- Les Paul
Les Paul (born Lester William Polsfuss on June 9 1915) is an American jazz guitarist and inventor. He is one of the most important figures in the development of modern electric musical instruments and recording techniques. He is a pioneer in the development of the solid-body electric guitar (the Gibson Les Paul, which he helped design, is one of the most famous and enduring models), multitrack recording, and various reverberation and echo effects. - Antonio Stradivari
Antonio Stradivari (1644 - December 18, 1737) was an Italian "luthier", a crafter of stringed instruments such as violins, celli, guitars and harps. Stradivari is generally considered the most significant artisan in this field. The Latinized form of his surname, "Stradivarius", as well as the colloquial, "Strad", is often used to refer to his instruments. - Giuseppe Guarneri
Giuseppe Guarneri del Gesù, anglicised to Joseph Guarneri, is the only luthier to rival Antonio Stradivari (1644-1737) with regard to the respect and reverence accorded his instruments, and has been called the finest violin maker of the Amati line. Giuseppe is known as "del Gesù" because his labels incorporated the "nomina sacra", I.H.S. ("iota-eta-sigma") and a Roman cross. - Bartolomeo Cristofori
Bartolomeo Cristofori di Francesco (May 4, 1655 - January 27, 1731) was an Italian maker of musical instruments, generally regarded as the inventor of the piano. - Giovanni Battista Guadagnini
Giovanni Battista Guadagnini (also known as J. B. Guadagnini or Giambattista Guadagnini; June 23 1711 - September 18 1786) was an Italian musical instrument maker, one of the greatest luthiers (makers of violins and other string instruments) in history. His violins are often referred to as "poor man's Strads" which alludes to the work of Antonio Stradivari, who is generally considered to be the greatest violin maker of all time. - Niccolo Amati
Niccolò Amati was an Italian luthier in Cremona. The founder of the Cremona school was Andrea Amati (c.1520–c.1578), whose earliest violins date from c. 1564. His labels bore the name Amadus, and he is credited with the basic design of the modern violin. His sons were Antonio Amati and Girolamo or Geronimo Amati, who worked together and followed closely their father’s patterns in making violins of graceful shape and sweet tone. - Orville Gibson
Orville H. Gibson (1856 - August 21 1918, Chateaugay, New York) was a luthier who founded the Gibson Guitar Corporation in Kalamazoo, Michigan in 1902, makers of guitars, mandolins and other instruments. Gibson began in 1894 in his home workshop in Kalamazoo, Michigan. With no formal training to limit his vision, Orville created an entirely new style of mandolin and guitar, with tops carved and arched like the top of a violin. - Jean Baptiste Vuillaume
Jean Baptiste Vuillaume (October 7 1798 - March 19 1875) was an illustrious French violin maker. He made over 3,000 instruments and was also a fine businessman and an inventor. - Harry Partch
Harry Partch (June 24, 1901 - September 3, 1974) was an American composer and instrument builder. He was one of the first twentieth-century composers to work extensively and systematically with microtonal scales, writing much of his music for custom-made instruments he built himself, tuned in 11-limit just intonation. - Nicolò Gagliano
Nicolo Gagliano (fl. ca. 1740-1780) was an Italian violin-maker, the eldest son of Alessandro Gagliano. He made many admirable instruments; often imitated, some have been mistaken for those of Stradivari. Typical labels: " Nicolaii Gagliano fecit in Napoli 1711 Nicolaus Gagliano filius Alexandri fecit Neap. 1732" - Leopold Widhalm
Martin Leopold Widhalm (October 2, 1722 - June 10, 1776) was an Austrian luthier. Born near Vienna, he worked on many old Bologna lutes that inspired his later work in his manufactory for violins and violoncellos in Nuremberg, Germany between 1746 and 1776. Widhalm moved permanently to Nuremberg in 1745 to work at the instrument making shop of the late Sebastian Schelle (1676-1744) being run by his eldest daughter Barbara. - Ruckers
Hans Ruckers (1540s - 1598) was born in Mechelen. In 1575 he married Adriana Cnaeps; harpsichord maker Marten van der Biest was a witness at the wedding, though it is not known what their working relationship was. Hans Ruckers was a Catholic and had 11 children, two of which became harpsichord makers, and his daughter Catharina (to whom harpsichord maker Willem Gompaerts (c.1534 - after 1600) was godfather) married into the instrument-making Couchet family, … - Charles Jean Baptiste Collin-Mezin
Charles Jean Baptiste Collin-Mezin was a distinguished French maker of violins, violas, cellos, basses and bows. He was an Officier de l'Académie des Beaux-Arts and won gold and silver medals at the Paris Exhibitions in 1878, 1889, and 1900. He was the son of luthier C. L. Collin, and father of Charles Collin-Mezin, Jr., also a luthier. The "Henley Atlas of Violin Makers" gives him a long and glowing report. - Otello Bignami
Otello Bignami - born in Bologna, Italy on August 6, 1914 and died in Bologna on December 1, 1989. The life of Otello Bignami closely resembles the lives of various 19th century violin makers in that he drew much vitality from the farming and craft traditions of his origins. The esteem of his master, Gaetano Pollastri, and the possibility to be able to indicate on his instrument labels that he was a student of Pollastri contributed towards launching his success in the profession. - Charles Collin-Mezin Jr.
Charles Collin-Mezin, Jr. was a French violin maker, and an Officier de l'Académie des Beaux-Arts. He collaborated with his father Charles Jean Baptiste Collin-Mezin, a famous Parisian luthier. When his father died in 1923, the family's Mirecourt workshop was taken over by Charles, Jr., who moved from his father's Paris workshop to Mirecourt in 1925. He also spent some time working in the United States. All his labels say Paris, and display his father’s name. - Igino Sderci
Igino (Iginius) Sderci (1884 - 1983) was born in Florence, Italy. He devoted his entire career to violin making, studying under master maker Leandro Bisach. A very prolific maker making more than 700 instruments including many large violas. He won gold medals at the prestigious Stradivarius Exhibition at Cremona in 1937 marking the bicentanary of Stradivari's death (as well as prizes in 1949). From his earliest childhood Igino Sderci was interested in music & art. - Theobald Boehm
Theobald Boehm (April 9, 1794- November 25, 1881) was a Bavarian inventor and musician, who perfected the modern flute and its improved fingering system. In addition, he was a virtuoso flutist / flautist and was a Bavarian Court Musician as well as a celebrated composer for the flute. Born in Munich in Bavaria, Boehm learned his father's trade of goldsmithing. - Giuseppe Fiorini
FIORINI, GIUSEPPE (b 1861 - d 1934) Born at Bazzano Italy, 1861. Son and pupil of Raffaele. Inherited parent's cultivated propensities in arts and sciences. Built first instrument at the age of 16 years. Worked at Bologna, 1877-1888. Went to Munich and established the Firm "Rieger and Fiorini" 1889-1914; went to Zurich owing to the war, 1915; returned to native country 1923, and settled in Rome 1923. Honored with knighthood (Cavaliere), 1927. Died in Munich, 1934. - Matteo Goffriller
Matteo Goffriller (also Mateo Gofriller; 1659 - 1742) was a 18th century Italian luthier, who made exceptionally great cellos. He was born in Brixen. Little is known of his life before he moved to Venice in 1685 (Venice, during the seventeenth century, was one of the world's most important centers of musical activity in the world which attracted many of the violin makers from the Tyrolian region). - Leandro Bisiach
Leandro Bisiach (1864 - 1946) was a violin maker born in Casale Monferrato Italy and died in 1946 at Venegono Superiore Milan. Trained as a violinist, he made his first violin on his own and received praise for it. Thus he decided to become a violin maker and moved to Milan to work with the Antoniazzi family in 1886. With them he established a partnership of exceptional importance, putting to good use his artistic skills and business ability. - Carlo Bisiach
Carlo Bisiach was a violin maker born in Milan Italy. Bisiach’s work contributed to the rebirth of violin making in the region after the difficult times of World War I and World War II. After working with his father Leandro in Milan, Carlo established himself at Florence in 1926. The most talented of Leandro’s sons, Carlo went on to develop his own style quite separate from the Antoniazzi-derived work of his father and brothers. - Sesto Rocchi
Sesto Rocchi (1909 - 1991) was a violin maker from Reggio Emilia in Italy. - Johann Christoph Denner
Johann Christoph Denner (bap. August 13, 1655; bur. April 26,1707), was a famous woodwind instrument maker of the Baroque era, to whom the invention of the clarinet is often attributed. Denner was born in Leipzig to a family of horn-turners. With his father, Heinrich Denner, a maker of game whistles and hunting horns, he moved to Nuremberg in 1666. J. C. Denner went into business as an instrument maker in 1678. Two of his sons, Jacob and Johann David, … - Leo Fender
Clarence Leonidas Fender (August 10, 1909 - March 21, 1991), also known as Leo Fender, was an American luthier who founded Fender Electric Instrument Manufacturing Company, now known as Fender Musical Instruments Corporation, and later founded G&L Musical Products (G&L Guitars). His guitar, bass, and amplifier designs from the 1950s continue to dominate popular music more than half a century later. - Heinrich Grenser
Johann Heinrich Wilhelm Grenser (5 March 1764 - 12 December 1813) was a German musical instrument maker. Grenser was born in Lipprechtsroda, Thuringia. From 1779 to 1786 he was apprenticed to his uncle, August Grenser, a Dresden instrument maker, and after his apprenticeship he continued to work in August's shop, taking it over himself in 1796. Heinrich Grenser invented an early form of bass clarinet in 1793, and may have been the inventor of the alto clarinet, … - Amati
Amati is the name of a family of Italian violin makers, who flourished at Cremona from about 1549 to 1740. - Yuri Landman
Yuri Landman (born January 2, 1973) is a Dutch artist most well known for his work as an experimental luthier, but also active as a comic artist, musician, singer. - Belacqua
Belacqua was a maker of musical instruments, known for his laziness. A Florentine, he seems to have been a friend of Dante. His voice appears in Purgatorio Canto IV. Samuel Beckett makes allusions to Belacqua several times throughout his fiction: it is the name of the protagonist of "More Pricks than Kicks" and "Dream of Fair to Middling Women" (which was published posthumously). - Paul Reed Smith
Paul Reed Smith is one of the world's premier luthiers and the founder and owner of PRS Guitars. His electric guitars are played by the likes of Alex Lifeson, Carlos Santana, Al Di Meola, Dave Navarro, Mark Tremonti, Mikael Åkerfeldt, Peter Lindgren, Steven Wilson, Tim Mahoney, Marcos Curiel, Larry Lalonde, and Chad Kroeger Smith is originally from Bowie, Maryland. He made his first guitar while at St. Mary's College of Maryland, … - Benedikt Eppelsheim
Benedikt Eppelsheim is a world-renowned German maker of high- and low-voiced saxophones, the soprillo and tubax, which are available exclusively from him. He also makes bass saxophones, contrabass saxophones, and contrabass clarinets. In cooperation with Guntram Wolf, he has also developed a new version of the contrabassoon called the "Contraforte". Eppelsheim is located in Munich. - Christian Frederick Martin
Christian Frederick Martin, Sr. was a luthier who specialized in guitars. Born in Markneukirchen, Germany to a family of cabinet makers, Martin became an apprentice of the guitar maker Johann Stauffer of Vienna, Austria. As a result of a dispute between the Cabinet Makers Guild, of which Martin was a member, and the Violin Makers Guild, Martin moved to the United States in 1833. On arriving in New York City, he set up shop at 196 Hudson Street on the Lower West Side. - Pascal Taskin
Pascal Joseph Taskin was a French harpsichord and piano maker. Born in Theux, near Liège, he lived most of his life in Paris. - Roberto Regazzi
Roberto Regazzi (born 1956 in Bologna, Italy) Notable contemporary violin maker and scholar who received his initiation to the craft from Otello Bignami, Bologna, in the early 80s of the past century. Still very active in his birth city. Well known worldwide for the quality of his violins, he has been president of a number of specialized organizations, including the European Association of Violin and Bow Makers for a couple of times. - Nicolò Amati
Nicolò Amati was an Italian luthiers from Cremona, a member of the Amati family. The founder of the Cremona school was Andrea Amati (c.1520–c.1578), whose earliest violins date from c. 1564. His labels bore the name Amadus, and he is credited with the basic design of the modern violin. His sons were Antonio Amati and Girolamo or Geronimo Amati, who worked together and followed closely their father’s patterns in making violins of graceful shape and sweet tone. - Desiderio Quercetani
Desiderio Quercetani (born November 7, 1961) is a luthier specializing in the construction of baroque violins in Parma, Italy. He studied with Parma luthier Renato Scrollavezza. He has run his own workshop since 1987, and recently opened a school, Bottega di Parma, for the making of stringed instruments. He often bases his designs on those of the Cremonese masters, such as Stradivari. Quercetani is listed in the "Strings Buyer's Guide", … - Sébastien Érard
Sébastien Érard was a French instrument maker of German origin who specialised in the production of pianos and harps, developing the capacities of both instruments and pioneering the modern piano. He built his first pianoforte in 1777 in his Paris factory, … - Christian Friedrich Ludwig Buschmann
Christian Friedrich Ludwig Buschmann (17 June 1805 -1 October 1864) was a German musical instrument maker, often credited with inventing the harmonica and sometimes the accordion. - Linda Manzer
Linda Manzer is a Canadian luthier renowned for her archtop and flat-top acoustic guitars. She received her training from Jean Larrivée between 1974-1978 and later with Jimmy D'Aquisto. Her greatest claim to fame is that she has and still does build many custom guitars for renowned jazz musician Pat Metheny including the Pikasso which has 42 strings and three necks. She currently builds about 15-18 instruments per year in her Toronto, Ontario workshop. - James Lick
James Lick (August 25, 1796 - October 1, 1876) was an American carpenter, piano builder, land baron, and patron of the sciences. At the time of his death, he was the wealthiest man in California, and left the majority of his estate to social and scientific causes. - Brian Wittman
Brian Wittman is an American musical instrument maker from Maui, Hawaii. He is the inventor of the xaphoon (also known as Maui xaphoon or bamboo saxophone), which he developed during the 1970s. Wittman is also a vocalist and instrumentalist, singing and playing saxophone and steelpan with Brian "Papa B." Wittman & the Cool Steel Band.
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