Baum

Baum Guitars is a Danish company making handcrafted top quality guitars. It was established by Morten Bau (born 1974) - who made his first guitar in 1989 before going to train in illustration and design. While working as a designer and art director he also made guitars in his spare time. In 2015 he founded Baum Guitars, the first designs laid the foundation for the Baum Leaper model. In 2016 Baum developed their own Goldsound pickups in collaboration Danish pickup manufacturer Søren Lücking.

Source: Baum Guitars website (8 July 2020)

Bruce McGuire

Bruce McGuire (1948 - 2012) apprenticed with Arthur E. Overholtzer who taught him the art of building a guitar. He was making guitars part time from around 1969 onwards. McGuire collaborated in the writing of the book, Classic Guitar Making, and continued to build instruments until his death in 2012. He combined his skills as a teacher with his enthusiasm for music and industrial arts and his belief in education to found a Ukulele-building class in local junior high schools, Arts in the Afternoon, which was funded by the Sunrise Rotary of Santa Cruz.

Source: Bruce Robert McGuire obituary. Santa Cruz Sentinel. November 28, 2012.

Source: Directory of Contemporary American Musical Instrument Makers By Susan Caust Farrell. 1981

James Patterson

James Edward Patterson (1927 - 2014) was a Santa Cruz luthier who made his first guitar in 1962. He continued building them in his spare time and eventually made around 306 acoustic guitars. In his day job he worked as the printer for the City of Santa Cruz for almost 40 years. He retired from his printing job when he was 62 but carried on making guitars.

Source: James Edward Patterson obituary. Santa Cruz Senitel. August 24, 2014.

San Dimas

The San Dimas Guitar company was founded by Lloyd A Prins around 2002 in Glendale, California. San Dimas guitars and basses were superstrat style electrics often featuring graphic finishes. Prins discontinued the brand around 2008 and started using his own name Lloyd Prins on his guitars instead.

Source: San Dimas Guitars website (archived 2007)

Sanden

Michael Sanden started to learn guitar building in 1982 in San Diego with Bozo Padunavac where he learned to make acoustic guitars and mandolins. From 1984-1986 he studied classical guitar making with Georg Bolin. He recieved his journeyman`s certificate in 1986 and in 1996 his Master´s certificate in guitar craftmanship. He has taught guitar building classes for since the 1990s over 25 years and also worked as design and construction consultant for Tanglewood.

Source: Sanden Guitars website (6 July 2020)

Lewis Guitar Works

Lewis Guitar Works was established by Pete Lewis in 2013. Lewis attended the Totnes School of Guitar Making completing 3 courses where he learned the finer points in creating solidbody guitars, basses and archtop instruments. As well as working closely with many local musicians, Pete’s skills and bespoke guitars have also been used by artists such as Kula Shaker, Joanne Shaw Taylor and Inglorious. Pete’s work has been featured on BBC Radio 4 and in Guitarist Magazine. And some of his vintage guitars have form the subject of a ‘That Pedal Show’ vintage special.

Source: Lewis Guitar Works website (3 July 2020)

Sandberg

Sandberg Guitars is a German guitar and bass maker was founded in 1986 by Holger Stonjek and Gerd Gorzelke. At the time Holger Stonjek was training as a piano maker at the Wilhelm Schimmel Piano makers in Braunschweig . The Sandberg company got its name from its first workshop address at Am Sandberg in Ehmen. Sandberg is best known for its electric basses but since 2010 they have also been making electric guitars.

Source: Sandberg Guitars website (3 July 2020)

Scala

Scala Guitars is a boutique electric guitar company, established by Leo Scala and based in Los Angeles. Scala has been making guitars since the 1990s. Each Scala guitar has its own personalized logo and a hand crafted certificate of authenticity.

Source: Scala Guitars website (2 July 2020)

Teye

Teye guitars are made by Teije Wijnterp, Wijnterp was born in the Netherlands and worked as a professional guitarist before his guitar making career. Teye guitars are highly decorated and often feature etched metal plates as used by Tony Zemaitis. The guitars were originally made in Austin, Texas but the factory has since moved to Nashville.

Source: Teye Guitars website (1 July 2020)

Ricardo Sanchis Carpio

Ricardo Sanchis Carpio is a Spanish guitar maker who is the head luthier of the Hermanos Sanchis Lopez company in Valencia. Hermanos Sanchis Lopez traces its origins to the firm founded by Ricardo Sanchis Nacher in 1915 (Ricardo Sanchis Carpio's grandfather). Ricardo Sanchis Carpio makes high end, handmade, concert classical and flamenco models. His sons David and German Sanchis Lopez supervise the rest of the Hermanos Sanchis Lopez range of affordable, classical and flamenco guitars.

Source: Hermanos Sanchis Lopez website (1 July 2020)

Vicente Sanchis

Vicente Sanchis classical and flamenco guitars were made in Masanasa, Valencia, Spain. The factory had its origins in the Ricardo Sanchis Nacher workshop founded in 1915. At one point the factory employed over 20 luthiers who made around 700 guitars each month. Vicente Sanchis was also known for making traditional Spanish folk instruments like bandurias and lauds.

Juan Salvador

Juan Salvador classical guitars were made in Spain for the London Guitar Studio. They were introduced in the 1980s and featured a shorter scale length and solid calibrated German spruce top. The brand was discontinued by the London Guitar Studio around 2008. The range included:

Saqui

Saqui acoustic and archtop guitars are made by Stevhan Nealls who has been making and repairing acoustic guitars since 1969. Saqui is a brand name of Nealls' Salmon River Guitars company.

Source: Saqui website (24 June 2020)

Schmidt Co.

Schmidt Co. Guitars was established by Michael Schmidt in Allendale, Michigan: he began working on the first Portland bass in 2017 and then the Gentoo electric guitar in 2018. In 2018 he was joined by Nathan Timmer who became a partner in Schmidt Co. taking responsibility for sales and marketing and helping with electronics and setups. Rachel, Michael's wife also joined the team doing paint and finishing.

Source: Schmidt Co. website (22 June 2020)

Portland Guitar

Portland Guitar specializes in fine handmade acoustic and acoustic electric guitars. It is a father-son operation comprised of Jay and Max Dickinson. Jay makes the guitars while Max runs operations. Jay is a lifelong mechanical engineer and wood worker who has been making guitars full time since 2005. Portland Guitar are focused on bringing playability, musicality and longevity to thier instruments. Their guitars feature innovations and inventions such as a split saddle nut is used to improve intonation and an easily adjustable cantilever neck which allows for the action to be changed. Unique art is used inside and for the purfling. Check out what they have to offer. 

Source: Portland Guitar website (18 June 2020)

Searls

Searls guitars were hand made in Ballarat, Australia by Allan Searls. Searls made his first guitar in 1991 while still at school, a bolt on flying V with a donor neck and parts from a Strat copy.  Over the following years he worked on his own guitars as well as having friends bring their own guitars for repairs and upgrades, but he always wanted to learn how to build properly. The push came when he wanted a variation of an existing guitar made and was told by the company sales rep it would cost in excess of $15k for such an instrument. That was the incentive he needed and started the long journey of building for himself.: learning from every luthier that would share their secrets, reading books and copying his favourite guitars followed by lots of trial and error. Searls Guitars grew into one of the largest boutique guitar building workshops in Australia, but in 2019 Searls had to make the difficult decision to stop building guitars.

Salcedo

Maximiliano Salcedo established Salcedo Guitarworks in 2006 in Villa Constitución, Santa Fe, Argentina. Salcedo learned to make guitars initially with Ivan Blascovich of Rosario city. He finished his training by himself using text books and information from the internet. He started by making copies of the designs of well known brands but now makes his own designs.

Source: Salcedo Guitarworks website (19 June 2020)

Mirko Hotko

Mirko Hotko is a Croatian luthier who makes classical guitars.

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