{"id":113962,"date":"2021-11-22T08:09:00","date_gmt":"2021-11-22T16:09:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/acousticguitar.com\/?p=113962"},"modified":"2023-05-31T20:08:39","modified_gmt":"2023-06-01T03:08:39","slug":"how-i-learned-to-make-guitars","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/acousticguitar.com\/how-i-learned-to-make-guitars\/","title":{"rendered":"How I Learned to Make Guitars: Eight Modern Luthiers on the Origins of Their Craft"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

As the old saying goes, getting started is the hardest part. What does it take to go from loving acoustic guitars to actually building them<\/a>? To answer this question, we asked a handful of luthiers to tell us their origin stories.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The acclaimed members of our roundtable come from a wide variety of backgrounds: multi-instrumentalist Rachel Rosenkrantz<\/strong> of Atelier Rosenkrantz; composer\/classical guitarist Kenny Hill<\/strong> of Hill Guitar Company; longtime Gryphon repairman and Matsuda Guitars owner Michihiro Matsuda<\/strong>; Solomon Guitars founder and archtop specialist Erich Solomon<\/strong>; Spanish classical builder M\u00f3nica Esparza<\/strong> of Esparza Guitars; RS Muth mastermind and lifelong scientist\/explorer Randy Muth<\/strong>; steel-string expert and Musicians Institute instructor Isaac Jang<\/strong> of Isaac Jang Guitars; and EJ Henderson Guitars\u2019 Jayne Henderson<\/strong>, whose aesthetic is closely tied to that of her father, masterful guitarist\/luthier Wayne Henderson. We asked about everything from mentors and tradition vs. innovation to the impact of being a player and repairperson. Sit back and listen to how they got their feet in the door\u2014and what they\u2019ve learned since.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Jayne Henderson. Betty Clicker Photography<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Acoustic Guitar<\/em>: Jayne, your dad has built and played guitars since before you were born. Did you ever think you\u2019d be a luthier?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Jayne Henderson:<\/strong> Never. I majored in psychology and developed a strong love for the outdoors, so I got a master\u2019s in environmental law and policy. After graduation, I asked my dad to let me sell one of his guitars on eBay to help pay off my loans. He agreed but said he would help me make one myself. I thought it would be horrible, but getting to know my dad and being able to understand why he loved making guitars so much was the best gift I\u2019ve ever been given. Plus, I was paid $25,000 for that guitar, so I made another one! <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Randy Muth. Photo by Patricia Matson<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Randy, why did you leave a great job as a chemist to build guitars?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Randy Muth<\/strong>: My decision to leave the pharmaceutical industry came before I decided to build guitars. My wife and I had very successful careers, both as chemists, but ultimately I was unsatisfied working in the corporate structure and with my trajectory towards management and away from the science. We also made the decision to value our time raising our young children, as we were fortunate enough to be financially secure with one income.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When did you first know that you wanted to make instruments?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Muth<\/strong>: My love has always been to make or build things. As a synthetic organic chemist, this is exactly what I did: I figured out how to build molecules. This particular field of science is a bit different than most in that it\u2019s not so much about doing studies and gathering data, but about using one\u2019s knowledge, intuition, and good old trial and error to make something. In my time away from work, I thought about how I could apply these basic processes in another area. Music has always been a very important part of my life, from a listener\u2019s perspective, and I wanted to make a contribution. And that\u2019s how I came to build guitars.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Isaac Jang. Photo by Adrian Ursu<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Isaac Jang:<\/strong> I\u2019ve always loved playing guitars, and I had a curiosity about the sound of guitar. This curiosity led me to discover the profession of lutherie, or more specifically, guitar-making. It was a wild idea to build a guitar from scratch, but before I knew it, I found myself signing up for Galloup [School of Lutherie], which gave my training the strong structure that allowed me to adapt to different work environments. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Michihiro Matsuda<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Michihiro Matsuda: <\/strong>I was born in Nagoya and raised in Tokyo, and I have enjoyed drawing, music, and making things by hand since I was a child. I started playing guitar in high school. I didn\u2019t have woodwork training\u2014my major was sociology\u2014and I didn\u2019t know anyone who made guitars by hand. By coincidence, I found a small article about a handcrafted acoustic guitar maker in a magazine at a train-station kiosk. I was fascinated, but it took me a while to come across the Roberto-Venn School of Luthiery, the only place I could find to learn about making acoustic guitars. I quit my job and decided to go to Phoenix, Arizona.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Kenny Hill. Photo by John McCormack<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Were there advantages to starting out in an era where guitar-making info was scarce?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Kenny Hill:<\/strong> Maybe it triggered a sense of adventure and mystery and discovery about the whole thing that seemed exotic, an allure that there might be some holy grail that could finally be revealed. That can be motivating. Today I would say the reality has surpassed the fantasy, but the grail is still waiting to be found.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Erich Solomon<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Erich Solomon:<\/strong> These days, there is an endless amount of information for the beginning luthier on the internet. Some of it can cut a lot of time off your learning curve, but it is also very easy to learn other people\u2019s mistakes. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Jayne, how were things different for your dad, who began building in the \u201960s?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Henderson:<\/strong> He had to figure out how to make a guitar that resembled Red Smiley\u2019s 1938 D-45 just by looking at an old songbook someone had given him. His work has been 50 years of trial and error, using what was available and figuring out what to do rather than just doing what he was told. That\u2019s a skill that can\u2019t really be taught, and it\u2019s what sets his instruments slightly ahead of so many others. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

What was the first instrument you built?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Muth:<\/strong> The first instruments I made were simple system transverse PVC flutes for my own enjoyment. From a building perspective, of course, I wanted to make something a bit more complex and more open to creative expression. The first guitar I built\u2014I still have it\u2014was made from an LMI [Luthiers Mercantile International] kit, although I did deviate quite a bit from the kit. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Rachel Rosenkrantz. Photo by Elizabeth Novak<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Rachel Rosenkrantz:<\/strong> My very first instrument as a musician was classical guitar, so naturally, that was my first instrument as a builder. I built a Hauser to specs in order to learn\u2014it\u2019s a perfect design to sink your teeth into lutherie. I quickly started building steel-string parlor guitars after that.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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