Gearld apprenticed under Tom Davis at J. Thomas Davis Guitar Maker in Columbus, Ohio from 1994 to 1997. As a requirement of his apprenticeship, he built his first acoustic guitar from completely raw materials. Gearld went on to work at J. Thomas Davis until April 2009, when he moved to Dayton, Ohio and opened his own shop.
Gearld is skilled at building, repairing and restoring all types of fretted intsruments. He specializes in repairin broken head stocks, neck resets, bridge reglues, cosmetic repairs, and full restorations. In 2003 he became a Fender " Gold Level" repair technician for both acoustic and electric guitars. He has a thorough understanding of instrument finishes and prides himself in the fact that a lot of his repairs are usually undetectable.
Gearld has built many types of instruments such as steel string acoustic and Spanish style classical guitars, lap steels and mandolins. He particularly enjoys making neck-thru-body bass guitars.