As a luthier, I've had the great privilege of repairing and restoring some unique and valuable instruments from historical pieces dated to the late 1700's to the prize possessions of incredible musicians such as the late great Johnny Cash.

My inspiration for becoming a luthier and learning the craft of fretted instrument repair was my love for the guitar. As a jazz guitarist playing regularly in New York City, I soon discovered that just playing was not enough- I wanted to know how it all came to be and what kept it together.

So in the early 90's, I suddenly found myself knee-deep in old junk guitars, kindly discarded by my musician friends.  I spent the next few years in a constant state of deconstruction and resemblance, and before I knew it those very same musician friends were asking me to fix their instruments.

Making the shift from “practice” to “business” made me realize that in order to bring my skills to a higher level I would need to learn the secrets of a master luthier. So, I set off in search of an apprenticeship .

I began calling and knocking on the doors of well known and highly respected repairmen in New York.  All refused to speak with this young new comer- except two: Woody Phifer and Bob Jones. 

Woody opened up his shop and heart to me and over the next several years taught me many of the skills that would become my foundation. 

With Bob, it took a bit more finessing. It was only after knocking on his door with a 1960 epiphone repair in my hand (no case, of course!) that he let me in.  I explained that I was in over my head with a refret, binding issues, a split bridge plate, top crack…and the kicker was- the guitar was a family heirloom.  He said, “ Well, I'm not gonna tell you what to do… but I'll tell you what I would do.” And he did. 

Three months later I knocked on his door again with the same guitar and two cups of tea in hand.  He took me in, inspected my work, and told me that he couldn't have done it better himself.  That was the day I knew I had arrived as a repairman.

From there I traveled to Saskatchewan, Canada to attend a 2 month training course on guitar construction with David Freeman of Timeless Instruments, and remained afterwards to help him build mandolins. Working my way back into the States, my path crossed with Dan Roberts of Santa Cruz Guitars who brought me into his shop to work in Montana.  Such a precise and clean repair man, I had never seen the likes of. 

One of his fortes is a flawless technique in neck re-sets, which I now hold as my standard.   Since my time with Mr. Roberts I have become a contracted repairman of Santa Cruz guitars.  Upon returning to Brooklyn, New York, I officially created and opened Littleflower Guitarworks, taking in repairs and orders for custom-built guitars.

In 2006 I teamed up with Steve Uhrik and his crew at New York String Service/Retrofret and played a key role in the repair and restoration department.  It was at this time that I was schooled in the history of American guitars and proper conservation and restoration techniques, for which I am forever grateful. 

Last, but certainly not least, I was a student of world-renowned instrument maker Ben Hume from 1998 to 2006.  It was with Ben that I was initiated into the world of simple hand tools and old world instrument making techniques; which to this day forms the basis of my art. 

In 2007, I relocated to Los Angeles with my wonderful wife, Megan and re-opened Littleflower Guitarworks in Topanga Canyon, CA.

I look forward to speaking with you soon.

Bill Fiorella
Littleflower Guitarworks
Topanga Canyon, CA

If you have any questions, or would like to learn more about what we can do for you and your guitar, you can call us at (310) 455-2196. You can also click here to send us an email.

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