Meet Greg Brandt | Maker of Guitars

We had the good fortune of connecting with Greg Brandt and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Greg, what led you to pursuing a creative path professionally?
Truthfully, I didn’t mean to.

I was interested in music from the moment I heard The Beatles and started playing guitar as I got a bit older. In my late teens & early twenties I was working in a restaurant kitchen and found I enjoyed working with my hands. One day, a customer gave me info on a book about building guitars. I had never given any thought as to where guitars came from, though in some fashion, the book made sense to me. I wondered what could be better than playing a guitar that I’d made and, since my days were free, I started to build one…step by step. As it so happened, the author of the book lived a few miles away and made materials available to me and answered my many questions. Halfway through the guitar, I had an “Oh… my hands know this work!” moment. I eventually left the restaurant and got a job at an upscale woodworking store, which served as my hand tool apprenticeship. While working there, I met another guitar maker who eventually became my teacher and allowed me to serve an apprenticeship with him. Serendipity is a real phenomenon, and doors and windows were being flung open for me! I was 22 years old. When my formal apprenticeship ended, I split my time between building and working at the tool store. The store closed in the mid ’80’s and I went to building guitars full time.

Alright, so let’s move onto what keeps you busy professionally?
Classical guitars need to follow some basic parameters. These have been refined over the last 200 years to a point where there is now considered a “normal” to guitar players. Certain things like basic body size, scale length and fingerboard layout remain a constant with only small amounts of variation. That also comes into play with how classical guitars look and the materials used. All makers have their own “recipes” for building a guitar; we all use a softwood for the top (usually spruce or cedar), and a hardwood for the sides and back (usually a species of rosewood). With international restrictions on certain woods, some makers are more freely experimenting with other woods for the sides and back. The guitars I make are pretty traditional on the inside, but I am experimenting with a more modern look on the rosettes and matching elements. This has been a lot of fun and a different kind of creative work for me.

It wasn’t easy doing a craft for a living. There was hardly any information when I started and rare for people to share what they knew (my teacher being an exception). I was a first generation woodworker and my family didn’t quite know what to make of it. I spent all my time building and learning, sold everything that I made, and just put one foot in front of the other and carried on. I liked working for myself, and felt a deep satisfaction in being creative with a profound pride in the work I was doing. Forty plus years later….I still do! Working with your hands and having a craft or skill that you know, and are good at, is a wonderful life. It’s not always easy but it’s very rewarding!

If you had a friend visiting you, what are some of the local spots you’d want to take them around to?
I can imagine that my best friend would be interested in craft and art. I would want to take them to The Gamble House in Pasadena so they could see one of the best examples of the architects / designers Greene & Greene. I’d see what was being displayed at Los Angeles Modern Auctions prior to their next auction. Often you can see George Nakashima, Sam Maloof, or Frank Lloyd Wright furniture or see some original Julius Schulman photos.
Maybe I’d see about going out to the Sam Maloof house in Alto Loma, which has been turned into a wonderful museum and teaching center.
Seeing as our county art museum is being reworked – maybe I’d go to The Getty Art Museum to see some great art and wonderful gardens.
Of course, we’d have to go visit my special beach above Malibu and maybe see downtown from Dodger Stadium!

There are so many wonderful places to eat in L.A…..high brow and low brow! There are local joints that (Burritos El Chavo, Pinks, the original Tommy’s Burger) that I love. I also have a favorite sushi bar that’s close to the shop.

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
My teacher, the late Bob Mattingly, who grudgingly offered me my apprenticeship and eventually became a friend and supporter of my work.

My parents and family, who always helped me through the inevitable valleys.

My students and former apprentice, who probably taught me more than I taught them.

My wife, who puts up with the shavings and dust tracked into the house and has graciously given up a garage so I could gain a shop.

Website: www.gregbrandtguitars.com

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/gregbrandtguitars/

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