Welcome to my website!
I have, early in my life, been taught love and respect for wood by my father, who could often be found woodworking. He introduced to me the scents and colours of the various types of wood. He also taught me the basics of scraping, sharpening chisels, and using gouges. At the time, I did not realise how valuable this knowledge would be throughout my life.
I took my professional education in guitar building at the CMB (Centre for Musical Instrument Making) and have completed the courses in classical design, steelstring, and archtop. Since then, designing and creating guitars has been my greatest passion.
During my education I have developed a vision, guiding the way I build my instruments. In principle, the wood type determines the timbre of the instrument. Besides this, I want to show the beauty of the wood. With every guitar I construct, I strive for perfection. That can only be done with plenty of patience, an essential characteristic for a guitar builder.
Since 2013, I am a part of project Leonardo. In this project, we research whether guitars built out of European wood can compete with those made from tropical wood. The results are more than surprising. More information can be found at http://www.leonardo-guitar-research.com/
– Kees de Bruin, October 2014