I started my career as a luthier in a small music store in Kalamazoo, Michigan. I began by learning the craft of instrument repair, fixing a huge variety of acoustic instruments including violins, mandolins, banjos, guitars and upright basses. The types of repairs done were as diverse as the instruments themselves. Setting necks, repairing and re-gluing tops, replacing frets and occasionally recreating parts that were beyond repair. Eventually, I began to try my hand at building a number of instruments. The enjoyment I got from building instruments from scratch and the enthusiasm with which they were received by my musician friends, encouraged me to continue making more.
When that store closed, I decided to open my own store, Goldrush Music. Goldrush catered to the needs of acoustic music enthusiasts in Kalamazoo for many years. Owning my own place gave me the freedom (by working a lot of late nights and most weekends) to make many more complete banjos as well as a number of replica necks for vintage pots. I also built a number of violins and was fortunate enough to sell 2 of them to the great old time musician,Dan Gellert.
The current banjos came about during a camp ground discussion at the West Virginia Stringband Festival near Clifftop, W Va. A friend, after looking at a banjo I had recently completed commissioned me to make a fretless version.
Welcome to my website. If you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to contact me.
Regards,
Jan Bloom
