Steve Soest played in several local rock bands and studied hard on the makes of electric guitars and amps, an expertise that came in handy around 1972 when he began repairing musical inst...
Mike Soldano says he was late to game, picking up the guitar when he was 20, but soon made up for lost time by jumping in with both feet! He studied the instrument and listened to live an...
Ervin Somogyi began his career as a instrument repairman, which is how he learned the important elements of a guitar. He studied what went wrong with guitars, their weaknesses, and what h...
Marcus Spangler cut his teeth in the furniture business, working with his hands, seeing products to completion and adding his own ideas to the design and function of each piece. When he ...
Joe Spann joined the Gruhn Guitars crew in Nashville, TN to assist in writing appraisals. Appraising musical instruments is an important part of the retail store's business, and has been ...
Bob Sperzel’s grandfather and father were both mechanical engineers working in their own shops creating machine parts for several industries. As Bob learned from them he discovered on his...
Bob Spikard formed an instrumental rock band with his high school buddies and they called themselves the Chantay’s. The band’s greatest hit, co-written by Bob, was entitled “Pipeline”! ...
Peter Sprague smiled as the audience at the NAMM Foundation’s Museum of Making Music in Carlsbad, California continued their applause. It was one of many performances that month in mid-2...
Michael Spriggs is a session guitarist who got his start at the age of 14 when he joined “The Rogues”. In 1971 Michael moved to Nashville where he played with Eddie Rabbitt. With over 35 ...
Ned Steinberger is known around the world for his innovative instrument designs. His guitars and basses created without the traditional headstock gained wide popularity in the 1980s rock ...
Stephen Stern was born a wood craftsman. In fact, growing up his two passions became building furniture and playing the guitar. When he had an opportunity to put both together in the earl...
Tom Steuckert is a veteran of the music industry having served as store manager at Union Grove Music in Santa Cruz, a road rep and sales manager. His career began when he helped assemble...
Wade Stewart entered the pro audio industry in the late 1960s when he worked alongside Bob Crooks, the founder of Standel Amplifiers. In the early 1970s he formed Wade Electronics and foc...
Mal Stich worked for the BC Rich Guitar Company from 1975 until 1985, which was an important time of growth for the guitar maker. Mal helped the company's founder, Bernard Rico, expand th...
Jochen Stock is the president of Just Music in Berlin Germany, one of (if not the) largest music retail stores in the world! With a space of 7000 square meters, the vast store is equally...
John Stowell has been a strong supporter of the music industry as a jazz guitarist and has performed at the NAMM show over the years as well as at the NAMM Foundation’s Museum of Making ...
David Strait is one of two sons of original Strait Music Company owner and founder, Dan Strait. During his interview David talked about growing up working with their father in a true fami...
Robert Strait is proud of the music retail traditions that his father developed when their family owned store was first established back in 1967. Since that time, his father, Dan, along w...
Clint Strait was born in Austin, TX and is the 3rd generation to work for the Strait Music Company. Clint is carrying on his family’s tradition of great customer service and selection to ...
Peter Stroud is probably best known for his work as guitarist with Sheryl Crow. While that gig may have helped Peter come to greater recognition, he first developed his love of gear while...
Marty Stuart grew up in the small town of Philadelphia, Mississippi surrounded by country music, which he taught himself to play on a family guitar when he was 12 years old. Marty soon le...
John Suhr began formulating ideas of designing and modifying the electric guitar while working as a repairman at Rudy's Guitar Shop in New York City. After sharpening his skills as a mas...
Maurice Summerfield wore many hats within the music industry as wholesaler, retailer, exporter, historian, author, publisher and mentor to a new generation of industry leaders. His famil...
Gary Sunda began building guitar amplifiers under the name Sunda in the 1960s before he was hired by Don Randall to create a new line of amplifiers, Randall Amps. Gary began designing pr...
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...
Logan Swords has always been passionate about music and about promoting music makers. As a young child, he began playing drums and found out first-hand the benefits of music making. When ...
Steve Sykes found it easy to answer one of the biggest questions in a NAMM Oral History interview; “Did you have music in your house growing up?”. Steve’s mom was a booking agent in the 1...
Andy Talamantez fronts The Andy T-Nick Nixon Band out of Nashville. Andy’s guitar playing style is heavily influenced by T-Bone Walker and B.B. King, but at the same time, is something to...
Toshitsugu “Tom” Tanaka, the president of Hoshino Gakki. Ltd, recalled with a smile his early training in the industry under Harry Rosenbloom of Medley Music. That experience not only edu...
Ken Taniguchi runs the store his father opened in 1936 in Ochanomizu, Japan. The store started as a repair shop for accordions in the years before World War II. When US soldiers came in...
Tut Taylor was a world renowned Dobro player, but did you know he partnered with George Gruhn and the two hired Randy Wood to form a music store in Nashville? Gruhn Guitars began as GTR,...
Otis Taylor can remember saving long and hard to purchase his first banjo from a small store in Denver, Colorado as a child. The instrument led him on a career path of playing blues and ...
