Before musicians take to the stage, they need an instrument to play. That’s where Tish Ciravolo and entrepreneurs like her come in. Ciravolo is founder and president of Daisy Rock Guitars, the “girl guitar” company that is among more than a dozen guitar manufacturers in the San Fernando Valley. While her guitars may be pink and sparkly and made with girls and women in mind, they are not limited to that gender, Ciravolo said. “I have a ton of guys who play my stuff because the guitars are easier to play and a lot of fun,” added Ciravolo, who operates the company from her home in Shadow Hills. Acoustic and electric guitar manufacturing in the U.S. alone was a $500 million business last year, according to market research firm IbisWorld. The Los Angeles area has long been attractive to these companies because of easy access to the music industry. “You are a short drive away from the studios, record companies and rehearsal spaces,” said Keith Horne, who makes guitars in Fillmore under his Marvin Guitars brand. “It is all right here.” “On the same day you can see the snow and see the ocean – it’s got to inspire you to create some really awesome guitars,” Ciravolo explained. Musician’s Institute in Hollywood has a guitar craft program that teaches students the basics of how to become a luthier, or master guitar maker. Paul Roberts, chair of the program, said that it draws about half its students from Southern California and the other half from elsewhere in the U.S. and overseas, including Korea, China, Sweden and the Czech Republic. The program is for 20 hours a week for six to nine months. Students learn all aspects of guitar making from drafting designs, repair, electronics, and pickup winding. They build either a six-string guitar or a four-string bass. The point of the program is to provide enough experience for graduates to get a job. While employers are not looking to hire a master luthier, neither are they looking for somebody with no experience at all, Roberts said. “They want somebody who is a competent beginner who has a skill set they can further train or refine,” he added. While the program has graduates who have gone on their own to start manufacturing or repair businesses, typically they go to work for the larger manufacturers in the area, like Fender Musical Instrument Corp., ESP Guitar Co. in North Hollywood or Schecter Guitar Research in Sun Valley. Roberts used to work for a guitar maker in the Valley that had five employees turning out 300 guitars in a year. “Getting into a shop like that there is not much employee turnover,” Roberts said. “A place like Fender out in Corona, they build 400 guitars a day so they need massive staffing.” Interviews with four luthiers – Mike Lipe, Mike Pinter, Avi Shabat and Michael Ciravolo, husband of Tish Ciravolo – appear on the following pages with responses about why the Valley has emerged as a major instrument supplier for music acts. Reasons include convenient access to musicians, availability of industrial space, the presence of machine shops and industrial material suppliers and nearness to Guitar Center, a major music retailer headquartered in Westlake Village.