It’s the harvest season for guitar shows: With Santa Barbara Acoustic Instrument Celebration happening this weekend, Woodstock coming up, the Holy Grail Guitar Show in Berlin, the Harp Guitar Gathering and, lest we forget, our very own Fretboard Summit all happening in the next few weeks.
With that in mind, for this month’s Five to Follow, we thought we’d showcase five Instagrammers who can transport us vicariously to these luthier shows (or at least Santa Barbara – #SBAIC) to see all the action.
Tim Frick
https://www.instagram.com/p/BK7KvsDAi8L/
Tim Frick builds gorgeous, distinctly modernist instruments and does the occasional repair in his San Francisco shop. He’s a fine Instagrammer day in and day out, but we were particularly taken with his pictures of the instruments he’s taking to Santa Barbara.
Maegen Wells
https://www.instagram.com/p/BKof7MQDcO_/
Maegen Wells is another California luthier we’ve been keeping an eye on. She’s a grad from the Galloup School of lutherie and an alum of Ribbecke Guitars. These days, she’s building some lovely flattops, archtops and mandolins out of her her Forester, California shop. She does a great job of posting “works in progress” as well as the finished product, not to mention the occasional video.
Jason Kostal
https://www.instagram.com/p/BK92n5dDj7G/
Jason Kostal should be familiar to readers of the Fretboard Journal. He was featured in Podcast 107 back in May of this year and he crops up in the pages of issue 36, being an alum of Ervin Somogyi’s apprenticeship program. He’s building impeccable instruments in his shop outside Phoenix, Arizona and, naturally, has a fine Instagram presence to boot.
Michael Bashkin
https://www.instagram.com/p/BKJtnhjBjKG/
Michael Bashkin describes himself as an “artist, scientist, builder” and we’re not prepared to argue with him on any of those counts. He’s creating his breathtaking instruments out of his shop in Fort Collins, Colorado, and does an excellent job of documenting both the science and the art on Instagram.
The North American Guitar
https://www.instagram.com/p/BK_QVuMDpLv/
If you could only pick one – like Instagram is Highlander or something – the North American Guitar is probably your must-follow for the guitar show season. The Santa Barbara show has only just begun and this London, UK-based shop specializing in “fine custom guitars” is already all over the place, having paid visits to a few of the aforementioned folks along the way. We’re pretty sure they’re headed to Berlin’s big guitar show, too.
