It’s the debut episode of Sweep the Floor, FJ founder Jason Verlinde’s pandemic project. Every couple of weeks, he’ll call some of the makers, builders and artisans he admires for this podcast, even if they have nothing to do with music. Only rule? Everyone has to work with their hands, building something amazing from scratch.

Future episodes will feature some next level mechanics, bike builders, woodworkers, and even one of the world’s best loved surfboard shapers, but for his first installment, he reached out to Linda Manzer.

Manzer is, quite simply, one of the greatest guitarmakers alive today. She pushes the boundaries of instrument-making and engineering with each of her creations and has a cult-like following among both collectors and world-class players like Pat Metheny, Julian Lage and Bruce Cockburn. She’s appeared in numerous Fretboard Journal issues, including the new Fretboard Journal 47, which features some rare shots of her at the start of her career, working for Jean Larrivée in the ’70s.

During this episode, Linda talks about her development as a luthier, the fateful period she spent learning from archtop guitar hero Jimmy D’Aquisto, and hear about how her own creations continue to evolve. Plus a lot more…

Subscribe to Sweep the Floor via Apple Podcasts or Spotify and don’t forget to leave a review and share it with friends.

Music: Paul Rigby