About Earthtone Guitarworks:

About me: My name is Will Pryor, born in 1995, I have been completely captivated by guitars as long as I can remember. I was around 6 years old when I first dragged my mom’s 1976 Ibanez concord out of the closet and started plucking the strings, and its pretty much been all downhill from there. When I was a teenager, I pretty much had set my sights on being a luthier. I started my guitar tech journey as an intern Bernunzio’s music in Rochester when I was 16, learning the basics of setups and guitar maintenance.

Fast forward to 2016 I enrolled in the music recording program at Finger Lakes Community College which really brought me into the broader world of music production. The school hired me on a work/study program as a session musician because I was dependable and able to learn material quickly to help other students get their audio projects done. After that they hired me as a studio assistant, doing things like microphone inventory, watering the pianos (If you know you know), and occasionally helping other students on their projects. I would also frequently hang out with the music departments lead tech Bob Potter as a fly on the wall when he was doing repairs of studio equipment.

After graduation I picked up a sales job at guitar center, where I stayed until 2020. During the pandemic I had a lot of free time, and I started teaching myself electronics via Khan Academy on youtube. Trying to figure out what my next move would be, I reached out to Rochester’s legendary amp builder/repairman John Nau and asked him if he would take me on as an apprentice. He agreed, loaned me a few books to read, and we set about building my first amp from scratch (a 50 watt Marshall 2204 clone). John taught me a lot about amps and electronics in general, and he also helped me secure a job at Sound Source, the coolest music store in Rochester.

I stayed at Sound Source from April 2021 to May 2026, I worked as a repair tech and was really able to hone my repair skills on everything from vintage guitars and amps, to pedals, studio equipment, audio interfaces, PA’s, you name it. If you needed amp repairs done in Rochester, your options were basically John Nau or Sound Source. So we were always busy. I will always be grateful to John and Chuck (Owner of Sound Source) for the opportunities they gave me and everything they taught me.

The thing about being a repair tech that keeps it interesting, is that there’s always more to learn. Every malfunctioning piece of equipment is a unique puzzle, and for me one of the most satisfying feelings is when you flip on an amp you’ve put hours into repairing and it comes roaring back to life. I love being able to help musicians keep making music, and keeping vintage and historical pieces of gear on the road.

Earthtone Guitarworks is a registered LLC and a registered dealer for Allparts, Stringjoy, Amplified Parts, and Graphtech Labs.