Musician’s Workshop welcomes Mark Toolan as our newest addition to our in-house staff of Luthiers and Guitar Techs. Mark comes to us well trained and highly experienced building and repairing some of the finest stringed instruments in the world.
Mark first entered the music scene on the Boston circuit, playing guitar in rock bands and as a sideman for singer/songwriters. After several years of working the bars and theaters across New England and New York, he trekked out to Phoenix to earn a Certificate in stringed instrument construction and repair from Roberto-Venn School of Luthiery. There he took on many complex repairs and built several guitars from scratch. One of these managed to catch the eye of the legendary Maine luthier, Dana Bourgeois, which was enough to pull him back to the northeast for a few years. After cheating death in a 29-car pileup along the way, Mark landed in Portland, ME working at Bourgeois Guitars as the sole member of the fretting and neck-setting department. He also helped out with binding, milling, setups and anything else he could get his hands on- all while doing repairs on local musician’s instruments in his shop at home on nights and weekends. Mark also recently completed training by Taylor Guitars and received Certification as Authorized Service Technician: Silver Level. A veteran of over 500 fret jobs, he moved to Asheville in 2017 and is eager to keep the stringed instruments of Asheville and WNC in top playing shape.
Professional Certifications: Luthier Certificate, Roberto-Venn School of Luthiery. Taylor Guitar Authorized Service Technician: Silver Level.
