Life With Strings Attached

With over 25 years of expertise in film, advertising, and industrial design, Kosta Lagis has worked on blockbuster movies like Prometheus, Man of Steel, and Deadpool, as well as high-profile commercials for brands such as Huawei and Mobil. He's currently the creative Director for Computer Graphics at The Mill in Shanghai. With a deep technical foundation in illustration, photography, digital...

Doug Kauer is always the least serious guy in the room, which makes him a great podcast guest – it’s also part of what makes him a successful guitar maker with his own unique style.  Doug started building guitars when a lifetime of woodworking combined with a love of guitar. Spurred on by the support of other luthiers, he found his direction in what appealed to him: less mainstream jet-set design...

Robin Stummvoll of Verso Instruments joins me to talk about the release of his new, highly innovative guitar, Sine, which will be exhibited in the Boutique Guitar Showcase at NAMM 2025. Having gained worldwide attention for his Cosmo model, Robin has plenty to share about the role of playfulness in creativity, escaping the constraints of established guitar design, and how to still bring innovative...

Ola Strandberg is a true innovator, having redefined modern guitar-making with his .strandberg* brand. Pioneering the resurgence of headless guitars, Ola combines ergonomic innovation, sustainable materials, and cutting-edge aesthetics to create instruments that inspire musicians and luthiers worldwide.  With so much change occurring, now is a good time for those with a future forward mindset, lik...

Jon “Sully” Sullivan is the founder of Sully Guitars, a brand known for blending innovation with the spirit of '80s hot rod guitar culture. But, as Sully explains in this conversation, his guitars are far more than a nod to the era he grew up in. We talk about what it means to go beyond your influences, to build guitars out of spite and to live your life as a committed contrarian. As always,...

What would a structural engineer bring to guitar making? In his career as a structural engineer, Enrico Di Donato collaborated with renowned architects like Renzo Piano and Arata Isozaki. After years of exploring composite materials for seismic reinforcement and authoring publications on the subject, Enrico shifted his focus to luthiery, combining his scientific expertise with artistic craftsmansh...

Why do we make things? What is it that draws so many of us to hunker down in dusty workshops, pick up some hand tools, or devote hours to any kind of craft and creation?  We might sometimes be mystified by our own obsession or powerful draw towards making things – that feeling of a need to create. Exploring this is part of exploring what it means to be human, and I can think of no one better to di...

Based in Edmonton, Canada, Dion James builds steel-string acoustic guitars known for their striking minimalism. Subtle in their looks from afar, Dion's instruments make careful use of intricate detailing without becoming ostentatious. They’re packed with innovation informed by years of building and experimentation, all brought together with a decisive, crystal-clear design vision. As he'...

There might be a lot of guitars that claim to be unique, but there's only a relatively small number that achieve – without question – something new. Nicolai Schorr's instruments are undoubtedly among that select group.  From his workshop in Berlin, Nicolai handcrafts guitars and basses that are as playful and refreshing as they are bold. It's unsurprising to learn he has a backgroun...

If you’ve ever seen Marek Dąbek’s Stradi instruments, you’ll understand that he has a fascinating approach to building guitars and basses.  On this week’s episode of Life With Strings Attached, we talk about the origins of Marek’s instruments, the benefits of having to struggle for what you want, and why a tarantula lived in his kitchen. Stradi Instruments: https://stradi.pl/ Join the Patreon: htt...

What is the future of the NAMM Show? What direction are our instruments – and our industry – heading in? What is it that instrument makers need most right now?  There are few better people to speak to about the future of our industry than John Mlynczak. As the CEO of NAMM, he runs the world's largest trade organisation for musical instrument makers and the largest, most important trade show f...

Based in Vermont, Adam Buchwald has managed to build an enviable business that spans every part of the guitar making and selling process, from supplying woods and tools to designing and building across several brands, and even setting up a retail space.  In his full career he’s covered even more ground, plying his trade as a professional musician with guitar, banjo and mandolin, repairing valuable...

This week on the podcast, English guitar maker Rosie Heydenrych talks about how she started Turnstone Guitars, why she's drawn to using non-traditional woods, and what fuels her curiosity as she continues to grow her business. As well as crafting beautiful and refreshing instruments, Rosie has created a family business that prioritises what's most important and motivating for her, so it&...

This week, I'm joined by Finnish master guitar maker Juha Ruokangas to talk about the future of guitars, music and his own business.  With over three decades of experience in the game, building some of the finest quality instruments available on Earth, Juha certainly has an interesting perspective on the changing world of the guitar.  It was fascinating to hear his thoughts on the culture and...

Unsurprisingly, when you talk to someone who’s a designer, professor, writer, musician and multimedia artist, your conversation covers quite a lot of ground. Ed Keller’s career and projects span an incredible breadth of work across many fields. Often with an interdisciplinary approach, he’s taught and run centers at prestigious institutions around the world, founded architecture firms, consulted w...

Having served for more than a decade in the Army, received an MBA and worked as an executive in a Fortune 500 company, Jason Kostal was already highly accomplished when he came to guitar building – and it’s now yet another area in his life where he’s achieved excellence. Bringing such a varied experience into his work gives Jason a uniquely informed perspective on running a business, being the bes...

Guitar builder Randy Parsons joins me to share some incredible stories on this week’s episode, including working with Jack White, using a cattle skull for the bracing of a guitar he made for Jimmy Page, how he came up with the 50,000-piece Red Queen in a single moment of spontaneity, how he moved his workshop from a former Hell Angels hideout to a century-old church in rural Kansas – and lots more...

I’m pleased to announce that my guest this week on Life With Strings Attached is guitar maker Michael Greenfield. Michael is passionate about tone. Great tone. FAT tone. Squeezing every last molecule of tone out of his instruments. Prior to making the commitment to build full-time, he spent 20 years repairing and restoring vintage instruments. He has also been a player for 60 years; so perfect fee...

This week on Life With Strings Attached, we’re exploring the intersection of neuroscience, music and advanced AI. Our guide through these topics is Dr. Gabriel Axel Montes, a neuroscientist, entrepreneur, author, musician, and researcher and practitioner of consciousness development.  With a focus on AI, Gabriel works both hands-on and at the thought-leadership level in guiding the beneficial deve...

I’m very pleased to have Legendary instrument designer Ned Steinberger as our special guest on this week’s episode of Life With Strings Attached. With a remarkable 40-year legacy, Ned Steinberger has been at the forefront of innovation, with instruments that have revolutionized the industry and set new standards for performance and ergonomic comfort. Those instruments have been adopted by an impre...

I’m pleased to have Murray Kuun as our special guest on this week’s episode of Life With Strings Attached.  Murray says that a transformative trip to Italy in the 1990s, punctuated by a visit to Michelangelo’s David and a serendipitous encounter with a Luthier, ignited his desire to craft musical instruments. With only a poorly written book as guidance, he painstakingly fashioned his first violin,...

We talk a lot about tone – but what's the science behind the sound of our stringed instruments? To tackle this topic, I can think of few better people to talk with than Tom Nania. As well as his work as an acoustics engineer with D'Addario, Tom is a member of the Violin Society of America’s Oberlin Acoustics Workshop. Prior to joining D’Addario, he also worked as a luthier and acoustics...

Robin Stummvoll of Verso Instruments was recently explaining to me how big an influence Ulrich Teuffel was for his guitar designs. And when it became clear that the two had never met – despite coming from the same region in Germany – I felt I had to change that.  Luckily, they agreed, and I had the pleasure of bringing the two guitar innovators together in Uli’s workshop to discuss design, entrepr...

I'm very pleased to have Omer Deutsch of OD Guitars on this week's episode of Life With Strings Attached. Originally trained as an industrial designer, Omer worked in product design for seven years before starting his guitar making business in 2016. Since then, he’s made guitars for many artists, mostly in the world of metal, including players such as Roman Ibramkhalilov of Jinjer and Da...

This week's episode of Life With Strings Attached was recorded on location in Northern Ontario, Canada – actually, in my backyard, by special request of today's guest, Mike Sankey.  Mike has been creating one-of-a-kind guitars for over 25 years in his workshop in Ottawa, Canada. While better known for organic yet futuristic electric instruments, his work has always been informed by a dee...