Guitarmakers and Guitarmaking

Rick Turner Compass Rose acoustic guitar

Great Acoustics: Rick Turner’s Personal 2007 Compass Rose Guitar Speaks to His Forward-Thinking Style

Rick Turner created many unique Compass Rose acoustics, but this one—regarded as among his finest—was the luthier’s personal guitar and a showcase of both his bold concepts and skilled execution.

Golden Jubilee: Bob Taylor, Richard Hoover, and Dana Bourgeois Reflect on 50 Years of Guitar Making

Bob Taylor (Taylor Guitars), Richard Hoover (Santa Cruz Guitars), and Dana Bourgeois (Schoenberg, Bourgeois Guitars) reflect on 50 years of guitar making.

Classical Guitar Builder Joshia de Jonge in workshop

Classical Guitar Builder Joshia de Jonge on Experimentation and a Life of Lutherie

Classical guitar builder Joshia de Jonge talks about experimenting in her own shop after years of working alongside her father & other facets of a life of lutherie.

Remembering Luthier Rick Turner and His Many Contributions to the Guitar World and Beyond

Alembic, Turner, The Dead's Wall of Sound—The late luthier Rick Turner, who died last April at 78, had such an illustrious career that to fully describe it, one would need to write a medium-size book.

Paul Reed Smith plays an acoustic PRS guitar

Paul Reed Smith Took Inspiration from Torres for His Acoustic Guitar Design

When Paul Reed Smith first heard an 1800s acoustic guitar built by Antonio Torres, he knew his own steel-string guitar designs would borrow structural elements from Torres.

Thomas Ripsam, C.F. Martin and Co.’s First Non-Family CEO, Combines a Love of Guitar with Global Business Experience

Thomas Ripsam’s path to CEO at C.F. Martin & Co.’s Nazareth, Pennsylvania, headquarters is even more unlikely than most.

acoustic guitar body shapes (martin and gibson) from acoustic guitar magazine

A Guide to Identifying Common Acoustic Guitar Shapes and Sizes

The steel-string acoustic guitar appears in many different sizes and shapes. This guide gives a general understanding of the most common styles and what they may offer players

2022 Cowardin 000 guitar-front-photo-Nick Davis

Great Acoustics: This Custom Style 21 Cowardin 000 Celebrates a Decades-Long Friendship

A friend commissioned Jack Cowardin to build an understated 000 acoustic guitar to complement his 1938 Martin 000-18. The result was much more than just wood and metal.

Guitar makers Kathrin Hauser and father Hermann Hauser III with guitars in the workshop

Kathrin Hauser and Her Family’s Guitar-Making Dynasty

The Hauser guitar making dynasty started in the late 19th century with Josef Hauser (1854–1939) and continues today with Hermann Hauser III and his daughter Kathrin Hauser.

Kenny Hill Legacy model classical guitar

Kenny Hill’s State-of-the-Art Modern Legacy Model Classical Guitar

This 2019 Kenny Hill Modern Legacy classical guitar, the luthier's main guitar for his own playing, is a prime example of his company’s top-tier offerings.

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