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Ukulele

Philipp Neumann

Philipp Neumann builds classical guitars in the traditional Granada style. He apprenticed as a carpenter before going to study the the history and construction of musical instruments and gaining his Master of Letters from the Chamber of Crafts in Chemnitz, Germany. During his studies he took practical courses with Rolf Eichinger, Stefan Schlemper and Paco Santiago Marin. After this in 2004 he opened his own workshop in Leipzig. He is recognized both as one of the most innovative current guitar makers and a conscientious restorer of historical instruments using traditional techniques.

Source: Philipp Neumann website (18 January 2022)

Zim-Gar

Zim-Gar was the brand name of Gar-Zim Musical Instruments, an import and distribution company located in Brooklyn, New York. It was run by Larry Zimmerman and his wife. At one point, it may have been known as the American Musical Instrument Corporation before Zimmerman took on a partner (Mr. Garfield) in the Garfield Zimmerman Music Company. This was eventually shortened to Gar-Zim Musical Instruments. There were Zim-Gar branded guitars, ukuleles, banjos, mandolins as well as percussion instruments. Some of the guitars were made in Japan by the likes of Teisco.

Source: National Music Museum - Gar-Zim Musical Instruments (5 January 2022)

Randy Wood

Randy Wood was a guitar repairman to the stars in the 1960s and 1970s. He also made guitars and mandolins & other bluegrass instruments - in the early 1970s he had made a mandolin for Bill Monroe. He did inlay work on guitars for Johnny Cash & Elvis. He sold his business in 1979 and went into semi-retirement but carried on making instruments and eventually opened a new music store & workshop on Highway 80 in Bloomingdale Georgia.

Source: Randy Wood Guitars website (1 November 2021)

Glenn Wilson

Glenn Wilson is a maker of Violins and Guitars who has been crafting Acoustic and Electric Violins and Guitars since 1996. In 1996 he underwent formal training at Timeless Instruments School of Lutherie in Tugaske, Saskatchewan Canada. Under Master Luthier David Freeman he learned to design and make stringed instruments.and since then he has made Guitars , Mandolas, Irish Bouzoukis, Ukuleles, Greek Bouzoukis, and now crafts fine violins in both traditional and modern design.

Source: Glenn Wilson Violins website (Archived 2015)

Rood

Bryon Rood started guitar building in 2015 at the Roberto Venn School of Luthiery in Phoenix, Arizona. After finishing the course in guitar building and repair, he was hired on as a shop supervisor for an extended study program. After spending 18 months at Roberto Venn, Bryon moved Santa Cruz California to begin an apprenticeship with Scott Walker Custom Guitars. Spending just under 5 years working with Scott, he then moved back to his home state of Pennsylvania to start his own shop.

Source: Rood Guitars website (28 October 2021)

Windy Hill Stringworks

Windy Hill Stringworks began in 1996 as Windy Hill GuitarWorks.  Since 2012, they have also been making Fiddles, Bluegrass Banjos, Mandolins, Ukuleles and Weissenborn Hawaiian Lap Steel Guitars in the mountains of Floyd County Virginia.  it is a one-man workshop run by an ex-Navy pilot.

Source: Windy Hill Stringworks (6 October 2021)

Windsor (banjos)

Arthur Octavius Windsor ran a coffin furniture factory in Birmingham, UK in the 1880s, but was a keen banjo player in his spare time. Windsor began to make banjos in part of his factory. These proved to be popular and he opened an instrument factory (the Castle Works) in Newhall Street, Birmingham in 1890. The head office, show room and metal part manufacturing was in the Castle Works and the saw mill and wood working factory was in the Hampton Works on Mott Street. By the 1930s Windsor was producing thousands of instruments each year including banjos, zither-banjos, banjolins and mandolin-banjos. They also exported widely and made their cheaper instruments available for other retailers who branded them with their own names. In 1940, however, the factory was destroyed in an air raid and the company closed.

Source: The Banjo Story. A.P. Sharpe (unpublished)

Wilborn

Ben Wilborn builds fine acoustic instruments in Reno, Nevada. He specializes in steel string acoustic guitars, but also builds the occasional archtop, mandolin or ukulele. He usually makes very lightly built, small bodied, simply appointed guitars with an emphasis on refined details and a powerful, balanced sound.

Source: Wilborn Guitars website (29 September 2021)

Weymann

H.A. Weymann & Sons was established in 1864 in Philadelphia - intially as a general small goods retailer. When Harry W. Weymann took over the company in 1892 they began to manufacture musical instruments including banjos and guitars. In 1899 the S.S. Stewart Banjo factory in Philadelphia closed following the death of the company’s founder. Weymann bought materials and equipment from the S.S. Stewart factory and also hired ex-Stewart workers to work for his growing manufacturing business.

Source: Weymann website (archived 2019)

Westwood

Westwood was a brand name of the Charles Alden Company - the mail order company who were based near Westwood, Massachusetts. I've seen Korean made Westwood acoustic guitars from the early 1970s. Aldens mail order company folded in 1982 but the Westwood brand is still in use circa 2021 by West Music of Iowa.

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