Tennessee is well-known for its role in the development of American music including rock and roll, blues and country. One of the common factors throughout these genres is the use of the guitar.
What better way to celebrate “International Guitar Month” than by visiting a custom guitar shop right here in Tennessee? We had a chance to tour Guitar Mill and Mario Guitars located in downtown Murfreesboro to see what this custom guitar maker has to offer.
“Guitar Mill is a 4,000 square foot shop in Murfreesboro that most people don’t even know is here,” said Jack Brunson, head of sales and marketing for Mario Guitars and Guitar Mill. “But despite that fact, we still make about 75 custom guitars and send out about 600 guitar parts each year.”
The custom electric guitar shop began as a startup company in a two-car garage. Mario Martin and his wife Shannon started making guitar parts out of their home 10 years ago. Mario’s love for guitars started at a young age when he began his career as a musician. After his music career ended, he took a job at Gibson Guitar where he worked for over three years. After working at Gibson, he took a job at Fender and worked there for about seven years. The concept to open his own guitar parts shop came from Mario wanting to continue the skill and craft that he had learned while working at Gibson and Fender, but at his own shop.
