Vermont Instruments School of Lutherie

"Hey, it works!" Chris Reckling playing his newly built guitar for the first time. For an in depth account of his time at Vermont Instruments School of Lutherie, check out Chris' blog



"Hey George,
I just wanted to send a quick note and thank you again for such a great experience during this last guitar building course. Though I honestly wasn't exactly sure what to expect, the entire experience far exceeded anything I could have asked for in a guitar making course. I know that the rest of our group feels the same way. Your knowledge of the craft and all its varied intricacies really shone through, but even more impressive and appreciated was your teaching ability, patience, calm, and dedication to seeing all of us through to the end (or maybe just the beginning?) of the process. In any case, I just wanted to express my gratitude again for doing such a great job and making all of us feel so welcome." --  Rob Smith

 

"I signed up for the guitar building course for many reasons with the main reason being that I wanted to have the experience of building my own guitar."

"From the first day of choosing the wood for the face (cedar) and then for the sides and back (a gorgeous Paduk) the entire process was supervised and taught by two men who have probably seen everything there was to see in building a guitar. Whenever I ran into what I thought was a huge problem, George would look at it, think for a minute, and then offer an alternative that would save me hours of work redoing my mistake. For three weeks I lived and breathed guitar building. It was a remarkable experience, one that I'll remember fondly and with an instrument I am very proud of. The group of guys I went through the three weeks with was very special. I would love to someday return and build another guitar. I can't recommend this course enough. Thank you George." -- Amy Holderness

"I was very pleased with my experience in the combined repair/building course."

"I found the repair course to be a great introduction to many of the techniques and tools we would later use in the building course. I felt very comfortable during final assembly and setup as a result. The repair course also gave me a week on campus to play several different instruments and ask lots of questions about them, so that when we started the building course, I was able to make confident choices regarding body style, woods, and other options."

"George is highly experienced and knowledgeable, and I found the building course to be well-organized and executed. In an increasingly technology-based world, I found it refreshing that we were able to create such beautiful, toneful instruments using our brains, pencil and paper, and relatively simple tools. I am very proud of my new guitar, and I feel like I understand the instrument on a whole new level. "

Many thanks,

Craig S., Pacifica, CA

Daniel Harris

Daniel Harris is a native Vermonter who now lives in Colorado and attended Vermont Instruments in August 2004. Take a look at this short spotlight on Dan produced by his local Colorado television station.

Matt Flinner and Ross Martin

Nashville musicians Matt Flinner & Ross Martin playing instruments built by George and Adam during a January 23, 2010 concert at Vermont Instruments.