BRIEF HISTORY

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I HAVE BEEN WORKING WITH TOOLS SINCE  I WAS A BOY, UNDER THE GUIDANCE OF MY  BELOVED DAD, DAVIS GILBERT, IN HIS GUN SHOP IN JERSEY.

ONE OF MY FIRST JOBS WAS TO RELOAD BULLETS IN TO SHELLS. MY BROTHER DOUG AND I WOULD COLLECT ALL THE LEAD AFTER THE CLIFFSIDE PARK POLICE FINISHED THEIR TARGET PRACTICE, AND BRING IT BACK TO THE GUN SHOP.  DAD THEN MELTED IT DOWN AND POURED THE MOLTEN LEAD INTO BULLET MOLDS. I STARTED WITH GREASING THE LEAD BULLETS IN A PRESS,  AND IN TIME GRADUATED TO THE LOADING MACHINES. 

HAND TOOL WERE ALWAYS THE MAIN PART OF MY DAD'S TRADE, SO I LEARNED FROM THE BEST.

THE BEATLES HIT THE US IN '64, WHEN I WAS 11 YEARS OLD,  AND THIS BOY WAS HOOKED FOR LIFE.  INSPIRED BY PAUL, I STARTED PLAYING MY ACCORDION FOR THE BASSLINES IN MY FIRST BAND AT AGE 13 - UNTIL I COULD AFFORD MY FIRST GUITAR,  A CHEAP TEISCO BASS FROM JAPAN, FOLLOWED BY A HOFNER BEATLE BASS.

 I WAS HAVING THE TIME OF MY LIFE, WHICH CONTINUES TO THIS DAY.

 THROUGHOUT MY TEENS, I PLAYED IN SEVERAL DIFFERENT BANDS DURING THE GREATEST TIME IN HISTORY TO HAVE A BAND. BY THIS TIME I HAD STARTED DOING SOME OF MY OWN GUITAR REPAIRS,  BUT ONLY MY OWN.

THE EARLY YEARS...

AT 22,  I STARTED WORKING IN A SHOP CALLED GILSONITE MUSIC IND. IN JERSEY.  I WAS HIRED TO REPAIR AND SELL GUITARS, AND TOOK TO GUITAR REPAIRS LIKE A FISH TO WATER - JUST LIKE MY DAD IN THE GUN TRADE.

 DURING THIS TIME,  I ALSO WORKED WITH TW DOYLE GUITARS, WHERE TOMMY TOOK ME ON AS HIS APPRENTICE. I LEARNED FROM THE VERY BEST - VINNY BELL, LES PAUL, TOMMY DOYLE, AND THAT'S JUST THE BEGINING OF THE ROAD. 

WHO BETTER TO LEARN THE CONCEPT OF WACKY GUITARS FROM THAN VINNY BELL?

AT GILSONITE I REPAIRED GUITARS FOR THE MISFITS STARTING IN '76, RIGHT BEFORE THEY BOMBARDED ENGLAND.

A MASTER TRADESMAN EVOLVES...

IN 1980 I MOVED TO SWITZERLAND FOR A FEW YEARS. THERE,  I HAD THE WONDERFUL CHANCE TO WORK FOR GARY LEVINSON,  A TRUE MASTER BUILDER, WHO OPENED MY EYES TO A GREAT MANY NEW CONCEPTS AND APPROACHES TO GUITAR REPAIR, WHICH TRULY IS A THINKING MAN'S TRADE. I MOVED BACK HOME TO JERSEY IN THE MID '80S AND STARTED UP MY OWN REPAIR SHOP, FIRST IN FAIRVIEW, THEN IN BLOOMFIELD. 

IN '86 I STARTED DOING SOME REPAIR WORK FOR ESP GUITARS ON 19th STREET AND IN '88 I STARTED TECHING AND REPAIRING FOR GIBSON GUITARS' NYC SHOWROOM, WHICH HAS CONTINUED UP UNTIL THE PRESENT.

I CLOSED MY SHOP IN BLOOMFIELD IN '90 TO WORK FULL TIME WITH ESP GUITARS ON 48th STREET. I WAS THE ONLY REPAIRMAN AT ESP, SO I DID ALL THE GUITARS FOR THE US AND CANADA. I DID THE WORK FOR JAMES AND KIRK FROM METALLICA - WHATEVER THEY WANTED. ESP MOVED OUT TO LA IN '93 AS DID I, ONCE AGAIN, THOUGH THAT DID NOT LAST LONG AS I'M NOT A LEFT COAST KINDA KID.

BACK IN NEW YORK CITY ONCE AGAIN, I FOUND MYSELF WORKING AT MATT UMANOV GUITARS IN GREENWICH VILLAGE ON BLEECKER ,  WHAT A GREAT PLACE TO WORK! I CAN'T BEGIN TO TELL YOU HOW MUCH I'VE LEARNED ABOUT THE GUITAR BUSINESS THERE. WORKING AROUND MATT, DAVE AND MY BROTHER TOM HAS BEEN A TREMENDOUS EXPERIENCE, AND THEY CONTINUE TO BE A FOUNTAIN OF INFORMATION FOR ME.