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The Guild of American Luthiers	The Association of Stringed Instrument Artisans

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RUDOLF BACHMANN - www.bachmann-guitars.com

In 2006, while planning a European vacation through Austria into Italy, I received an email from Bachmann guitars and tonewoods. After some searching, I found out he was located in the northern mountains of eastern Italy, about half way between our stop in Salzburg Austria and our final destination in the Tuscan region of Italy. As we were going by way of unreserved train hopping, my wife and I figured we could pay him a visit. Several emails later, we were set.

The first thing I had to learn was.. what is a person with the last name Bachmann, in a small town named Antholz, doing in Italy?? Answer....World War 1. Second thing....what kind of tonewoods are Red Spruce from Italy....answer...think Stradivarius (although he probably got his Spruce from a valley north of Cremona several miles to the west from Antholz)....also think German Spruce, which grows from the Italian mountains to the far northern countries in Europe. A little more research and I was hooked! Rudolf does it all, from harvesting, sawing, drying and marketing, to making very fine guitars. It was great fun, spending time in such a beautiful part of the world and getting to know him personally. I picked thru meticulously organized and labeled stacks of master grade Spruce, and bought 5 sets of topwood, some bracewood and some Maple back/side sets as well.

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MARK BECK - www.markbeckpaintings.com

Mark is our son-in law, and that makes him a very good painter, in spite of the numerous awards, galleries, and magazine articles about him and his body of work.

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PETER YELDA - peteryelda@hotmail.com

Peter got me serious about building fine guitars. My daughter knew him when she lived in San Louis Obispo, and arranged a visit. He is my first go-to guy for every question that comes up, and over the years has developed into a friend as well as a mentor. He is also a fine musician....check him out on Google/ YouTube:

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JENSEN'S - WWW.JENSENGUITAR.COM

Chris Jensen has several stores here in Santa Barbara. When I first brought him a guitar to sell in 1996, he looked at it for about 15 seconds, and showed me 4 things he wanted me to improve on. I couldn't believe his eyes and head could see into my work so quickly and accurately. He has sold a number of my guitars, and I consider his store and staff absolutely first rate.

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DENIS MERRILL  - See the sonic sitka project

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LUTHIERS MERCANTILE - www.lmii.com

LMII is one of the finest places for buying guitar components /tools and supplies. They specialize in wood, but are a very complete source for the best of stuff.

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STEWART MACDONALD - www.stewmac.com

Stewart Macdonald is one of the finest places for buying guitar components/tools and supplies. They specialize in everything but wood.

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HISCOX GUITAR CASES - JOHN KELLY - www.hiscoxcases.com

I have become aware of these cases through the Sonic Sitka Project, and I will be finally be comfortable (as one ever can) shipping guitars now that I've bought one....very well made, and a fair price.

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NEWPORT GUITAR FESTIVAL - www.newportguitarfestivalmiamibeach.com

One of the premier venues for guitar exhibitions in the United States. Miami will nice in April....hope to meet you there. This will be the first major showing of Sonic Sitka guitars.

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FRENCH PAPER COMPANY - www.frenchpaper.com

Connections....small world. When I was growing up in Niles Michigan, we lived next door to the French Paper Mill, on the banks of the Saint Joseph river. Fourty years later, I was in the need of a special look in paper for hang tags, business cards and care/maintenance cards,etc., and my printer showed me some samples from this small specialty paper maker....French Paper ! Of course, I had to have that paper.