A STORY OF LIFE AND WORK

 

I live and work on desert acreage near the Tortolita Mountain range in Marana, Arizona. I have built two workshops in this beautiful landscape: one solely dedicated to lutherie and the other for larger woodworking and welding projects. Living a life where I can wake up, see a desert sunrise, walk into my shop while smelling the shavings of Rosewood from the previous day’s tasks, and be surrounded by my family is all I need as an artist these days.

 

My journey as a luthier began in 2004 when I attended the Roberto-Venn School of Lutherie—a fantastic school and experience that solidified my desire to further my education and pursue lutherie as a career. In 2004, after a week-long interview in Oakland, CA, I was accepted as Ervin Somogyi's third apprentice. The following two years would forever shape my life and work.

 

Ervin pioneered, mastered, and wrote about responsiveness in guitars in his published series "Making the Responsive Guitar." Among all the apprentices he mentored, I consider myself the one who elevated the mastery of responsiveness while remaining true to my training with the master himself. The physics behind a contemporary acoustic guitar, as developed by Ervin Somogyi, allows for resilience and flexibility in the voicing and structure of the guitar. He developed an unmatched ability to create a genuinely responsive guitar, and I follow in his footsteps with dedication and progress.

 

What does responsiveness mean? For some, it is feeling; for others, it is tone; for some, it is measurable; and for others, it is instinctual. All these factors contribute to the guitar experience. An optimally responsive guitar isn't just one thing; it encompasses all things. It combines all these attributes and characteristics: aesthetics, engineering, sound, and feeling.