Music Manufacturing
Nat Clark worked for the York Band Instrument Company for over 40 years! He was hired in New York in 1957 because his older brother was working for Carl Fischer, which owned York at the time. Nat later moved to the factory in Michigan where he started on the bench buffing instruments. He soon...
Mike Stoll has had a passion for electronics and music since before he can remember. He pursued an education in electronics and began working with the famed Crown International in Elkhart, Indiana in the boom of home recordings of the 1960s. The company produced reel to reel tape machines, which...
Mike Korpak enjoyed his work in the factory at Gibson Guitars beginning back in the 1960s in Kalamazoo, Michigan. During his career at Gibson, Mike was able to grow into management and ran the parts department for years before his retirement. In fact, Mike was the last employee of Gibson in the...
John Kuziel was a long time factory worker for the Gibson Guitar Company when it was located in Kalamazoo, Michigan. He worked as a final inspector for the guitar line and later was in the spray room. He returned to the final inspection department where he gained a great reputation within the...
Ren Wall proudly followed his father's footsteps and worked in the Gibson Guitar Company in Kalamazoo, Michigan. He began working for the company in 1960 and continued until 1982. A few years later he returned to the very same factory to work for Heritage Guitar Company, which was formed by...
Hubert Friar was hired by the Gibson Guitar Company in Kalamazoo in 1959. Hubert worked for the company over 25 years. He worked at the end of the line, doing fret work. Hubert grew up playing guitar and knew Ren Wall and his father as a kid. When he was older he was recommended by Ren's father...
Joyce Shelven was a factory worker for the Gibson Guitar Company when it was located in Kalamazoon, Michigan. She was hired in 1947 just after the war and began working in the sanding department. Joyce worked both the belt sanders as well as the hand sanders before she left the company in 1964. ...
Mary Lou Hoogenboom was a factory worker for the Gibson Guitar Company when it was located in Kalamazoo, Michigan. She was hired in 1951 and began working in the sanding department, but found that she worked in every department before she retired in 1985. Her retirement occurred the same year the...
Mary Henkin was well known in the band and orchestra business as the hostess with the mostest. Along with her husband, Danny, they put on extravagant parties that were still talked about 30 years later. However, what many may not know is that she was half owner of all of her husband's musical...
Dean Zelinsky wanted to bring cool guitars to the market place and when he set out to do just that he was still in high school! The year after graduating, he opened Dean Guitars and attended his first NAMM Show the year after that, which was 1977. Dean pioneered several aspects of the industry...