Guitarmakers and Guitarmaking

Mark Stutman, a leading vintage guitar expert

“The Gibson Guy”: How Folkway Music’s Mark Stutman Became a Leading Vintage Guitar Expert

Photos by Claire Bégin The sound of a customer fingerpicking a 1950 Gibson CF-100 in the front showroom of Folkway Music, in Waterloo, Ontario, an hour west of Toronto, drifts into owner Mark Stutman’s office. On the floor lie guitar cases with instruments ready for repair. On one wall is…

David McPherson
March 12, 2021

Makers & Shakers: Sherwood ‘Woody’ Phifer’s Forward-Thinking Archtop Designs

His fresh thinking and artistic touch combine to make his instruments both striking and familiar.

Ken Parker
September 23, 2020

Taylor Guitars Discovers a New Sustainable Tonewood in Its Own Backyard

The desire to make Taylor as ethically eco-conscious as possible has led to the ultimate sustainable supply chain: Growing their own trees.

E.E. Bradman
August 19, 2020

Master Luthier Luis Uyaguari and his guitar making process

Ecuadorian Master Luthier Luis Uyaguari Uses Hand Tools and Designs His Own Guitar Molds

Almost 50 years ago, master luthier Luis Uyaguari Quezada, then an adolescent, moved with his family to the metropolis of Cuenca, Ecuador, leaving behind the remote mountain village of San Bartolome. Their tiny pueblo had a generations-long tradition of guitar making, and Uyaguari’s father was one of the village’s best,…

Gary Parks
July 2, 2020

Michael Gurian (standing center with guitar) and his shop workers in the late 1960s.

Peace, Love & Guitars: the 1970s Lutherie Revolution

Michael Durian, Richard Hoover, Linda Manzer, and Steve Klein reflect on their early days of guitar building and their contributions to the luthiers scene of today.

Dick Boak
June 18, 2020

Personalized Inlays: Working Pieces of Art

For many players, these personalized inlays are not about having a flashy stage guitar, but about adding embellishments that makes a guitar their guitar.

Greg Olwell
May 20, 2020

Breedlove Concertina E acoustic guitar soundhole

Made in Oregon: The First Twenty Years at Breedlove Guitars

Breedlove has capitalized on creative designs and fearless expansion to carve its own niche.

Teja Gerken
May 4, 2020

Founder Jean Larrivée, center, with sons John, Jr., left, and Matthew, right.

Luthier Profile: Larrivée Guitars

Since building his first guitar in the 1970s, Jean-Claude Larrivée also built several factories from the ground up

Teja Gerken
April 30, 2020

Makers & Shakers: Audrey Bartlett of Waterloo Guitars

Audrey Bartlett, the lead builder and department manager of Waterloo Guitars, in Austin, Texas, says, “I’m not a musician—which makes me different from most of the people doing this work.” That can make her feel like she doesn’t fit in, but also sets her apart for its parallels to her…

Kate Koenig
April 3, 2020

Guitar Talk: Andy Powers of Taylor | You Can’t Build a Guitar Without Thinking About Playing It

Get to know the man behind the curtain at Taylor Guitars, Andy Powers, a thoughtful and curious lover of music. While showcasing a trio of instruments he built, Andy shares some of his history as a luthier, and reminds us that while the tools, processes, and materials are important, at the end of the day "it's about the guitar and how much fun you have playing the guitar."

Joey Lusterman
March 2, 2020

Luthier Raymond Morin hold the top of one of his Pleinview guitars.

Shop Visit: Luthier Raymond Morin and His Pleinview Guitars

Pleinview’s reputation has spread predominately through word of mouth, an approach to marketing that has worked well for Raymond Morin and his assistant, Adam Rousseau.

Nick Millevoi
January 23, 2020

Makers & Shakers: A Chat with Nylon-String Luthier Stephan Connor

Cape Cod, Massachusetts–based luthier Stephan Connor has built a world-class reputation by taking a fresh approach to what may be the most traditional branch of guitar building.

Emile Menasché
December 30, 2019

Guitar Talk: UK Guitar Maker Roger Bucknall of Fylde Guitars

Roger Bucknall built his first guitar around 1959 and started taking his craft seriously around 1973 in a small shop on the northwest coast of England, in Fylde, Lancashire. There were very few guitar builders in that country at the time, but Bucknall helped spearhead the fine art of guitar…

Julie Bergman
November 26, 2019

Eric Schoenberg at his guitar store in Tiburon, CA

Makers & Shakers: A Visit With Eric Schoenberg

“I’ve always been ‘the OM guy,’” says Eric Schoenberg, from his shop in the tiny enclave of Tiburon, California, just north of San Francisco.

Greg Olwell
October 4, 2019

Shelley Park glues the center seam of a new soundboard

Innovation Through Tradition: Four Modern Luthiers Discuss Their Craft

The world of guitar making is in an exciting moment, with exceptionally skillful luthiers handcrafting instruments to the highest standards. Many of these artisans are making instruments in ways that draw from traditional techniques and designs while bringing them into the contemporary world—through everything from porcelain resonator cones and tiny…

Mamie Minch
August 13, 2019

Makers & Shakers: Talking Shop with Steve Uhrik of Retrofret Vintage Guitars

If you met Steve Uhrik, the founder of Retrofret Vintage Guitars in Brooklyn, New York, out of the context of his shop, you would likely have no idea he was “somebody” in the vintage guitar industry. In fact, he would probably reject that description entirely and turn the conversation towards…

Kate Koenig
August 2, 2019

Tony Klassen of New Era Guitars Is a Revivalist of Under-Appreciated Designs

The Indiana-based luthier, who runs a one-man operation, produces impressive reproductions coveted by collectors and pros alike

E.E. Bradman
May 25, 2019

The Ebony Project: Taylor Guitars Plants Trees in Cameroon to Preserve This Vulnerable Tonewood

Taylor Guitars has long been a leader in responsible guitar making, working with domestic and international suppliers to ensure that its instruments are made of sustainable tonewoods. In 2011, Taylor took its biggest step to date when it teamed up with the Spanish luthier supply company Madinter to purchase an…

Adam Perlmutter
April 22, 2019

The Hands Behind the Hands: Albanie Falletta’s Single-Cone Resonator

Bonham Design is immersed in the hand-making of many things, resonator ukuleles and guitars among them.

David Lusterman
April 8, 2019

George Gruhn holding a guitar in his shop

George Gruhn on the State of the Vintage Guitar Market

As Gruhn Guitars approaches its 50th anniversary, Gruhn, has plenty to say about prewar instruments, speculators and collectors, old guitars vs. new ones, and more.

E.E. Bradman
April 2, 2019

Luthier Adam Buchwald poses with an Iris guitar.

Adam Buchwald of Iris Guitar Company & Circle Strings

“I wanted to make guitars for working musicians, and most musicians—at least the ones I know—can’t afford to spend $4,000 on a custom guitar,” Buchwald says.

Nick Millevoi
December 19, 2018

Wood Science: Tom Bedell’s Commitment to Sound Optimization and Sustainability

Commitment to understanding variations in the trees that become guitars are the pillars of his design philosophy at Bedell Guitars and at Breedlove

E.E. Bradman
November 1, 2018

Scott Baxendale is ‘Remanufacturing’ Old Harmony and Kay Guitars

His conversion process is centered on replacing ladder-style bracing with his proprietary scalloped X-bracing.

E.E. Bradman
September 8, 2018

Reuben Forsland-JOI Guitars-acoustic-guitar-from-Jimi-Hendrix-childhood-home

Canadian Luthier Builds Guitars with Wood from Jimi Hendrix’s Childhood Abode

Reuben Forsland of Vancouver Island’s JOI Guitars forged an agreement with Experience Hendrix, the Hendrix family–owned business that controls Jimi’s estate, to build guitars using materials from a modest home that Jimi lived in for several years after his father Al purchased it in the spring of 1953.

Greg Olwell
August 27, 2018

Fraulini Guitars’ Todd Cambio Digs for Inspiration in the Overlooked Guitars of the Past

The Chicago native specializes in building instruments like those used by such early guitar heroes as Lead Belly and Eddie Lang

E.E. Bradman
August 10, 2018