- 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.
- 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, …
- 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.
- Les Luthiers
Les Luthiers is a comedy-musical group from Argentina, very popular also in several other Spanish speaking countries such as Chile, Spain, Colombia, Mexico, Uruguay and Venezuela. They were formed in 1967 by Gerardo Masana, during the height of a period of very intense choral activity in Argentina's state universities. Their outstanding characteristic are the home-made musical instruments (hence the name "luthiers", French for "musical instrument maker"), …
- 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.
- Buzz Feiten
Howard "Buzz" Feiten is an American session musician guitarist. He grew up in Centerport, New York and graduated from Harborfields High School in Greenlawn, New York, in 1966. As Buzzy, he joined the Paul Butterfield Blues Band in 1969, playing such famous gigs as the Atlantic City Pop Festival and the legendary Woodstock Festival. He is a session guitar player who once played with Mr Mister.
- Carl Thompson
Carl Thompson (Born in 1939) is a luthier specializing in the construction of high-quality custom bass guitars, based in Brooklyn, New York. Born in Pitcairn, Pennsylvania to a large musical family, he moved to New York City in 1967 to pursue a career as a jazz guitarist. After working in a guitar shop to supplement his income, he started his own guitar repair business. He made his first instrument in 1974 and quickly gained renown in the craft.
- 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.
- 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.
- Wayne Henderson
Wayne Henderson is an American luthier specializing in handmade custom acoustic guitars. Henderson is based in Rugby, Virginia, in the rural southwestern part of the state. Henderson's guitars are inspired by the great pre-World War II guitars of C.F. Martin & Company. His guitars are exceedingly rare (and therefore valuable) as he handbuilds every guitar himself. Fewer than four hundred Henderson guitars have been built as of April 2007.
- Amati
Amati is the name of a family of Italian violin makers, who flourished at Cremona from about 1549 to 1740.
- Lloyd Loar
Lloyd Allayre Loar (1886-1943) was a Gibson sound engineer and master luthier in the early part of the 20th century. He is most famous for his F5 model mandolin, L5 guitar, H5 mandola, K5 mandocello, and A5 mandolin. Loar worked for Gibson from 1922 to 1924. His contributions include building the instrument top with F-shaped holes, like a violin; introducing a longer neck, thus moving the bridge closer to the center of the body; and floating the fingerboard over the top, …
- 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.
- Guarneri
Guarneri is the family name of a group of highly acclaimed violin makers (luthiers) from Cremona in Italy in the 17th and 18th centuries, whose standing is considered comparable to those of the Amati and Stradivari families. * Andrea Guarneri (c. 1626 - December 7, 1698) was an apprentice in the workshop of Nicolo Amati from 1641 to 1646 and returned to make violins for Amati from 1650 to 1654.
- Dan Armstrong
Dan Armstrong was an expert guitar luthier and recording session musician. He is known for his contributions to the Ampeg Company of Linden, New Jersey. There he released a new line of guitars and basses that were constructed of clear plexiglas. The Dan Armstrong line of guitars also became renowned for their excellent electronics, interchangable pickups and very long sustain caused by the solid plexiglas body.
- Jacob Stainer
Jacob Stainer (c. 1617-1683) is the earliest and most important Austrian luthier. Stainer was born in Absam, Austria, into a family of stringed instrument makers. His designs influenced instrument construction in Germany, parts of Italy and several other countries. He may have been associated with the luthiers of Cremona, Italy, in particular the Amati family. His instruments were among the most highly sought-after throughout Europe until Antonio Stradivari rose to fame.
- W E Hill
William Hill & Sons was a London-based firm, specializing in string instruments and bows. Many fine craftsmen have worked for the firm, including Arthur Bultitude, Colin G Nicholls, W.C. Retford and his son W.R. Retford, "... (more to be added) " Many important violins have passed through the hands of the firm, including the Alard Stradivarius and the Lipinski Stradivarius.
- Denny Zager
Denny Zager was a member of the duo Zager and Evans. In 1969 they released the number 1 single, "In The Year 2525". Zager became a music teacher (teaching private guitar lessons and luthier skills) and resides in Lincoln, Nebraska. He now sells EZ-Play™ modified guitars and online video guitar lessons on his website (see below).
- 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.
- Travis Bean
Travis Bean is an American luthier and machinist from California. In the 1970s, he made high end electric guitars and basses featuring machined aluminum necks (an unusual design that provides incredible sustain) running through the instrument body with the pick-ups solid-mounted to the aluminum. The majority of these instruments featured solid koa wood bodies and humbucker pickups. Models included the Artist, Standard, Wedge (rare), and TB500(rare) with single coil pickups.
- Jimmy D'Aquisto
James L. D'Aquisto (1935-1995) was an American guitar maker best known as one of the premier makers of custom archtop guitars. He served as an apprentice to John D'Angelico in the early 1950s and was considered his successor after the latter's death in 1964. From his shop in Huntington, Farmingdale, and Greenport New York, D'Aquisto became know as the greatest guitar maker in the world from the late 1960s until his death in 1995, …
- David Rubio
David Rubio, original name David Joseph Spinks (born London, 1934 - died Cambridge on 21 October 2000), was an English maker of musical instruments. A true "Renaissance" man in spirit, David Rubio has been a modern-day version of the celebrated makers of lutes in the 16th century: a music-lover with refined taste, a perfect knowledge of the materials and his techniques, and a rare skill in organizing the atelier and its production.
- Lars Jönsson
Lars Jönsson is a leading Swedish lute, vihuela and classical guitar maker. He made instruments for renowned musicians like the lutenist from England Nigel North.
- Joseph Curtin
Joseph Curtin is a contemporary violinmaker. Established in Ann Arbor, co-founder with Gregg Alf of the legendary Curtin & Alf. He was a 2005 recipient of a MacArthur Fellows Program "genius grant". He has also directed workshops on violin design through the Violin Society of America, a group of builders.
- Domingo Esteso
Domingo Esteso was a luthier who trained under Manuel Ramírez. His nephews, Faustino and Mariano Conde inherited his workshop and changed the name to Conde Hermanos.
- 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.
- David Burgess
David Burgess is a violin, viola and cello maker working and residing in Ann Arbor, Michigan. Most of his training was in the shop of Hans Weisshaar in Los Angeles. Grove Music dictionary includes him in their list of leading 20th century makers. More detailed information can be found in this article from the Violin Society of America. Other articles and interviews: "The Wall Street Journal", September 18, 1986: "U.S. Manufacturers Are Fit as a Fiddle, …
- 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.
- José Ramírez
José I Ramírez was the founder of the Spanish luthier dynasty. =Biography= Born 1857. He was the first child of José Ramírez de Galarreta, a very well-off land owner. By 1870 the young José had chosen to complete his apprenticeship in the guitar workshop of Francisco Gonzalez (1830-1880). From the time when José Ramírez I installed his workshop in Concepción Jerónima nº 2 in 1882, the shop has sold Ramírez guitars through four generations.
- George Beauchamp
George D. Beauchamp (1899 - 1941), inventor of musical instruments and co-founder of National Stringed Instrument Corporation and Rickenbacker. Born in Texas, he played the violin and the lap steel guitar in vaudeville before his venture into the manufacturing of electric lap steel guitars, electric guitars, electric bass guitars, electric violins and combo instrument amplifiers. He is well known for his creation of the Frying pan electric guitar.
- Domenico Montagnana
Domenico Montagnana (1686-1750) was an Italian Master luthier based in Venice, Italy. He is regarded as one of the world's finest violin and cello makers of his time. His pieces, particularly his celli, are extremely sought after by orchestras, notable musicians or by collectors, and many form parts of collections in museums. Prices for authentic pieces can achieve hundreds of thousand US dollars at auction.
- 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.
- Giovanni Paolo Maggini
Giovanni Paolo Maggini, was a luthier born in Botticino Italy. Maggini was a pupil of another important violin maker of the Brescian school--Gasparo da Salò. Maggini's early instruments are considered less desirable because of their naive craftsmanship. They tended to be modified copies of his teacher's instruments. But once established on his own around the year 1606, …
- Bergonzi
The Bergonzi family was an illustrious group of luthiers in Cremona, Italy, a city that has a rich tradition of stringed instrument makers. The first and most famous luthier of the family was Carlo Bergonzi (1683-1747). Carlo Bergonzi was born in Cremona. He apprenticed under Hieronymus Amati, collaborated with Joseph Guarneri, and is considered the greatest pupil of Antonio Stradivari.
- Eric Schoenberg
Eric Schoenberg is an American guitarist known for his fingerstyle guitar playing, as well as a recording artist and designer of acoustic guitars. He owns Eric Schoenberg Guitars, a guitar store in Tiburon, California, U.S.A., which sells vintage and luthier-made acoustic guitars. Eric and his cousin Dave Laibman were among the first transposers of classical piano ragtime to the guitar. This resulted in their album, "Contemporary Ragtime Guitar", on Folkways Records.
- 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.
- Gasparo da Salò
Gasparo da Salò is the name given to Gasparo di Bertolotti, one of the earliest violin makers of which historical records exist. His native village was Lake Garda, Italy. He founded the school of Brescia, which came into existence roughly contemporaneously with the opening of the workshop of Andrea Amati in Cremona. It is debatable whether Gasparo da Salò or Gasparo Duiffopruggar was the first to produce the violin in its basically modern form.
- 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.
- Antonio Torres Jurado
Antonio De Torres Jurado was a Spanish guitarist and guitar maker. Jurado is as revered among guitarists as Antonio Stradivari is revered among violinists. His work established the shape, design, and construction of the modern Classical guitar. Born in La Cañada de San Urbano, Almería, Antonio de Torres was the son of Juan Torres, a local tax collector, and Maria Jurado. As was common, when he was 12 he started an apprenticeship as carpenter.