KEVIN SCHWAB: Kevin has worked at Hoffman guitars since 1982. Kevin started with the shop when he took over the building of Schwab Mandolins (wonderful solid body electric mandolins—give us a call for information) from his brother Bill,  and helping with our customers on Saturdays. He gradually took on a larger and larger role in instrument repair, and now does the whole range of instruments. As a banjo player himself, he has become our resident guru on that instrument, and has also developed special skills in dobro and mandolin repair. Kevin is also an active musician (he has played in several groups with Ron), and is married to Marilynn. The dog above with Sophie (Ron's daughter) is Paco, and owns Kevin and Marilynn.

A more recent photo of Kevin.

MICHELE BEARDSLEY: I suppose that it is no longer accurate to say that "Michele was until recently the newest and youngest member of our little family."  She has worked here for 18 years and has more than proven herself to be a superb repairperson.  Mish graduated from the Instrument Repair school at Red Wing (Minnesota) in 1989, and has worked for me since 1992. Michele is a versatile repairwoman who can be relied on for any repairs.   She has  been trained at the Taylor Factory in their methods and does most of the warranty work we do on Taylor Guitars.  She has made a few very nice guitars.   Michele is also an active musician who plays both guitar and, recently, drums.  Michele is also an avid motorcyclist.

  This is Mish's current love interest - a BMW.  She rides about 40 miles each day getting to and from work and this is her preferred mode of transportation, except during the winter.

  This is Conrad - our "newest" employee - he has been with us for about 5 years, not counting his 2 or 3 years abroad with the National guard. Conrad is also a graduate of the Red Wing school and works on both electric and acoustic guitars. 

  This is Conrad's Harley.  The debris in the background is not ours - it belongs to the neighbor, who is engaged in a remodeling project that will take- at a rough guess- until the end of time.

Susan Lindell:  Susan was with us for 5 years (more or less) but has now moved on.  True love has intervened and she is now living in the Big Apple.  We all miss her tremendously, but wish her the best in her new job.   

CHARLIE HOFFMAN: I built my first guitar in 1970 while I was a Ph.D. candidate in American History at the U of M.  When I realized that I didn't really want to teach (what else can you do with a Ph.D. in American Constitutional history),  I opened a repair shop (in 1971) with Rod Bellville. Within a few years I was devoting most of my time to building, and left repairs to others in my shop. To date my "body count" is in excess of 600 guitars,  including one which is now in the collection of the Minnesota Historical Society (Apparently, unbeknownst to me, I had become an icon of the folk music boom in the 70's in Minnesota and they were doing an exhibit of various decades in Minnesota History).   In 1983, a combination of financial and other issues led me to go to law school. I graduated in 1986 and immediately joined a fine medium size law firm (70+ lawyers - but who is counting) here in town.  Some years later I became  a partner, and specialized in litigation and, particularly, state level telecommunications regulation.  Despite this "mid-life crisis" I kept the shop open (never had any other thought.).  More recently, in May of 2002, I became "Of Counsel" with the Maslon firm, a title that really means semi-retired.  In 2008 when I turned 65 I officially left the Maslon firm.  I am  again actively  building guitars, am almost back to my pre-lawyer production numbers, and am continually attempting to upgrade my production process and the quality of my instruments.  I am married to Susan (the Susan below, not the Susan above) and have two children, a son-in-law and three grandchildren.   Sari, (that is her in the picture with me - but now she is a teenager and recently returned from  a year in Germany as an exchange student), Raafael, and most recently,  Rowan.   In addition to the above, I read incessantly, and am a bone fide tool junkie.  I have never met a tool I didn't want to own.

 Well, this photo is about 30 years old, and what it proves, other than that I was young once,  is that I was also young and a bit foolish.  Or at least, foolish looking.  Actually looking at old photos like this gives me a kick, and a big belly laugh.  

  Another -shows that the above photo is not a fluke.

  A photo of me when I was an attorney -there is a scary photo!!

  This is a more contemporary photo, gray hair and all.

 This photo appeared in an article about Minnesota Guitar Builders which was in Fretboard Journal. 

    That's probably as many photos of me as you can stand!!

   Here I am with C.F. Martin #1,000,000

I use strapping tape when I am gluing binding in place.  Over the years when I remove the tape I have collected the used tape in a big ball.  The one seen here is the second I have made and will soon be retired since it no longer fits under my bench.

  This is my lovely wife, SUSAN.  We have been married for 38 years.

   Susan and our son, Gabriel, immediately after the graduation ceremony at the Berklee College of music, where Gabe majored in production and engineering.

This is my son - Gabriel (known to one an all as Gabe).  When in town he hangs out at the shop, helps with the work and has built several guitars, including the experimental 8 string shown here.  He came home from Berklee with his head shaved - certainly shocked me.  

  I now have a 40 year old daughter (and a 18 year old granddaughter) - and I am on Medicaid and social security.  I guess that makes me officially an "old coot".

     RIP  Easy. 

1/26/11.   This morning, at the age of 15 1/2 years Easy went to his rest.  He was a lovely dog and I will miss him. A lot.

This is my dog, EASY (a standard poodle), who is one of the "shop dogs", the other being PACO, Kevin's dog. (See above)  Easy loves to come to the shop with me.  He is very friendly and makes friends with everyone who comes in.

  Easy's friend here is Claire, the daughter of the owner of the building next to ours.  

  We are very safety conscious - even the shop dog wears a mask.

On July 22, 2011 the newest member of our family came into the world.  His name is Nicholas Degana Sambo, better known as Nikki.  Here is his photo:

  Nikki is, as should be obvious, an Standard Poodle (the 4th one owned by Susan and I) and he is turning out to be a very fine fellow. 

  Nikki is now almost 6 months old and about 42 pounds.  He will be a big boy (about 60 # we think) and is indeed a very fine fellow.  He sits in my lap when I read the paper in the morning - should be interesting when he is 60# or more.

This website and all of its content, text and images are copyright ©1997-2011  by Charles A. Hoffman.  All rights reserved.