I have been interested is guitars as long as I can remember. By the time I was a teenager I was playing in regional bands. As much as I loved guitars, I never felt very comfortable in music stores. Perhaps I wasn’t cool enough. It seemed that many music store folks were often more interested in talking to each other or trying to impress people with how much they knew. After one particularly exasperating experience I had had enough. In 1974, I got a five hundred dollar tax refund, met with a lawyer, and started my own guitar shop. I started with used gear and worked my way up to selling Marshall amps and Hamer guitars and studying all I could about instrument repair. Paul Hamer became a friend and mentor. The business slowly grew. The folks at Fender were super and provided me with a lot of training and support. I owe a lot to them. The people at Taylor are like family. Really!