Luthiers

A luthier (/ˈluːtiər/ loo-ti-ər) is someone who makes or repairs lutes and other string instruments. In the United States, the term is used interchangeably with any term that refers to a specific, or specialty type of stringed instrument, such asviolin maker, guitar maker, lute maker, etc. The word luthier comes from the French word luth, which means lute. The craft of making string instruments, or lutherie, is commonly divided into two main categories: makers of stringed instruments that are plucked or strummed and makers of stringed instruments that are bowed. Since bowed instruments require a bow, the second category includes a subtype known as a bow maker or archetier.

Two important luthiers of the early 19th century connected with the development of the modern classical guitar are Louis Panormo and Georg Staufer. Antonio Torres Jurado is credited with developing the form of classical guitar that is still in use today. Christian Frederick Martin of Germany developed a form that evolved into the modern steel-string acoustic guitar.

Patrick James Eggle

Born in St Albans, England in 1964, the third child of a building engineer and woodwork enthusiast father and an ...

Roman Zajicek, master luthier

Roman Zajicek, engineer of profession, loves music above all. His quest for beauty of acoustic tone led him to building ...

C.F. Martin & Co.

The Martin Guitar Company has been producing acoustic instruments for over 100 years. Their instruments are acknowledged to be the ...

George Lowden, master luthier

George Lowden was born in Belfast, Northern Ireland in 1951. At the age of ten, George began what was to ...

Jean Larrivee

Until the late 1960's, if an independent North American builder discovered something new, he usually kept it secret. For early ...

Richard Hoover, master luthier

In 1966 a young Richard Hoover got the notion that he could somehow improve the tone of his old Harmony ...

Steve Henderson

Steve Henderson discovered his love of craftsmanship, characterized in his artful manipulation of wood, while in college. In 1979 he ...

Bill Collings, master luthier (1948 – 2017)

Bill Collings (1948 - 2017) moved from Ohio to Texas in the mid 1970's. Spurred by a lack of interest ...

Kim Breedlove

It was on a six month surfing trip deep in Mexico that young artist and musician Kim Breedlove decided his ...

Dana Bourgeois, master luthier

Dana Bourgeois is known around the world for his superb craftsmanship and also as one of the foremost authorities on ...