Almost 40 years ago, an encounter with Australia’s leading guitar-maker/luthier Gerard Gilet in a small pawnbroker’s shop in Manly, Sydney, sparked Mark’s keen fascination with vintage guitars. From there, his everlasting passion for guitar making unfolded and he initially began making guitars with anything he could get his hands on; including bed posts and fibreglass! He went on to teach himself to handcraft almost every part of the guitar, as well as to spray paint, weld and solder.

He spent the next 20 years in  Byron Bay where he built guitars, surfboards and boats  while  also  creating  original  music and playing in bands. In 1998, he relocated to Melbourne where he became the head of warranty repairs for Gibson/Epiphone USA in Australia for over 15 years while managing the iconic Gallins Guitars. He has repaired equipment for many renowned bands including Shihad, Grinspoon, The Superjesus, Russel Morris and The Black Sorrows. He has also been an approved warranty repairer for Maton. In 2007,  he  visited  the USA as a guitar consultant for  Gibson Guitars and helped them solve various problems with their Montana factory production line. In 2013, he consulted  again for  JB Hi-Fi’s line of guitars out of China.

Throughout this time he has continued to pursue his love for handcrafting custom guitars in his home-based workshop. He has enjoyed the experience of building more than  500 guitars, including fine archtop, acoustic, resonator, bass and electric guitars.