From The Luthier Bench

In an historic podcast episode we present "The Dan Erlewine Recordings". Chayton Alo, founder of The Luthier Bench, conducts a 132-minute sweeping interview of a legend in the lutherie industry - Dan Erlewine. Recorded just a few months before Dan's 80th birthday in summer 2024, this podcast is an incredible journey into the life of a man who has defined lutherie education for over half a century. We walk with Dan from his childhood years and learning from his woodworking father through his first record player, first guitar bought, first repair job, and first experience creating video content for luthiers. But, Dan Erlewine is much more than a master repairman and educator par excellence. Did you know that Dan's band opened up for The Cream at The Filmore and The Grateful Dead. And, if that isn't enough, Dan has built a series of historic guitars first for Albert King and then for Jerry Garcia. The story of Dan's life is the story of music, it is the story of education, and it is the story of guitar building. But mostly, the life story of Dan is an unforgettable journey through time, through music, and of course, through the evolution of the guitar industry.

Michihiro Matsuda is perhaps the most revolutionary guitar builder on the planet. The Matsuda workshop is synonymous with radical designs executed with precise construction. Michihiro (known as Michi) was born & raised on the island of Japan. A love for guitar playing and the desire to build inspired Michi to immigrate to America at the age of 29 and in 1997, with almost no English, he enrolled in Roberto-Venn School of Lutherie in Phoenix. Shortly after graduation, Michi had the great fortune of becoming an apprentice of the legendary Luthier Ervin Somogyi for over 3 years. And, he was also able to work with historic guitar repairman Frank Ford at Gryphon Strings. Eventually, Michihiro opened up his own workshop and today he is located in Redwood City, California fabricating about 6 to 7 guitars annually mostly using hand tools. But Michi is more than just a guitar builder, he is a creative artist with a sense for the life-force in wood and an intuition for building that is historic. He is a deeply private and soft-spoken man but today we are going to look deeper into the creative genius of Matsuda Guitars.

What are the elements of business success for a Luthier workshop? How can a guitar builder ramp up their workshop brand awareness and increase interest among Collectors and Artists? In this business-focused podcast episode, we speak with Jay Lichty & Corrie Woods of the highly-successful workshop Lichty Guitars. In just a few short years, the Lichty Guitars brand went global with 100s of high-end guitars finding Buyers in over 20 countries. Learn from the workshop dynamic duo Jay & Corrie how to master all of the elements of success for a Luthier brand, including building a world-class website, guitar imagery, social media promotions, and owning the search engines. This episode contains everything a Luthier needs to know about being successful not including building the best guitars in the world.

On this week's episode of the "From The Luthier Bench" podcast, we are joined by Eric Schaefer of Eric Schaefer Guitars and DIY Guitar Making. Join your host Chayton Alo, the founder of The Luthier Bench, as we explore the lutherie journey of Eric Schaefer from his first build to his workshops mentoring dozens of in their first build. We also discuss the launch and success of his "DIY Guitar Making" channel on Youtube with nearly 2 million video views. Explore the Luthier Storefront of Builder & Educator Eric Schaefer on The Luthier Bench platform (www.luthierbench.com) - the online Marketplace & Knowledge Base for hand-crafted, luthier-built guitars.

Kevin La Due of La Due Guitars is a generational master woodworker and an acoustic guitar builder for over 30 years. In this debut episode of the "From The Luthier Bench" podcast show, the founder of The Luthier Bench (www.luthierbench.com) conducts a penetrating and inspirational discussion with Kevin about his half-century of woodworking. And, what he has learned from building over 150 acoustic guitars since 1992. Kevin also shares two remarkable and personal stories about his meetings with both C.F. Martin III and C.F. Martin IV. The "From The Luthier Bench" podcast show is sponsored by The Luthier Bench - your online Marketplace and Knowledge Base for Luthier Built Guitars.