2018 AGS Magazine

never make the same exact thing
twice.” The daily diversity of
work seems to be something that
everybody mentioned as a reason
that they continue to dedicate
themselves to lutherie year after
year.
For many luthiers there is
a, sometimes less articulated,
internal drive to improve. This
is something I find in myself a
lot. I enjoy the work because I
enjoy improving the work. Sam
echoes this by saying “I have a
need to improve. Everything I
do is to get better as a luthier, to
understand more, to raise the bar
higher. The drive to be the best has been pushing
me for a long time and the next generation is
nipping at my heels so to put it simply, I have to
keep pushing myself forward.”
The versatile nature of lutherie and particularly
of running a business also has a strong appeal
to many people. Wearing multiple hats at once
is both a challenge and a stimulating experience
at the same time. This entrepreneurial aspect
of lutherie, I think, is one of the most intriguing
aspects of contemporary lutherie. Tom likens it to
being a fine chef. “The challenge is to take our
limited ingredients and find new ways to inject
flavor, and color and texture to
delight the player. To me being
a luthier isn’t just about building
the guitars, it’s also about building
that relationship with the client
and creating an experience. It’s
the whole package, the guitar is
actually just a part of the bigger
picture. In the same way as,
fine dining isn’t just about the
food, it’s about the art on the
walls, the lighting, the choice of
silverware on the table. I’m always
asking myself, how’s the ambience?”
I think this hits the nail
Stuart Day on the head as one of the most
underrated differences between
a hand crafted instrument and a factory made
instrument. Tom is right, it’s not just about the
guitar, although that is the center piece and the
reason to come to the restaurant in the first place.
But there is more to the experience of buying
and building a hand crafted instrument. It’s an
experience that used to dominate many consumer
goods but mass manufacturing has now relegated
to a few.
As with all labors of passion, every reason to
do it seems to be accompanied with a challenge.
Starting a contemporary practice in lutherie
is maybe one of the most difficult things I can
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