I built my first guitar in 1973 in Phoenix, AZ. I was in high school physics class, and a friend who also played guitar told me about a shop he had visited over the weekend. He said they were making guitars, and in fact anyone could go in and build a guitar for a small fee. Well, I went to check it out, and it was true. The shop was open from noon to midnight and the owner would help you build a guitar. I was 17, a junior in high school, and to me, this was pretty cool stuff. I signed on to build a 12-string guitar. It took about six months, but I ended up with a guitar I had made myself, and I was hooked. In 1976, the guitar shop where I had built my guitar became the Roberto-Venn School of Luthiery. This was one of the first schools of its kind, and I decided to attend. For me, this was my first introduction to the idea that one could make guitars for a living.
From the early 1990’s until today my main focus has been building archtop guitars, although I continue to offer mandolins and flattop guitars.