Paul McGill is a luthier’s luthier. He wanted to create a tool that would allow others to express themselves and to create music that could be enjoyed by many people he may never meet or...
Lothar Meisel was the ninth generation of violinmakers in his family, going back to 1660 in Klingenthal, Germany. He recalled with a smile the days as a young boy hiding under his grandfa...
David Millard was a teenager when he first walked into Folk Music Center, his local musical instrument store in Claremont, California. The now iconic retailer was a true mom-and-pop opera...
Friedrich Mönnig started to build oboes, clarinets, and bassoons in 1955 for his dad, Willi Mönnig’s, company. Later he became head of the production of flutes at Gebrüder Mönnig and work...
Klaus Mönnig worked for 60 years at the Gebrüder Mönnig company, where he was responsible for tuning and voicing oboes and bassoons. As well as being an accomplished musician, Klaus would...
Wilhelm Mönnig, his brother Friedrich, and cousin first removed Klaus are owners of Gebrüder Mönnig which produce high quality woodwind instruments in Markneukirchen. Their grandfathers, ...
John Monteleone grew up on Long Island, New York - the perfect spot for absorbing the rich history of the arch-top guitar. He studied the instrument and became a well-respected and sought...
Moze Mossay was given a guitar as a gift from his father when he was a kid and he fell in love with the instrument. Moze sought to understand all elements of the guitar and soon found him...
Ryoji Okamoto was the chairman for Kiwaya Corporation in Japan, which was established in 1919 and has since become one of the most important manufacturers of the ukulele. With his keen in...
Tim Olsen set out to build his own guitar out of a cigar box and other items found around the house. He was in the fifth grade at the time! He learned that the luthier Harvey Thomas lived...
Deb Olsen provided her views on just how the Guild of American Luthiers began during her NAMM Oral History interview. Her insight offered a wonderful background into the early idea by JR ...
Don Oriolo grew up in a very creative home. His father was the cartoonist behind such characters as Casper the Friendly Ghost and Felix the Cat. Don developed a passion for music as a chi...
John Page is the founder of a guitar company in Sunny Valley, Oregon, which produces hand made instruments. John Page Guitars, formed in 2006 by John and his wife Dana, is just one of the...
Ken Parker began building guitars and basses, first for his brother then for other players, in the early 1970s. He fell in love with arch-tops and became one of the best-known guitar luth...
Walter Paulus is president of Werner Paulus GmbH, which is located not far from the town of Bubenreuth and produces bow parts of the finest quality. Starting in 1920, Walter’s father-in-l...
Walter Pawlikowski was born in Maruszyna, Poland, not long after World War II. His older brother John became a well-known violin repairman and luthier, which inspired Walter to follow in ...
Bogdan Pawlikowski grew up in a family of violin luthiers. His uncle John and father Walter both achieved notoriety for their handed crafted instruments as well as their well-respected re...
Mike Ponce enjoys managing the Suhr Guitar factory at JS Technologies Inc. in Southern California as the job allows him to apply his expertise in all aspects of guitar building. Mike was...
Andy Powers began working with wood as a kid and soon realized he had a strong interest in building. With the guidance of his father and the use of his tools, Andy built a guitar and lov...
Peter Paul Prier began playing the violin when he was 8 years old, growing up in Germany. He studied violin making while he was a teenager and in 1959 set out to America to open his own v...
Sam Radding is the founder the famed American Musical Instrument Manufacturing Company, which was the training ground for several future iconic luthiers including Bob Taylor, Kurt Listug ...
Joseph Rashid studied the art of violin-making like few others. His goal was not to mass produce the instrument or even to sell them, but rather to hand-make the instruments based on sci...
David Reid is a guitar luthier who not only designs, builds and repairs guitars, he also teaches the art of instrument making. Located in London, David designs and builds both acoustic an...
Earl Remaley began working for the C.F. Martin & Company before World War II. His long career with the company included nearly every phase of production and assembly. During the 1950s...
Michael Remenyi has been the proud third generation of the company his grandfather founded in Hungary in 1890 to build and repair violins and other string instruments. After World War II...
Mike Remenyi represents the fourth generation of family members running the Remenyi House of Music located in Toronto, Canada. It was his great-grandfather Mihály who opened a small viol...
Mary Faith Rhoads Lewis grew up on a farm outside of Allentown, Pennsylvania, where her mother played the piano and encouraged her children to play an instrument. Mary Faith began playin...
Bill Rickard is the founder of Rickard Banjos – banjos featuring a classic design with modern innovations. In the early parts of his life, he fell out of touch with music. Following a tra...
Herbert Riedl was born into a family of violin makers and grew up on the street where Höfner produced guitars including the world-famous Beatles bass. With his friends he earned money sta...
Jens Ritter is the innovative luthier who gained wide attention after a three page article about his instruments ran in a 1996 issue of Guitar & Bass magazine. A few years later, he a...
Larry Robinson's career as a luthier began in 1972 as an unpaid apprentice for three years before working for Alembic, Turner Guitars and with Modulus Graphite, a San Francisco company ma...
Manuel Rodriguez Jr. learned as his father did, the deep rooted tradition of building a classical guitar. He is very proud of his father and grandfather, as well as the time-honored craft...
