My trajectory into lutherie started with inheriting my grandfather's Hohner student guitar at the age of 12.  Growing up with woodworking being a generational family skill I went from jig sawing toy guns into cutting out soundboards spanned from elementary to middle school.  At 41 this year it's not really surprising now, looking back.  During my high school years I was employed by a local music shop and studied lutherie through a vocational program provided by the Tech Ed department from Neenah High School.  The time spent working at Island Music became invaluable for running a business in the future.  

 

2001-2002 I attended Roberto-Venn School of Luthiery located in Phoenix, Arizona.  Professional training in modern methods of construction/repair really set the foundation to make high quality instruments and develop Madsen Guitars into business.   During the ensuing years work life would include a return to Island Music and a decade in the boutique staircase industry.  From 2004-2016 I was employed by Arcways Staircase Company producing Curved and Spiral Staircases.  All along the way I moonlighted in the lutherie business as well as procured tooling and exotic woods with the goal of going full time.  The stair gig did provide vast amounts of wood access, modern wood manufacturing methods, travel to key market regions, and high end customer relation experience. In 2016 I pulled the trigger to go full time as Madsen Guitars.  

 

From 2016-2019 I constructed 20-30 guitars a year and mountains of repair projects.  In 2019 I decided more space to provide customers a better experience to both demo guitars and drop off repair work was the next step.  A location within biking distance to my house/wood shop was up for rent.  With the help from my then apprentice Parker Semrond we set up a retail location for Madsen Guitars.  It wasn't long after opening the doors that the COVID-19 pandemic would curtail the ability for in-person retail.  The Commerical St store front did steady business in the following years.  By the 3rd year of business, I had to come to realization I was more interesting building the instruments then the day-to-day requirements of running a brick & mortar location.

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In 2022 Madsen Guitars attended IBMA for the first time in Raliegh, NC.  After attending the show, it spurred a new direction for the brand to expand into national markets to get more exposure.  Madsen Guitars is now offered for sale through Dave's Guitars and will be adding new dealers throughout the country as production allows.  

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As for life outside of business, I have a young busy household of kids with my wife Andrea.  We welcomed the youngest George during the pandemic which takes the household to 6 excluding the family dog, Grizzly.  We enjoy the outdoors, gardening, skiing, and swimming in the lake down the street.  

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