Luthier Randy Muth : R S Muth Guitars

About Randy Muth and R S Muth Guitars from www.rsmuthguitars.com

Randy has been obsessed with creating things his entire life. In his former career as an Organic Chemist, he synthesized molecules.

Randy thinks, his training as a chemist provided him a foundation for guitar building, as both require a highly intuitive mind. To the question, “Do you use a scientific or intuitive approach to building guitars?” Randy response, “Is there a difference?”, as he believes these processes are not mutually exclusive. He adds, "A good scientist must have great intuition. How else are innovative hypotheses generated? Although intuition in a subject area is developed through the accumulation of experience and knowledge, some people seem to possess more intuitive minds, while others seem to possess more analytical minds. I have always favored my intuitive mind. What does all this have to do with guitar building? Well, it takes a great deal of intuition to figure out how to build a guitar to produce a given sound, and it takes an artist to imagine what that sound ought to be. Of course people like and have uses for guitars with different sounds. As a builder it is interesting for me to meet this challenge by using different woods and designs to create these sounds. But since I create these guitars using my own ears, my signature is in the sound of all of the guitars I make."

To the question "Why make Guitars?", Randy responds, "I believe the need for people to express themselves is as fundamental as the need for air, food and water. Guitar making offers me a wonderful opportunity to express myself by integrating science, craftsmanship and art. Often people contrast science and art, but I believe artists and scientists have much in common. Both are incredibly focused, disciplined and passionate about their work, and both are explorers at heart."

He further explains, "I believe things are often greater than the sum of their parts, gestalt so to speak. It is very magical when this happens. This is a very important part of how I approach guitar building, as well as life itself. The sound of a guitar can be analytically described in such terms as balance, projection, volume, sustain, clarity, separation, response, etc. However when all of these come together in the right combination, it just has that something extra that can’t be explained. Like great music. My goal is to create instruments that have that intangible something extra that makes you want to pick it up and never put it down. Instruments like that leave you no choice but to express yourself."

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