Northwoods Seminar Update 2017
Damon Mailand- Carrying on the Tradition of Benedetto Guitars.
Born and raised in Harlem Montana, Damon’s father, a gunsmith by trade, impressed upon him at an early age the pride in creating things with your hands, and the necessity to be very detail oriented in doing so. His love for lutherie was sparked during a tour of Gibson Guitar’s acoustic division while he was attending Montana State University, Bozeman. Damon applied for a position working with world renowned archtop maker Bob Benedetto, and after one face-to-face interview, Bob immediately hired Damon as the new shop’s first employee and Bob's personal apprentice. After the interview Bob's was quote was; "in my opinion, this may perhaps be the next generation’s greatest guitar maker". Not bad for a kid from Harlem.
Damon is today the head Luthier at Benedetto Guitars. Along with Howard Paul, the two of them now carry on the tradition of excellence that Bob put into motion decades ago. During his lecture, Damon will cover what it was like apprenticing with Bob Benedetto, and what he learned that separates the classic Benedetto from the rest of the archtop market. In addition, Damon will discuss his insights of tone, stability and playability of archtop guitars.
“Damon and I had a chance to hang in Memphis eating dry rub ribs at The Rendezvous, fried chicken at Gus’s, and talking nonstop guitars. It didn’t take long to realize this guy had a lot under his belt for how young he was. That, coupled with his easy natured, approachable personality makes him a natural in a crowd of guitar geeks, I for one am looking forward to his presentation”.
Bryan