The Fretboard Journal Guitar Podcast Podcast 539: Mark Stutman (Folkway Music) Returns
Feb 27, 2026
Mark Stutman, proprietor of Folkway Music and acclaimed vintage guitar restorer, returns. He talks about building his repair shop, becoming a vintage-guitar expert, and the economics of repair versus retail. They dig into quirky early Gibsons, preservation-minded restoration, fret and re-top challenges, and Mark’s love of photography as a creative outlet.
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Run Repair Profitably By Cutting Overhead And Distractions
- If you run a repair-only operation, minimize overhead (use on-property shop) and guard time management to be profitable.
- Avoid retail distractions; closing the door and focusing on bench work increases income per hour.
Demographics Drive Vintage Guitar Demand
- Guitar market trends follow demographics: those in their 50s shape demand, pushing solid-body electrics higher while acoustics lag.
- Unique electrics (e.g., Novo) and pointy shapes are resurging among younger players.
Becoming A Gibson Expert By Buying Cheap Guitars
- Mark learned vintage Gibson expertise by buying many inexpensive guitars on eBay in the early 2000s and analyzing them.
- That exposure plus obsessive measurement and attention to thousandths of an inch built his specialty.