Greg Byers is among the most respect luthiers in America.  His road to becoming a luthier is a strange one. In 1979, while doing research for his Ph.D. in Ecology and Evolutionary Biology he met a guitar maker in Puerto Rico, and decided he would like to build one some day.  Returning to Tucson,  he finished his dissertation (University of Arizona 1981), and built a guitar which he showed to Tom Patterson, (the head of the guitar program at the UA). Encouraged by Tom to continue building, he enrolled in a workshop taught by Jose Romanillos, and "never looked back." John Gilbert also has had a strong influence on his work. David Russell and David Tanenbaum are among the many concert guitarists who play his instruments. The guitar has no cracks or repairs. The top is definitely marked, nothing deep or serious; just normal wear from 21 years of playing. The guitar is fitted with a pin bridge, which allows individual strings to be adjusted up or down, as it is presently step up it is comfortable to play.