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Hideo Tateno

Hideo Tateno first learned that you can make a living fixing guitars when he was eighteen years old and he had a local luthier lower the action on his beloved S. Yairi. With the fresh set up, his guitar played even better than when it was new and it sparked his desire to play even more. From that day on, he resolved to learn to do the same kind of work himself, work that was personally satisfying that also helped inspire others in their own creative pursuits. At the age of 24 he enrolled at the Roberto-Venn School of Luthiery and after completing the program, he knew he had found his calling.

At the age of 29 Hideo moved to the United States from his native Japan and honed his skills with the Bay Area lutherie legend, Hideo Kamimoto, the author of “Complete Guitar Repair,” one of the first, and still one of the best, introductions to the craft. He soon found a job at Saga, where we saw his excellent set-up work on the Blueridge guitars, Kentucky mandolins and Gold Star banjos we got from them. When Saga moved their local warehouse from South San Francisco to Kentucky, we were more than happy to add Hideo and his skills to our repair crew.

“From the age of 10, I was determined to find work I could enjoy doing for the rest of my life,’ Hideo says.”We spend one-third of our lives at work. What if we could do something we liked, something that made us happy every day? Today, I am living my dream being able to work with a legendary repairman, Frank Ford, and the talented craftsmen of Gryphon. Childhood dreams do come true.”

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