Matsuda 2005 M1 OM Cutaway Natural

Michihiro Matsuda 2005 M1 OM Cutaway in Natural Finish.

2 Piece Solid Spruce Top.

Solid Brazilian Rosewood Sides.

2 Piece Solid Brazilian Rosewood Back.

1 Piece Mahogany Neck with Carved Heel.

Not Dots Ebony Fretboard.

Carved Brazilian Rosewood Bridge.

Brazilian Rosewood Headstock Overlay

Birdseye Maple Back of the Headstock Overlay.

Gotoh Delta Series Gold Tuners with Ebony Tuning Pegs.

#35.

Michihiro Matsuda

Michihiro Matsuda came to America in 1997 to fulfill his dream of becoming a guitar builder. He enrolled in the Roberto-Venn School of Luthiery, where he made such rapid progress that at the end of the course he was chosen to apprentice with the respected builder Ervin Somogyi, the only student in his class that year to achieve that honor. Matsuda further refined his craft studying with the innovative luthier, Taku Sakashta.

He also studied guitar restoration with the well-known instrument repairman Frank Ford, the co-owner of Gryphon Stringed Instruments. Matsuda spent about three years in Somogyi’s shop honing the guitar making skills he learned at Sakashta’s shop and at the Roberto-Venn School. He credits Somogyi, Sakashta, and Ford with helping him understand the structural complexities involved in hand building acoustic guitars. Matsuda is especially thankful to Somogyi for showing him the meaning of craftsmanship, and most importantly, teaching him the subtle art of making wood sing.

In 2002, Matsuda opened his own workshop where he uses traditional woodworking skills to craft guitars with an innovative sense of design. He draws his inspiration from nature, and he strives to make the peghead, body, bridge, and cutaways shapes harmonize in an organic way. But Matsuda is not just making guitars to appeal to the eye. He realizes that guitars are first and foremost tools to play music, and so he devotes as much time to the tone and playability of his instruments as he does to their appearance.

Pairing traditional woodworking skills with an innovative sense of design and construction, Michi builds around ten to twelve guitars each year at his lutherie studio in Oakland California. He strives to make instruments that integrate fine materials with organic shapes and graceful lines. His guitars are unique, personal, and individual, even if it is one of his basic models.

“The guitar is the tool of the performer. Good guitars enable anybody to express themselves musically and artistically. But I start to think that guitars are not just the tool to make music, they are more than that. In the process of making the guitar, the wood becomes a musical instrument. I am the person who puts the voice into the guitar, and with my creative visual and sonic design choices, I am expressing myself artistically as well. My custom instruments not only meet the technical needs of the player; they are also personal creative works from my imagination. It is my hope that my artistic influence will inspire guitarists to even greater creative heights.” – Michi Matsuda