Mark Gaiero of Gaiero Guitars has one of the more interesting CVs we’ve seen — he’s a Somogyi alum, for one thing, having apprenticed with Ervin from 2016-19, and, in a nice variation on TK Smith’s Imagineer-Turned-Luthier path, he has “10 years of experience designing and building stop-motion puppet armatures at Laika Studios.” Mark builds flattop, steel string acoustic guitars in his shop in Portland, OR; his focus is on an OM model, built using non-endangered woods.

Mark shared a tour of his shop and some shots of recent builds (in the gallery below). Be sure to watch through to the end for a demo of one of his guitars by 신은비 (Ounbi Shin) — check out her YouTube and Instagram (and follow Gaiero Guitars on Instagram, too). Mark tell us the guitar she’s playing “was a commission through Fine Luthiers in South Korea. It’s my OMC model. It has a German spruce top, Claro walnut back/sides, Granadillo fretboard/bridge, Black walnut neck, and Koa binding. It has a 25.25″ scale length, evo gold frets, and Gotoh tuners. The black decorative elements are Rocklite and the colorful bits are dyed burl of various domestic species.”

#FJFest is the Fretboard Journal‘s way of staying connected during these difficult times: Expect to see never-before-seen shop tours from guitarmakers, unique music performances and a ton of beautiful instruments on a daily basis throughout March 2020 and beyond.

See our ever-growing #FJFest posts here.

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