This is the beginning of the thread that I put on Jon's fine Annexe site (sorry ol' Gargoyle finds it so useless). I've copied my first post, and if anyone wants to put their replies and lutherie adventures here, be my guest.

This is about being friends with a number of local luthiers, who's skill and imagination fairly boggles my mind at times. I know them because most of the North American 'High-end' builders can trace their roots to a German expatriate named Edgar Munch (hope I spelled that right) who trained Jean Larrivee.

I remember watching Jean begin handcrafting beautiful guitars over thirty years ago in a little "Folklore Centre" on Avenue Rd. in the heart of Toronto. He loved having people around him so he took on numerous (unpaid) apprentices who quickly got the bug. He built fine guitars but his real pride and joy was working with various materials (pearl mainly) and turning them into gorgeous neck and peg-head inlays. His shop in British Columbia is big time now, and his instruments though almost "mass-made" still have that Larrivee "custom" feel.

Two of his most prominent apprentices were 17 year olds Grit Laskin and Linda Manzer. Linda's instruments now are played by many of the most prominent pickers on the planet, and Grit has the distinction of being regarded as "simply the best" by many of the guitar making community world wide. His instruments ARE beautiful (and often cost over twenty thousand bucks!!) but I think it's the level that he's taken the 'inlayer's art', that really has created his reputation. Many of his instruments go directly from his shop into museums around the world (primarily because every inlay is now an elaborate 'story' told in various shells, precious metals and woods. I've seen many of them and a Freudian would have a field day "explaining" Grit's view of "life on a fingerboard".

This week Luthier George Rizanyi had years of work pay off (these folks make absolute peanuts UNTIL they get a few celebrity clients) when Keith Richards brought him to his mansion in the States and bought one of his guitars. George is very aware that good tone woods are often from endangered trees, so he uses a lot of oddball wood (swamp elm??!!) for his axes.

The owner of the 12th fret (that I mention so often on Mudcat) David Wren, retired from guitar building about 10 years ago, but when one of his beautiful dreadnoughts comes up for sale, it's gone in a heartbeat.

Amother (there are dozens I don't have the space to mention) master builder here is Oscar Graff. Perhaps the finest instrument I've ever heard was the "Graff" that fingerpicker Jason Fowler brought on my radio show one night. He tends to make "unadorned" instruments so his prices are in the 4-5 thousand range.

So, other than a Larrivee I bought thirty years ago, how come I've never had an instrument built for me by one of these folks? It ain't the price, 'cause for many years all these builders priced their instruments the same as Martins or Gibsons. Nope it's 'cause one of my great joys (another hobby perhaps) is haunting the used instrument stores, and finding great stuff at greater prices! After thirty years of travelling I still love to check out the antique shops, junk stores, music shops etc. when I get to a new town or city.

Rick