Musician to Luthier…
The origins of Replogle Resos date back over 40 years ago to the disco days of the late-1970’s. Mike Replogle was at that time a working musician, playing keyboards with many bands in the Los Angeles area and also touring extensively, playing ‘dives’ from LA to Chicago. The life of a working musician was not easy, and Replogle supplemented his income with side jobs, including a “9-5” job at the Travis Bean Guitar company where he first learned how to build necks and fingerboards, fretting and inlay work. And thus began his career as a luthier, first building guitars at Travis Bean, then doing custom setup and repair work for his network of guitar player friends in LA.
Luthier to Businessman…
Over time, Replogle expanded his presence in the musical instrument (MI) industry, applying the business skills he had acquired to musical instrument building. In the late 1980’s he was a partner in the custom guitar manufacturer Valley Arts Guitars, and as Business Manager he saw the company grow and establish a production facility in North Hollywood. He then worked at Samick USA, and moved on to Gibson Guitar in the early 1990’s where he was the General Manager of both the Dobro and Steinberger guitar divisions. After a stint at Gibson Entertainment Relations, Mike moved to the Bay Area in Northern California and was the General Manager of Zeta Music. Stints at Dean Markley, Boulder Creek guitar, and Saga Musical Instruments have rounded out his MI career.
(Next:) The Modern Age of Dobro