Gaiero

Gaiero Acoustic Guitars — A Somogyi Alum Finds His Voice in Portland

Mark Gaiero spent a decade building stop-motion puppet armatures at Laika Studios in Portland, the legendary animation house behind Coraline and Kubo and the Two Strings, developing in the process a craftsman's precision with miniature structures, joinery, and mechanical systems that demand absolute exactness to function. When his creative focus shifted entirely to acoustic guitars in 2015, he brought every bit of that precision with him.

From 2016 to 2019 he studied as a full-time apprentice to Ervin Somogyi in Oakland, one of the most transformative apprenticeships available to any aspiring luthier in the world. Somogyi's approach to voicing, his deep understanding of how the top, back, and air cavity of an acoustic guitar interact as a unified acoustic system, and his commitment to building instruments that respond to the player rather than resist them left a permanent mark on everything Mark has built since. He now lives in Portland with his family and builds a small number of fully custom instruments each year under the Gaiero name, with a waiting list that reflects exactly the kind of word-of-mouth reputation that the finest independent builders earn quietly and keep permanently.

Responsible Materials, Extraordinary Results

Mark's approach to tonewoods is guided equally by acoustic merit and environmental responsibility. He focuses on non-endangered, responsibly harvested, and reclaimed tonewoods, sourcing materials from suppliers whose practices align with his values without making any concessions on the sonic quality of what he builds with. European spruce, Sinker Redwood recovered from old-growth sources, Ziricote, Bastogne Walnut, and figured maple have all appeared in recent Gaiero builds, each combination chosen in service of a specific tonal goal.

The Models

Mark builds across a range of body styles including OM, OMC, and modified Dreadnought configurations, each one a fully custom instrument voiced individually for the player who commissioned it. The OMC has been the most widely circulated model in the market, appearing at Eddie's Guitars, Dream Guitars, and other respected boutique dealers, and consistently drawing comparisons to instruments built by builders with far longer résumés. The Modified Dreadnought, developed through a detailed commission build thread that attracted significant attention in the acoustic guitar community in 2024, demonstrates the full range of what Mark can do when given the creative latitude to push beyond the standard formats.

The Fretboard Journal Put It Simply

Mark Gaiero has one of the more interesting CVs in the world of independent lutherie. The players and dealers who have experienced his instruments firsthand tend to put it even more simply: this is one to watch, and the time to watch is now.

Browse our available Gaiero inventory, and reach out to discuss a custom commission directly.