Mark Simon - Luthier


Established in 1973, Mark Simon has been providing repair and restoration services for discerning Musicians, Players, and Collectors. Mark's expertise has been featured in Guitar Player & Vintage Guitar magazine. He has been cited in numerous books concerning stringed instrument construction, maintenance, and repair. His work has been on exhibit at The Smithsonian, The Virginia Historic Society, The Blue Ridge Institute, The Boston Museum of Fine Art, & The National Heritage Museum.
Resume & Clients Roger Siminoff -1975 Mandolin Bros -As Head of Repair 1976-1981 The Chinery Collection -As Conservator Terraplane Resonator Guitar Co. -As Master Luthier / Proprietor Guitar Trader The Hard Rock Cafe Gibson Guitar Company C.F. Martin Sam Ash Music The Music Emporium -Lexington, Mass. Jim Bollman's and Peter Szego's Instrument Collection "America's Instrument: The Banjo in the Nineteenth Century" Robert Shaw "Hand Made, Hand Played: The Art & Craft of Contemporary Guitars" -As Featured Luthier Premier Guitar Magazine "5 Resonator Builders You Should Meet" -As Featured Luthier Johnny Winter Arlen Roth / Hot Licks Cindy Cashdollar Stefan Grossman Sonny Landreth John Peden -Guitar World Bernie Leadon -The Eagles New Jersey's own Uncle Floyd Steve Howe Martin Taylor Tony Trishka Barry Mitterhoff Larry Wexer Jeff Ganz Melody Gardot David Mansfield Outlaw Guitars Charlie Dellavalle -Gothic City Guitars Benny Hi-Fi -The Fins	Services From basic upkeep to complete rehabilitations; please consider Mark Simon Guitars for all your fine acoustic & electric stringed instruments including; Guitars, Basses, Banjos, Dobros, Mandolins, Fiddles, and Ukuleles. Setups & Routine Maintenance *Action & Intonation Adjustment* *Acoustic, Electric, & Polyphonic Midi Pickup Installation* *Pickguard Replacement, Reproduction, & Fabrication* *Nut, Saddle, Bridge, and Tailpiece Replacement & Repair* *Tuner Replacement & Repair* *Fretwork & Fingerboard Maintenance* Inlay Installation, Repair, & Custom Work *Neck Maintenance, Repair, & Reproduction* *Tremolo System Maintenance* *Winter Crack & Headstock Repairs* *Finish Repair & Restoration* *French Polishing & Color Matching* *Major Restoration of Important Historic Pieces* *Custom Design & Construction*

Endorsements "Repairman Mark Simon of Bridgewater, New Jersey has been instrumental to the success of the Chinery Collection. In my opinion, he's the most gifted artisan in the genre. His work and talents are greatly appreciated, and he is the only person whom I will let work on my guitars." *-Scott Chinery* Vintage Guitar Magazine: January 1995 "We had great, great fun exploring all the (Chinery) guitars and we also had the pleasure of having Mark Simon there to set up any little details because we weren't just looking at them, we were playing them. So if they needed restringing, a bit more preparation, or had a fret buzz, we had a professional guy there. It was a fantastic experience." -Steve Howe Lap Steel Guitar "Mark Simon is a dear friend, a fantastic luthier, and overall great guy." -Arlen Roth <www.arlenroth.com> "Thanx for saving my guitar & act!" -'Uncle' Floyd Vivino <www..unclefloyd.com> "I have an excellent guitar repair/setup person for you. His name is Mark Simon, he rebuilt my old (40 years old) Gibson B-25 (bridge/saddle, frets, tuners); plays great, sounds old and sweet. He is an artist. The job will be done right." -Dom Q. <Bridgewater, NJ> "For over 20 years, I've had work on my guitars done by Mark Simon, who lives in Bridgewater, NJ. He's terrific." *-El McMeen* <www.elmcmeen.com> "I have had a lot of work done by Mark Simon in Bridgewater, NJ. He's the former head repair guy from Mandolin Brothers and Martin highly recommends him." -Rob Sandt <www.robandmurph.com> "He does very nice work - excellent, especially if what you need is restoration of a historical instrument." -Frank Basile <www.donegone.net> "I highly recommend Mark Simon in Bridgewater New Jersey for setup and repair work. I live in Manhattan with about 15 archtops that I've acquired over the last 30 years, and have had lots of experience with many repairmen. IMHO, Mark is as good as it gets." -Perry Beekman <www.perrybeekman.com> "Mark Simon is the former head of repair at Mandolin Brothers. He refretted one of my instruments and is generally considered one of the best in the business." *-Lance Goler* "If you don't mind driving into NJ a bit you can go to Mark Simon. He has done great work with my Martin guitars." -Jim Pilgrim "Mark Simon is a great repair/tech person in northern NJ. He's maintained several important guitar collections." -Peter Watrous <NY Times music correspondent> "After having my Martin OM-28V setup by Mark Simon, this guitar is great. Thanks Mark." -S Mac <harmony-central.com review> "Mark Simon, my technician who works on the unknown for me, is an excellent luthier in Bridgewater, NJ. He has been working on my guitars for over 20 years and has not steered me wrong yet. You HAVE to check out his handmade resonator guitars - they are absolute TITS." -Chris Gansz <Ledgewood, NJ> "The Terraplane Amp don't suck! This is the way an amplifier should sound." -Chip Longo "Mark Simon, a Martin certified service professional who also has extensive experience with Fenders, replaced the "claw" in my tremolo and removed the tremsetter. He did a setup on the guitar and the intonation is perfect. Now I'm happily playing the guitar more often. I highly recommend him." -Steve Comeau "I've decided to go back to Mark Simon in Bridgewater, NJ. For those who don't know about him, he is excellent. He used to head the Mandolin Bros. repair shop in Staten Island, NY, and now works independently. He worked magic on a cosmetic issue on my R0. Highly recommended!" -Andy Lackow <www.andylackow.com> "I just wanted to thank you again for the great job on my Taylor. Its plays great...real easy, and the sound with the new strings is just awesome. Thanks again, you've got my guitar business for life." -Ken Klein "Thanks for fixing my uke so quickly. Tuned it up, plugged it in and everything is back to normal and sounds great !! Now I will have some time to practice before my lesson :-) " *-Karen Siebert* "Thanks for fixing my guitar. It's set up great and I'm really enjoying it. The difference is HUGE." -Joe Colleran "The LPs sound great. Thanks very much. I'll put the word around."-*-Tom Minet* "I wanted to thank you for the super-fine job. My mandolin is buzz free up and down the fretboard and as easy-playing as I could imagine all the way up and down. I now feel renewed enthusiasm for mastering the instrument." -Larry Seltzer "I just wanted to thank you again for doing a great job on my Les Paul. I am really happy with how it turned out. The frets are perfect." -Joe Sturnialo "Mark, I always knew that you were the greatest luthier in the world. All the work you have done for me has always been absolutely the best; especially the repair work you did recently on my Les Paul and my custom made Tele. Now it seems that you are reaching a celebrity status with the Terraplane guitars. I was blown away when I saw you and Johnny Winter in a guitar magazine. I just want to wish you all the best with this guitar and I will tell everyone I know to order a Terraplane guitar or amp. Good luck and I am sure I will see you soon with another project of mine." -Bill Ryan "Lo and behold, a new version of Olde Time Craftsmanship is here. The Terraplane Resonator Guitar. Handcrafted by Guitar Master Mark Simon, the Terraplane is unique unto itself." -Robert ResonatorGuitar.Blogspot.Com: 4-12-2007