Today we’d like to introduce you to Maurilio Mina.
Maurilio, can you briefly walk us through your story – how you started and how you got to where you are today.
I hail from Switzerland. I was raised on heavy musical meals of The Beatles, Elvis, Bill Haley, Neil Young, the Motown sound, just to name a few. I began playing at a young age with friends. One of my first real working bands was an Elvis Tribute band.
I apprenticed as an electrician and took a job as a technician, all the while playing, touring and recording with some of the best known local bands and received great recognition. I was also working for some local sound companies as a tech and did clinics for a distributor of audio companies in Switzerland. Time passed and I decided to seriously commit to becoming a full-time musician. I packed my bags, sold my belongings, said goodbye to friends and moved to Los Angeles.
I trained at the Musicians Institute. I was awarded outstanding student upon graduation. I was asked to stay and teach workshops (country, pop, classic rock, jazz) and private lessons. I had collaborated live and in-studio with a long list of diverse bands: Country; Blues; Musicals; Latin; Jazz; Smooth Jazz; R’n’B; Classic Rock; Big Band; Top 40-classic ’60 &’70; and other casuals, plus jingles and other session work.
In 2007, I spent several months in Nashville, playing and touring with local artists. Since late 2007 I’ve been also collaborating with world-renowned Nordstrand Audio as an in-house tech and have my own repair/custom shop. I also have begun building specialized bass guitars under the name Mina Bass Design (MBD).
It just naturally happened that more and more my (our) services and knowledge in building, repair and setup instruments (especially electric bass) started to attract more and more interest, so at certain point it became obvious I needed to start my own shop (still in collaboration with Nordstrand @ www.nordstrandaudio.com)
Has it been a smooth road?
Like everything in life there’s ups and downs. The harder thing is trusting yourself especially when starting a new project, endeavor or business… humans tend to either support new ideas or dismiss/criticize them! Also in our business, there’s a lot of conservatives/traditional minds/attitudes and often lots of missunderstanding (myths)
So, as you know, we’re impressed with Mo’s Custom Shop – tell our readers more, for example what you’re most proud of as a company and what sets you apart from others.
https://www.facebook.com/MosCustomShop/
We repair, customize and set up electric guitars and basses, specializing in basses. My association with Carey Nordstrand @ Nordstrandaudio (former Nordstrandguitars) has made us a very respected and innovative name in the music business (we have some of the top world players in our roster).
As a young kid growing up in Europe in the ’70-’90 I was very fond of innovators/builders like Michael Tobias of MTD guitars, Roger Sadowsky NY, Fodera NY, etc. (to name a few), and always drooled of owning one of their instrument…
Fast-forwarding to today, now we supply electronics, technical services and general help to these companies! Somehow it still surreal, at least for me! 🙂 Also, my most proud achievement is my own instruments I’ve designed and built. They are the culmination of all these years of experience, experiments and research:
https://www.facebook.com/minabassdesign/
I guess the fact that I’m also a gigging musician/bass player help refine/understand the feel of an instrument, what works well or not, how certain “designs” might be more helpful instead of just esthetics… etc.
Let’s touch on your thoughts about our city – what do you like the most and least?
L.A. (and the metropolitan surrounding areas) is a unique city for sure! I can understand the “hate/love” attraction of it! But at the end of the day it is still the place for opportunities, innovative ideas, progressive developments (business-wise) and connections! The downside is the aggressive style of living and the uncontrolled urban development with a cost of living that is becoming close to impossible to afford! Also, there’s a lot of falsity and fake image selling (sometimes even unconsciously) a lot of impossible dreams!
Contact Info:
- Address: 325 Alabama St. #8, Redlands, CA 92373
- Website: mauriliomina.com
- Phone: 7143081897
- Email: [email protected]
- Instagram: @moscustomshop @mauriliomina
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/MosCustomShop/
- Other: https://www.facebook.com/minabassdesign/
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