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George Morris


George Morris
George Morris 2008
I am originally from New York City, but by way of a long and meandering journey finally moved to Vermont in 1976 to work and teach with Charles Fox at the Guitar Research and Design Center in So. Strafford, Vermont. My own school, Vermont Instruments, opened in January of 1982. Along side guitar work I also built houses and worked as a professional cook, and jazz drummer. I’ve been a consultant for Yamaha Guitars, and since 2005 have been in partnership with Balinese craftsmen building guitars in Bali. Photos of that work can be found here.
I’m not building houses or cooking professionally any more, but I’m still playing music, and occasionally sailing around on the lake, or in the garden. I live with my wife, Pippa, who is a painter and surface design artist, and not far from my three children and my grand-daughter Katie.






Adam Buchwald

Adam Buchwald
Adam Buchwald 2008
My fascination with how things are made and my love for playing music led me to the world of lutherie. I grew up working in my family’s metal stamping factory, where I first learned precision hand work and all about machinery. Playing music is something I’ve done since my early childhood. First it was the guitar and later my focus became mandolin and banjo, which I concentrated on as a music major at the University of Vermont. I was in a bluegrass band in New York City with Bob Jones, one of New York’s top instrument repair people. After hounding him for many years to come to his shop he finally said, ‘FINE, but don’t touch anything!’ I went every Friday for a year, bearing black coffee, and sat and watched him fix all types of fretted instruments. It took months for him to allow me to start doing my own repairs. Working with Bob led me to Retrofret, a vintage instrument shop in Brooklyn, where I worked for two years as head tech. I fixed hundreds of instruments there-- you name it, I had my hands on it. During this time I also took the guitar building course with George Morris and it was a life changing experience. Immediately after taking the course I submerged myself in building and what would become my career. Recently, my family and I moved to Vermont and I can proudly say I landed my dream job! I feel very fortunate to be working alongside my mentor and teacher, and teaching this extraordinary craft.
 
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