Phil Petillo

Phillip J. Petillo (September 4, 1945 – August 13, 2010) was an American luthier. In the 1970s he built prototypes for Travis Bean and Gary Kramer for what would become Kramer Guitars.

Petillo's educational training included a BS in Industrial Engineering from Columbia University (1967), a Master's in Industrial Science from LaSalle University (1969). He later received an honorary BS from Eastern Virginia Graduate School of Medicine (1984) and a PhD in Engineering Technology from LaSalle University (1990). he was an apprentice of John D'Angelico and also of D'Angelico's, Jimmy DiSerio.

Aside from his guitar making, he was also the former Director of Engineering at Millenium Cell Inc. and designed and invented hydrogen fuel cells known as Hydrogen On Demand, hydrogen from sodium borohydride generators for DaimlerChrysler. Even after the developing company Millenium Cell closed in 2008, Petillo continued with the product.

In the guitar circle, Petillo is most famous as the inventor of the "Petillo Precision Fret." In a patent filed on June 22, 1976, the new fret was described as "a substantially T-shaped fret for a stringed instrument which has an elongated stem topped by a triangularly shaped cap." Petillo's triangular frets result in more precise intonation; however, not all guitarists are comfortable with their rigid feel. The Revolutionary Drumstick Patent of Petillo was sold to Ambico at the NAMM Convention in GA, 1977

In 1970, Dennis Berardi and Gary Kramer asked Phil Petillo Master Luthier-Engineer to design and build 4 prototypes of a new neck made out of aluminum and wood. When Berardi and Kramer first came to the Petillo Home Workshop, they offered the guitar to be called PETILLO and Phil refused for he knew from past experiences in the Music Industry that often one loses one's good name with such offers that are appealing when the need demands it. Petillo designed the guitar with a forked headstock. When La Placa and investor Henry Vaccaro joined forces to open a plant in Neptune, New Jersey, they needed Petillo. The first four prototypes of Kramer Guitars were hand made in 1976 at the 1206 Herbert Ave. Ocean, NJ Studio Workshop by Phil Petillo. These unique guitars were photographed for the first Kramer Brochure that was introduced at the 1977 NAMM show in Chicago, Illinois in 1976. At that show, the fledgling guitar company sold $250,000 based on the interest generated from the 4 prototype guitars. Ironically, they had no guitars since the factory had yet to be set up. Petillo helped design and set up the factory located in Neptune and proceeded to build the First Fingerboard Machine that cut the slots in all fingerboards to Petillo's Trade Secret Scales with Perfect Intonation. These designs and prototypes were kept in a guarded Safe in Dennis Berardi's office at the Neptune Factory.

...
Wikipedia