Rich has been designing, building, and repairing fretted string instruments since 1983, after completing his studies at the Roberto-Venn School of Luthiery in Phoenix, Arizona. While attending the school, Rich was greatly influenced by master craftsman and instructor William Eaton (refer to Acoustic Guitar Magazine, N0.61, pp.64-67). It was from Bill, that Rich learned to let his creative juices flow, and not to worry about building "clones" of popular designs.

After leaving Roberto-Venn, Rich acquired additional experience while working for Fretted Instruments International (the parent company to Oscar Schmidt Autoharps and Washburn Guitars) and Philip Kubicki Guitar Technology of Santa Barbara, California.

Rich's shop is not geared towards mass production techniques, although jigs and tooling are certainly used to cut down on the time spent on the more tedious and repetitious steps in the construction process. Rich prefers to build from one to three instruments at a time, and usually completes from 12 - 16 instruments each year. These instruments are handcrafted works of art that are built to the specifications of the client. Rich does keep several instruments available as portfolio/demonstration pieces so that potential clients can experience the quality of his work.

Rich's instruments have been featured in Guitar 2000: Today's State of the Art, Tomorrow's Innovations (Acoustic Guitar Magazine, August 1998, Issue 68); The Holey Grail: Why Leading Guitar Makers Are Rethinking Traditional Soundhole Designs (Acoustic Guitar Magazine, February 1999, Issue 74); Andy Volk's book, Lap Steel Guitar (Centerstream Publishing); and Custom Guitars: A Complete Guide to Contemporary Handcrafted Guitars (String Letter Publishing, Inc.).

Many artists are using Rich's instruments in the studio and in live preformance, including Don Conoscenti, Cyril Pahinui, Brooks Williams, John Alevizakis, and Al Scortino.

Rich has been a member of both the Guild of American Luthiers (G.A.L.), and the Association of Stringed Instrument Artisans (A.S.I.A.) since 1983. He has been published in Guitarmaker (No.10 & No.17), the official publication of Association of Stringed Instrument Artisans. Rich's article on the construction of his 'Maalaea' has been published in American Lutherie (#60/Winter 1999), the quarterly journal of the Guild of American Luthiers. In addition, Rich has participated as a panelist in discussions on Steel String Guitar Design at A.S.I.A.'s Symposium 1993 and 2003, with such distinguished luthiers as Steve Klein, Grit Laskin, Linda Manzer, James Olsen, and Mark Wescott.

In addition to his building activities, Rich is the editior of Guitarmaker: The Journal of Fretted Instrument Constructiona and Repair, which is produced by the Association of Stringed Instrument Artisans.

Rich sandwiched between the infamous Canadian
tag team of Linda Manzer and Grit Laskin during ASIA 2003.

Note from Rich:

I would like to acknowledge my wife Sue, without whom, I could not be doing what I love to do. Her support never waivers and she can often be found picking me up by my coat tails. And of course she had a hand in producing the two wonderful sons that we're blessed with. I just hope Rylan Koa and Nathan Sitka can get as much from music as I do. After all, it's all for the love and spirit in the music!

From left: Rylan, Sue, Rich, Sue's brother Tom, and Nat.