Samois Archtop Guitar by Nigel Forster

Luthier Nigel Forster has made his name known by creating innovative, unique archtop guitars. His notoriety for being one of the most creative luthiers continues with his latest creation, Samois, which features a long-neck design in order to respond to the demands of today’s players.

Here’s Giles Strong demonstrating on the Samois:

Nigel had the following to say about the video:

I've known Giles for years, and he's always been a great player. I was really glad he came over to demonstrate my latest archtop guitar - Samois. The guitar is a new variation on my "Charlie" jazz guitar design. It features a lovely Bearclaw European spruce soundboard married to a cocobolo body. The neck and fretboard are 1 piece solid Indian rosewood. The pickup is a handmade AlNiCo III Kent Armstrong humbucker and the strings are D'Addario jazz light nickel.

For all of Nigel’s comments, click here.

Luthier Highlight: Dan Koentopp

Dan Koentopp is the owner of KoentoppGuitars in Chicago. He made his first guitar when he was 14-years-old in his parent's basement. By the time he was in college, he had created six instruments, three of them being archtop guitars. After that, Koentopp worked for a couple of years with violin maker Michael Darnton. There, he recalls learning the craft of string instruments, the true ancestor of the archtop guitar. His heart always laid with guitars, which he every day continues to produce and perfect. He is known around the world for pouring his creativity into his legendary archtop guitars.

Commitment to Excellence

It is apparent to anyone who sees an archtop guitar crafted by Dan Koentopp that attention to detail is a top priority. His fine craftsmanship is exemplified in the archtop guitars he sells. Each guitar is a work of art, as well as a means of making art. Customers and other archtop guitar luthiers rave about the quality of the guitars Koentopp produces. They say he not only creates great sounding guitars, but great looking guitars as well. He is truly a master of the phrase, “Do what you love and you’ll never work a day in your life.” He is a leader in his craft, but continues to improve and make adjustments all the time.

Recent Project: Chicagoan

In one of Koentopp's blogs, he covers how the Chicagoan logo came to be. In a recent email, he shared with us some stunning photos of that very guitar. The photos clearly display the level of craftsmanship Koentopp possesses. Thank you, Dan, for sharing these photos with us and we are excited for more in the future!

Custom 12-String Archtop Guitar by Benedetto

Robert Benedetto can sure build a nice guitar, can’t he? The great luthier doesn’t just build guitars with six strings, however, as made evident by this custom 12-string archtop guitar built for John Buford. Here are some pictures of his creation: