Luthier Mark Blanchard : Blanchard Guitars

About Mark Blanchard and Blanchard Guitars from http://www.blanchardguitars.com/

Mark began his lutherie career in the early 1980's while studying physics at the University of California in Santa Cruz. What started out as helping friends adjust their guitars soon turned into a fascination with stringed instruments.

Mark continued to do repair and restoration work for many years and in 1994 began designing and making his own line of guitars. Mark is largely self taught, yet, he had received instruction and inspiration from other guitar makers. It was 1996, when Mark attended an intensive "Free Plate Tuning" seminar with long time luthier and acoustics expert, Alan Carruth. The theory and investigative techniques Mark learned from Al have led him to a greater understanding of what makes a guitar sound the way it does and has directed him in tailoring the sound of individual guitars in a predictable way.

In the fall of 2000 Mark attended a week long intensive archtop making course co-taught by Linda Manzer and Tom Ribbecke. At this course, he was able to learn all aspects of making an archtop guitar from two of the finest archtop makers. Mark has been a full time guitar maker since 1998. Mark says...When creating a guitar today, I draw from a lifetime of handcraft experience, many years of lutherie practice, and a collection of the finest tonewoods from around the world.

Mark offers several models of Flattop guitars, Archtops and Nylon string guitars.

Additional Links from Blanchard Guitars

Blanchard Guitars | Process | Gallery | Flattops | Archtops | Nylon | Options | Get One | Contact | Thanks