Quick Cuts: The Making of a Maker

by Tobias Berg

Originally published in American Lutherie #87, 2006



(After weeks of intense work Tobias is tuning his first guitar)

Tobias: Wow! This is it! This is what I want to do when I grow up! I want to become a guitar maker!

Kerstin: Oh, don’t you know that it takes ten years to learn a craft?

Tobias: Hmm....

(Tableau) (Curtain)

That scene actually took place just ten years ago. I had just built my first guitar in a four-week course under the tutelage of Michael Sandén, and I was overwhelmed with both pride and joy. Michael’s wife at the time, Kerstin, said the above words to me, not in a harsh or unfriendly way, but simply as a matter of fact. Well, she was right. I don’t live in Sweden anymore. The path that I decided to follow took me to Canada, England, the USA, and since 1998 I live and work in Germany. Lutherie is not as “romantic” to me as it was in the beginning. I soon realized that it is really hard work and you need patience, a lot of patience. On the other hand, the personal rewards are also much more plentiful than I was able to dream of in the beginning. Apart from the monetary aspect of course.