Posted on July 24, 2026July 24, 2026 by Dale Phillips Meet the Maker: Martin de Witte Meet the Maker: Martin de Witte by Federico Sheppard Originally published in American Lutherie #115, 2013 My task seemed fairly routine. I was delivering guitars in a quiet residential neighborhood of The Hague in the Netherlands. The area was densely populated, mostly with homes, a small retail area, and none of the modern urban standards such as convenience stores or strip malls. It looked as if it hadn’t changed much since World War II, with unbroken rows of tidy brick houses standing two stories high, cars lining both sides of the narrow street, and bicycles chained to posts on the sidewalks. But inside one of the unassuming apartments, about 150M from a large canal, I visited the cluttered shop of Martin de Witte, which seemed like its own world. I doubted his neighbors even knew about the little one-man operation inside. The years seemed to turn back even centuries further as I admired his authentic period instruments. The quiet fifty-one year old is a man of few words, which I have paraphrased as best I could from memory. Many thanks to guitarist and guitar collector Chris Erwich for making this interview possible. Become A Member to Continue Reading This Article This article is part of the Articles Online featured on our website for Guild members. To view this and other web articles, join the Guild of American Luthiers. For details, visit the membership page. MEMBERS: login for access or contact us to setup your account.
Posted on July 2, 2026July 2, 2026 by Dale Phillips Meet the Maker: Antonio Marin Meet the Maker: Antonio Marin by Federico Sheppard Originally published in American Lutherie #117, 2014 The feet of the finest horse in Spain carefully worked their way over the mosaic of white and black stones, loping upward to the crest of the hill, where stood perhaps the most magnificent palace on earth. The rider, dressed in an elaborate Moorish caftan dress, her husband at her side, had just recently met with an odd Italian sailor who’s spying had helped in the conquest, and led to the day referred to at the time as, “The most distinguished and blessed day there had ever been in Spain.” On the other side of the hill, down narrow cobbled streets, the treasures of the former resident of the palace had been quietly removed at daybreak. A lone bird, high in his perch in a pomegranate tree, could have looked down upon that scene and remarked on the pattern of those white and black paving stones snaking up the hill, a mosaic of roses bordered by the most delicate herringbone along the edges of the road. The day was early January 1492; the city, Granada; the lady, Queen Isabella. She and her husband Fernando, “appeared more than mortal, as if sent by Heaven for the salvation of Spain.” The Italian, looked upon as something of a bad penny, was Christopher Columbus. For many, 1492 will be remembered more for the capture of Granada than for the discovery of the New World. Become A Member to Continue Reading This Article This article is part of the Articles Online featured on our website for Guild members. To view this and other web articles, join the Guild of American Luthiers. For details, visit the membership page. MEMBERS: login for access or contact us to setup your account.
Posted on April 16, 2026April 17, 2026 by Dale Phillips Meet the Maker: Federico Sheppard Meet the Maker: Federico Sheppard by Roger Alan Skipper Originally published in American Lutherie #106, 2011 I’ve studied your website and other Internet articles about you. You’ve led quite an interesting life: you were born in Mexico City; you mentioned that one guitar stayed with you through “five different moves” and “three careers.” You’re a chiropractor, and have been a cab driver, sod cutter, lead Hawaiian guitarist for a Polynesian dance band, a consultant for the National Museums of Paraguay and El Salvador, and have ridden a bicycle around the world. I’ve even stumbled across a rumor that you traveled with a circus. Could you share some of that life with me, and tell me how you got started in lutherie? Everything you read about me on the Internet may not be accurate. I was tempted to join a Mexican midget circus I came across on a bike trip in France, but I didn’t meet the height requirements. And that is God’s own truth. Become A Member to Continue Reading This Article This article is part of the Articles Online featured on our website for Guild members. To view this and other web articles, join the Guild of American Luthiers. For details, visit the membership page. MEMBERS: login for access or contact us to setup your account.
Posted on March 3, 2026March 3, 2026 by Dale Phillips Meet the Maker: Abel Garcia López Meet the Maker: Abel Garcia López by Federico Sheppard Originally published in American Lutherie #119, 2014 Dusk has fallen in this little corner of Mexico. Our car covers narrow mountain roads, and when we reach higher elevations, the road is covered with hail. “Is this snow?” I ask. “No Señor, this is frozen rain. It falls silently here. These are magic mountains.” A few miles later, sandbags and a checkpoint appear out of the mist. Plain men in plain working clothes handle well-worked machine guns and sawed-off shotguns, lit by dim yellow lamps. “Abel, what is this? Is there a drug problem here?” He laughs softly in his gentle way. “I can see where you might think that. But the problem here is not drugs, but protecting our trees. This village is one of the most indigenous in our country, and the local people have come together to protect their forests. The pine trees here produce a most wonderful resin, and it has been collected here for hundreds of years to produce paints and other things. The people a few villages away have many carpinteros (carpenters) and they have killed all of their forests and run out of wood. So the local people are protecting their future. This program has now become a model for local villages who wish to protect themselves from crime, robbery, and drugs.” Become A Member to Continue Reading This Article This article is part of the Articles Online featured on our website for Guild members. To view this and other web articles, join the Guild of American Luthiers. For details, visit the membership page. MEMBERS: login for access or contact us to setup your account.
Posted on June 30, 2024May 14, 2025 by Dale Phillips Meet the Maker: Dmitry Zhevlakov Meet the Maker: Dmitry Zhevlakov by Federico Sheppard Originally published in American Lutherie #89, 2007 I first became acquainted with the name of Russian luthier Dmitry Zhevlakov when I received an inquiry from a guitar maker looking for veneers to duplicate one of his famous rosettes. After some research, I discovered that Dmitry is well known in some parts of the world, such as Paraguay and Australia. In the Soviet days, Dmitry’s family was extremely limited in who they could do business with, but the Internet has done wonders to increase his contacts. Although I attended medical school in Russia before the iron curtain came down, I don’t really speak Russian. Dmitry and I communicate through a translation program, and sometimes interpreters. And his English is getting better all the time. I was impressed with Dmitry’s guitars as well as his decorative work. I decided to visit his shop in Tula, Russia. And when the guitarist I was traveling with had his guitar damaged by the airline, I found that Dmitry’s skills extended to guitar repair too! Become A Member to Continue Reading This Article This article is part of the Articles Online featured on our website for Guild members. To view this and other web articles, join the Guild of American Luthiers. Members also receive 3 annual issues of American Lutherie and get discounts on products. For details, visit the membership page. MEMBERS: login for access or contact us to setup your account.
