Robert Anderson - Luthier
Fine Hand-built Acoustic Guitars, Violins and Bows
Building Guitars by Hand
I bend the sides, carve the braces, neck and headstock by hand: I hand-thin and tap-tune the soundboard and back. I use hide glue throughout,which requires hand clamping of all the various parts that become the guitar. I finish the guitar by hand scraping, hand sanding and meticulously hand polishing with French Polish.
Building a guitar this way is a slow process, allowing me to focus my attention on each phase of the creation of an individual instrument. My work is mostly intuitive. I tap-tune and listen to the sound the wood makes as I work it in order to understand each particular part of the guitar's voice. In this way, I hope to create a guitar which can truly come to life in the hands of the player.
