Chris Brandt
Chris is intensely dedicated to repairing and making guitars. He made his first guitar when he was 13, and began repairing guitars professionally when he was only 16. As a player, builder, and repairman, he has been “ building a better world “one guitar at a time for 40 years. He has a lifetime of knowledge about the world of guitars, and specializes in difficult and challenging repairs. Chris has been the owner of the 12th Fret for over 25 years.
Pete Dyrhaug
Pete runs the front counter at the 12th Fret, and has 40 years experience playing in bands, and working with guitars., and guitar players. He's set up 1000's of guitars, done lots of custom wiring, and worked outside the music field as a designer and a draftsman. As the consummate customer service pro and guru at the 12th Fret front counter since 1979, Pete says “Our customers are people, not guitars
Dave Zogg
Dave is the “Iron Man” at the 12th Fret. He has been working with his hands all his life, starting from when he built r/c model airplanes as a kid in the '60's. He also started playing guitar in the 60's. He has rebuilt car engines, been the project leader of a Saturn automobile production team, a machine designer on multi-million dollar projects, and a tool-and-die- maker. He also has a degree in genetics from Cornell University, and can speak knowledgeably on many subjects. Somewhere along the way,          Dave tired of the corporate lifestyle and he gave it all up to return to his first passion: guitars. He's been at the 12th Fret since 1992, and does everything, but specializes in renovating and repairing high-quality acoustic guitars.

Russ Blake
Russ moved here from Santa Monica in 2005, but it feels like he's been here forever. He had a huge following as a guitar tech in Southern California, and was also in demand for his guitar playing, as well as his pedal steel playing. He's still a member of the Lucky Stars band, which plays Western Swing all over the world [they played Spain in Sept.]. With his quality repair work and customer service, Russ is now busy building a following at the 12th Fret.


Dan O'Hara
Dan works the front counter, writes up jobs and gives advice, and is slowly getting into doing guitar repair, which he enjoys. He was building computers when he was just a kid, and now plays baritone guitar on the weekends with his band, Doctor Moss. Dan's a webmaster who has left the world of tech support to give the Fret a fresh infusion of talent. He has lots of retail experience, and provides great customer service, maybe that's why a lot of musicians like dealing with him at the 12th Fret.

Piers Munro
Piers moved to Portland from Las Vegas in 1970 with $10 in his pocket, and now owes everybody. He's played guitar and harmonica in bands from Las Vegas, to Los Angeles, to Haight-Ashbury. He had a guitar shop in Portland for 14 years, and worked for a short time for Leo Fender as a sales rep. He's always here on Saturdays, and sometimes more often than that, where he works the front counter with Pete and Dan.