Earl Scruggs playing Bluegrass banjo for the first time.  After two...

Jack Shallat was a professional violin player who landed several gigs with traveling bands in the 1930s and 40s.  During that time he met Buddy Rogers and both men opened separate music s...