- 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.
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- 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.
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