Ian Pender has over ten years of experience in all aspects of building and repairing both acoustic and electric fretted stringed instruments. After years of modding and tinkering with his own instruments, Ian built his first electric guitar from scratch when he was 17. In 2007, Ian attended Vermont Instruments, in Post Mills, Vermont, where he designed and built his first acoustic guitar, a concert bodied Manzer wedge. Wanting to further his education in lutherie, Ian traveled to Big Rapids, Michigan, to attend the Galloup School of Lutherie. where he built four more instruments and received extensive training in instrument construction, musical acoustics, and guitar repair and restoration. After graduating from Galloup, Ian worked as a luthier at Saratoga Guitar, in Saratoga Springs, New York, doing minor repair and store stock setups, before relocating to the West Coast in 2011. Ian has been the in-house luthier at Five Star guitars since 2012, where he does everything from basic setups and electrical work to more involved projects including (but not limited to): pickup rewinding and building custom pickups to customer specs; structural repairs such as headstock repairs, bridge reglues, crack repairs, and neck resets; custom inlay; fret leveling and refretting, including a handful of 17 and 19 note microtonal conversions; and even custom building entire necks for mandolin/mandola conversions. Ian is an FMIC certified warranty tech, Taylor warranty certified, certified Buzz Feiten tuning system installer, and is a member of the Guild of American Luthiers.