Life With Strings Attached

Adrian Bagale | How Northfield Went From Mandolins to Guitars

Today on Life With Strings Attached, I’m joined by Adrian Bagale of Northfield Mandolins and Guitars. Adrian’s path begins in Rochester, New York, surrounded by jazz and guitars, and moves through Elderly Instruments, instrument development in Asia, and eventually the founding of Northfield. We talk about what decades spent studying, building and playing instruments have taught him, why Northfield operates differently from most instrument companies, and how relationships between builders and musicians continue to shape what comes next. We also get into Northfield’s move into guitars, including The Rival, a compact archtop that grew naturally from years of experimenting with octave mandolins. For Adrian, it is less a departure from the mandolin than a return to where his own musical life began. Along the way, we talk about tradition, technology, curiosity, collaboration, and Adrian’s belief that building new instruments can help musicians create new music. I thoroughly enjoyed my conversation with Adrian Bagale, and I hope that you do as much as I did. Watch the video version on YouTube: 🔗 YouTube Channel – Life With Strings Attached Learn more about Life With Strings Attached, Boutique Guitar Showcase, and Jamie Gale's work in the guitar industry: 🔗 Boutique Guitar Showcase 🔗 Jamie Gale Thank you for listening and supporting the ongoing conversation between music, makers, history and the future.

Hozen | Why He Walked Away From 4000 Guitars a Month

Today on Life With Strings Attached, I'm joined by Hozen Yong, the founder of Hozen Guitars and a builder whose mission it has been to bring boutique-level responsiveness and craftsmanship to a wider range of players. His path started in Singapore, surrounded by his family's piano business. But rather than take over the family business, he chose his own path in guitars, teaching himself the craft through relentless curiosity, experimentation and listening to musicians. After building Maestro Guitars into a large operation, he found his way back to a smaller, more personal approach, creating exceptional custom instruments with a close-knit team, now under the banner of Hozen Guitars. We talk about the life behind the work, what makes a guitar truly responsive, and how asking better questions can shape both an instrument and a career. I thoroughly enjoyed my conversation with Hozen and I hope that you do as much as I did. Watch the video version on YouTube: 🔗 YouTube Channel – Life With Strings Attached Learn more about Life With Strings Attached, Boutique Guitar Showcase, and Jamie Gale's work in the guitar industry: 🔗 Boutique Guitar Showcase 🔗 Jamie Gale Thank you for listening and supporting the ongoing conversation between music, makers, history and the future.

What Ants, How to Train Your Dragon and a Teuffel Guitar Have in Common | Tim C. Johnson

Today on Life With Strings Attached, I sit down with filmmaker and storyteller Tim C. Johnson for a conversation about what guitars, animation and great stories have in common. From the creative worlds behind films like Ants, Over the Hedge and How to Train Your Dragon, to the radical beauty of instruments by builders like Ulrich Teufel and Eric Weigeshoff, Tim explores why the most meaningful art requires insightful observation before you can meaningfully challenge expectations. Together, Tim and I talk about creative curiosity, the power of music to shape emotions, and why the guitar remains one of the most personal and endlessly evolving instruments in the world. I thoroughly enjoyed my conversation with Tim C. Johnson and I hope that you do as much as I did. Watch the video version on YouTube: 🔗 YouTube Channel – Life With Strings Attached Learn more about Life With Strings Attached, Boutique Guitar Showcase, and Jamie Gale's work in the guitar industry: 🔗 Boutique Guitar Showcase 🔗 Jamie Gale Thank you for listening and supporting the ongoing conversation between music, makers, history and the future.

Marcel Fehse | The All-Aluminum Guitar Nobody Asked For

Today on Life With Strings Attached, I'm joined by Marcel Fehse, a German guitar maker whose instruments challenge almost every assumption about how a guitar should be built. Drawing on a background in metalworking, he's developed a striking all-aluminum approach that's not just about changing materials. It's about rethinking the instrument from the inside out. We talk about craftsmanship, prototypes, finding the right balance of strength, weight and tone, and what it takes to keep moving forward when you're building something people haven't seen before and didn't ask for. Along the way, we also get into the value of curiosity, constructive criticism, and the importance of showing up in the right places. I thoroughly enjoyed my conversation with Marcel. I hope that you do as much as I did. Watch the video version on YouTube: 🔗 YouTube Channel – Life With Strings Attached Learn more about Life With Strings Attached, Boutique Guitar Showcase, and Jamie Gale's work in the guitar industry: 🔗 Boutique Guitar Showcase 🔗 Jamie Gale Thank you for listening and supporting the ongoing conversation between music, makers, history and the future.

Ola Strandberg | Titanium Necks, AI and the Guitar That Never Stops Evolving

Today on Life With Strings Attached, I'm joined by Ola Strandberg, the guitar designer, innovator, and creative force behind Strandberg Guitars. We talked about the small design decisions that make a huge difference, from neck materials and tremolo systems to serviceability, ergonomics, and the long road from the first idea to a finished instrument. Along the way, we also get into creativity, AI, production constraints, and why thoughtful limitations can lead to better design. Ola also shares what's next as he returns to a more open, experimental way of working. I thoroughly enjoyed my conversation with Ola Strandberg and I hope that you do as much as I did. Watch the video version on YouTube: 🔗 YouTube Channel – Life With Strings Attached Learn more about Life With Strings Attached, Boutique Guitar Showcase, and Jamie Gale's work in the guitar industry: 🔗 Boutique Guitar Showcase 🔗 Jamie Gale Thank you for listening and supporting the ongoing conversation between music, makers, history and the future.

The Two Towers Guitar in the Valley That Inspired Tolkien | Giulio Negrini

You can see the Two Towers in person right now on the BGS enTour 2026. Find dates and locations here: https://www.boutiqueguitarshowcase.com/about-entour In the summer of 1911, a 19-year-old J.R.R. Tolkien hiked through the Swiss Alps with a group of friends. What he found in the Lauterbrunnen Valley, with its 72 waterfalls, sheer cliffs and snow-capped peaks, would stay with him for the rest of his life. Decades later, he wrote to his son: "The hobbit's journey from Rivendell to the other side of the Misty Mountains is based on my adventures in 1911." More than a century later, Italian luthier Giulio Negrini and Jamie Gale returned to that same valley to talk about what happens when a guitar becomes more than an instrument. Giulio's Two Towers installation is two guitars built as one art piece, created for the 25th anniversary of the Lord of the Rings films and the 20th anniversary of Negrini Guitars. It captures a single moment from the book: the only flicker of light in the darkest chapter of the story. Isengard falls. Gandalf is rescued. Hope survives. This is a conversation about Tolkien, craft, pop culture, what it means to build something that takes everything out of you, and why a guitar that can be played should never be chained to a wall. To learn more about Giulio Negrini of GNG, click here https://www.boutiqueguitarshowcase.com/giulio-negrini-guitars-gng?rq=gng Watch the video version on YouTube: 🔗 YouTube Channel – Life With Strings Attached Learn more about Life With Strings Attached, Boutique Guitar Showcase, and Jamie Gale's work in the guitar industry: 🔗 Boutique Guitar Showcase 🔗 Jamie Gale Thank you for listening and supporting the ongoing conversation between music, makers, history and the future.

Why Should a Musician Adapt to an Instrument? | Jerome Little (Torzal Guitars)

My guest today is Jerome Little, founder of Torzal Guitars and the mind behind the Natural Twist. Jerome’s story begins in the Sierra Nevada mountains, where making things, solving problems, and figuring things out for yourself were simply part of growing up. He started playing bass as a teenager, studied music and acoustics at Hampshire College, and eventually brought those interests together when he began asking a deceptively simple question: why should a musician have to adapt their body to an instrument? That question became his college thesis, the Natural Twist, and the beginning of a career that would put Jerome in the company of some remarkable instrument makers. He worked with Ken Parker during the production years of the Parker Fly, later joined Bill Collings in Austin, and carried lessons from both into a design philosophy that remains distinctly his own. Our conversation moves through those formative experiences, the mentors who shaped him, the realities of ergonomics and repetitive injury, and his continuing search for better ways to build instruments, using materials intelligently, challenging convention, and never treating tradition as the end of the conversation. Jerome is curious, thoughtful, and, perhaps most importantly, a maker who actually does something with his ideas. I thoroughly enjoyed my conversation with Jerome. I hope that you do as much as I did. To learn more about Jerome Little and Torzal Guitars, check out https://www.boutiqueguitarshowcase.com/torzal-guitars Watch the video version on YouTube: 🔗 YouTube Channel – Life With Strings Attached Learn more about Life With Strings Attached, Boutique Guitar Showcase, and Jamie Gale's work in the guitar industry: 🔗 Boutique Guitar Showcase 🔗 Jamie Gale Thank you for listening and supporting the ongoing conversation between music, makers, history and the future.

When Life Tests the Maker | Simon Padalka

Today's guest is luthier and architect Simon Padalka, a guitar maker with few peers. In this conversation, we talk about the dramatic events that unfolded at the end of the 2025 Boutique Guitar Showcase enTour season, when the Padalka guitar that sold on tour was caught in a truck fire in Phoenix, Arizona. Thought lost, then to everyone's surprise, the guitar popped up again for sale a few weeks later, thickening an already unusual plot. We talk about how to handle the tough situations that we inevitably encounter in business and life, the importance of keeping it cool when things get tough and how to make a Phoenix rise from the ashes of destruction. If you care about boutique guitars, guitar designs, rare instruments or the human side of making and repairing things that are meant to last, this one is packed with insights, stories and a few moments you won't hear anywhere else. I thoroughly enjoyed my conversation with Simon Padalka, and I hope that you do as much as I did. To learn more about Simon Padalka and Padalka Guitars, check out https://www.boutiqueguitarshowcase.com/padalka-guitars Watch the video version on YouTube: 🔗 YouTube Channel – Life With Strings Attached Learn more about Life With Strings Attached, Boutique Guitar Showcase, and Jamie Gale's work in the guitar industry: 🔗 Boutique Guitar Showcase 🔗 Jamie Gale Thank you for listening and supporting the ongoing conversation between music, makers, history and the future.

André Gonçalves (ADDAC System) | When Modular Synthesis Meets the Guitar String

In this episode, I speak with Lisbon-based artist, musician, and instrument designer André Gonçalves of ADDAC System. For sixteen years, André has explored modular synthesis, experimental music, and the physical interfaces that make electronic sound feel immediate and human. His ADDAC120 Four String Series brings those worlds together, integrating guitar strings, pickups, motors, bows, and resonators into a modular synthesizer environment. Our conversation moves through the future of musical instruments, the importance of touch, the emotional connections we form with our tools, and why technological exploration so often leads us back to strings. This is a conversation about experimentation, physicality, and creating the instruments you want to use. I thoroughly enjoyed my conversation with André. I hope that you do as much as I did. Watch the video version on YouTube: 🔗 YouTube Channel – Life With Strings Attached Learn more about Life With Strings Attached, Boutique Guitar Showcase, and Jamie Gale's work in the guitar industry: 🔗 Boutique Guitar Showcase 🔗 Jamie Gale Thank you for listening and supporting the ongoing conversation between music, makers, history and the future.

From a Guitar Shop at 19 to the World's Biggest String Company | Chris Griffiths (D'Addario)

In this episode, I sit down with Chris Griffiths, someone I’ve known for nearly twenty-five years and whose remarkable career I’ve had the opportunity to see unfold firsthand. Chris opened his first guitar shop at nineteen, trained as a guitar maker and went on to found Garrison Guitars, where he developed an entirely new approach to building an acoustic guitar. His path has since taken him through Parker, Dingwall and a range of influential music-industry companies, before leading to his current work at D’Addario as Chief Sales Officer and Director of Innovation. Chris brings together the practical understanding of a maker, the instincts of an entrepreneur and the perspective of an executive responsible for one of the most complex businesses in our industry. We talk about design, manufacturing, leadership and the patience required to turn an idea into something genuinely useful. We also explore how meaningful innovation often begins with a simple question: why does it have to be done this way? I thoroughly enjoyed my conversation with Chris. I hope that you do as much as I did. Watch the video version on YouTube: 🔗 YouTube Channel – Life With Strings Attached Learn more about Life With Strings Attached, Boutique Guitar Showcase, and Jamie Gale's work in the guitar industry: 🔗 Boutique Guitar Showcase 🔗 Jamie Gale Thank you for listening and supporting the ongoing conversation between music, makers, history and the future.

30 Years, Kirk Hammett and the Guitar That Never Compromises | Nik Huber

Welcome to Life with Strings Attached. I'm your host, Jamie Gale. Today's guest is Nik Huber, one of the most well-respected guitar makers in the world. 30 years is a remarkable milestone for any guitar maker. It's long enough to build thousands of instruments, earn the trust of musicians around the world and prove that quality could stand the test of time. Nik Huber and I first met at our very first NAMM show when we both were just the beginning of our careers. Over the last 25 years, I've had the opportunity to watch him grow from a promising young builder into one of the most well-respected names in modern guitar making. Looking back, Nik was one of those people who changed the way I thought about boutique guitars. The level of craftsmanship I saw in his work helped me form the path that eventually became the Boutique Guitar Showcase and so much of what I do today. In this conversation, recorded as Nik celebrates 30 years of Nik Huber guitars, we look back at the people, experiences and philosophy that helped shape one of the world's most admired guitar companies. It's a conversation about craftsmanship, curiosity and why some things are worth taking the time to do right. I thoroughly enjoyed my conversation with Nik and I hope that you do as much as I did. Watch the video version on YouTube: 🔗 YouTube Channel – Life With Strings Attached Learn more about Life With Strings Attached, Boutique Guitar Showcase, and Jamie Gale's work in the guitar industry: 🔗 Boutique Guitar Showcase 🔗 Jamie Gale Thank you for listening and supporting the ongoing conversation between music, makers, history and the future.

D'Angelico, Loar and Why New York Changed the Guitar Forever | Cristian Mirabella

Welcome to Life With Strings Attached. I'm your host, Jamie Gale. My guest today is famed archtop guitar maker Cristian Mirabella. This episode is the result of an impromptu conversation at the end of Cristian's biography episode. After our first recording, Cristian and I kept on talking, and it became clear that there was another thread worth following, the history of the archtop guitar, and how that story moves from Cremona to Michigan, New York, Canada and beyond. So I asked if we could hit the record button one more time. What you're about to hear is the result of two guitar nerds who just can't stop talking about their shared obsession. I thoroughly enjoyed this conversation with Cristian Mirabella, and I hope that you do as much as I did. Watch the video version on YouTube: 🔗 YouTube Channel – Life With Strings Attached Learn more about Life With Strings Attached, Boutique Guitar Showcase, and Jamie Gale's work in the guitar industry: 🔗 Boutique Guitar Showcase 🔗 Jamie Gale Thank you for listening and supporting the ongoing conversation between music, makers, history and the future.

The Man Who Made Rust Beautiful | James Trussart

Every guitar James Trussart builds carries far more than steel, wood, and craftsmanship. It carries the influences of a life lived across France, Louisiana, and Los Angeles, a fascination with history, and an unwavering belief that every instrument should contribute something new to the ongoing conversation of the guitar. We talk about freedom, creativity, memory, music, travel, craftsmanship, and the responsibility of preserving stories before they’re lost. Along the way, James reflects on meeting legends like B.B. King, Billy Gibbons, Bob Dylan, and Johnny Depp, the Louisiana culture that shaped his work, and why he still believes the next idea is always worth chasing. I thoroughly enjoyed my conversation with James Trussart. I hope you will as well. https://www.boutiqueguitarshowcase.com/trussart-guitars Watch the video version on YouTube: 🔗 YouTube Channel – Life With Strings Attached Learn more about Life With Strings Attached, Boutique Guitar Showcase, and Jamie Gale's work in the guitar industry: 🔗 Boutique Guitar Showcase 🔗 Jamie Gale Thank you for listening and supporting the ongoing conversation between music, makers, history and the future.

Biography | The Story of Markus Spohn

Welcome to Life With Strings Attached. I'm your host, Jamie Gale. This episode was filmed live on location at Tom Anderson Guitar Works in Southern California. My guest today is Markus Spohn, co-owner of Tom Anderson Guitar Works. Born in a mining region of West Germany, the story begins far from the guitar workshops in Southern California. Markus first came to Anderson as a player and a customer. Then he became the person helping build the system behind the company and over time he became known to the people, trusted by the shop and deeply connected to the culture of the work. Eventually, Tom Anderson asked Markus to help take Anderson Guitar Works into its next chapter by becoming his partner and successor. This is a biography about risk, timing, humility, and the courage to step into the unknown. I thoroughly enjoyed my conversation with Markus Spohn, and I hope that you do as much as I did. To learn more about Markus Spohn and Tom Anderson Guitarworks, check out https://www.boutiqueguitarshowcase.com/anderson-guitarworks Watch the video version on YouTube: 🔗 YouTube Channel – Life With Strings Attached Learn more about Life With Strings Attached, Boutique Guitar Showcase, and Jamie Gale's work in the guitar industry: 🔗 Boutique Guitar Showcase 🔗 Jamie Gale Thank you for listening and supporting the ongoing conversation between music, makers, history and the future.

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Biography | The Story of Cristian Mirabella

My guest today is famed archtop guitar maker Cristian Mirabella. Cristian's story begins in New York, on Long Island, in a family shaped by music, resilience and a deep sense of purpose. At just 10 years old, Cristian started working at Ronnie's guitar shop, where he swept floors, polished instruments, learned repairs and found himself surrounded by working musicians, vintage archtops, Gibson, D'Angelico, D'Aquisto and the living culture of the New York guitar world. In this conversation, we talk about family, loss, craft, restoration, responsibility and how Mirabella guitars grew from a young man trying to find his place into a respected voice within the New York archtop tradition. I thoroughly enjoyed my conversation with Cristian Mirabella, and I hope that you do as much as I did. Watch the video version on YouTube: 🔗 YouTube Channel – Life With Strings Attached Learn more about Life With Strings Attached, Boutique Guitar Showcase, and Jamie Gale's work in the guitar industry: 🔗 Boutique Guitar Showcase 🔗 Jamie Gale Thank you for listening and supporting the ongoing conversation between music, makers, history and the future.

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Biography | The Story of Steve Klein

Today's special biography episode with legendary guitar maker, Steve Klein, was filmed live on location in Northern California. Steve's story begins in San Francisco in 1949. It's a story shaped by Austrian immigrants who were ski instructors, scientists, artists, and the generation that came of age during one of the most creative periods in California's history. Over the next six decades, Steve would build a career that reflected the same curiosity that shaped his childhood as he continues to explore new ideas about design, function, and the guitar itself. I thoroughly enjoyed my conversation with Steve Klein, and I hope that you will as much as I did. Watch the video version on YouTube: 🔗 YouTube Channel – Life With Strings Attached Learn more about Life With Strings Attached, Boutique Guitar Showcase, and Jamie Gale's work in the guitar industry: 🔗 Boutique Guitar Showcase 🔗 Jamie Gale Thank you for listening and supporting the ongoing conversation between music, makers, history and the future.

Biography | The Story of Ervin Somogyi

Today's special biography episode with legendary guitar maker, Ervin Somogyi, was filmed live at a location in Northern California. Ervin's tour begins in Budapest during the Second World War. The son of parents whose lives had been shaped by conflict and displacement, his early years carried him across Europe, through Cuba and Mexico, and eventually to the United States. Along the way, he developed a fascination with making things, models, drawings, woodwork, anything that could be built with your hands. At the time, there was no plan to become a guitar maker. In fact, that path revealed itself much later through a series of unexpected terms that include college, the Peace Corps, graduate studies, and a growing love for the guitar. What followed was a lifetime of craftsmanship, experimentation, teaching, and discovery. His instruments helped shape the modern steel string guitar, while his influence as a mentor has transferred that curious and experimental spirit to many of today's most respected builders. This conversation traces that journey from a young refugee searching for direction to one of the most influential voices in contemporary luthiery. I thoroughly enjoyed my conversation with Ervin Somogyi, and I hope that you do as much as I did. Watch the video version on YouTube: 🔗 YouTube Channel – Life With Strings Attached Learn more about Life With Strings Attached, Boutique Guitar Showcase, and Jamie Gale's work in the guitar industry: 🔗 Boutique Guitar Showcase 🔗 Jamie Gale Thank you for listening and supporting the ongoing conversation between music, makers, history and the future.

Tom Anderson & Markus Spohn | Passing the Torch at Anderson Guitarworks

This episode is filmed live on location at Anderson Guitarworks in Southern California, where I sat down with the company's co-owners Tom Anderson and Markus Spohn. Now, in their fifth decade, Tom Anderson Guitarworks has earned one of the best reputations in the guitar world. Tom speaks with the clarity of someone who has spent decades refining an idea, not simply chasing perfection, but showing up daily to work and asking what we could do better. Markus brings the perspective of a player, longtime customer, and now the planned successor of a brand with a wonderful legacy. Together, this conversation opens up a larger question of stewardship. How do you honor 40 years of work, protect the culture of a shop, support the people who build the guitars, and still leave room for innovation? I thoroughly enjoyed my conversation with Tom Anderson and Markus Spohn. I hope that you do as much as I did. To learn more about Tom Anderson, Markus Spohn and Anderson Guitarworks, check out https://www.boutiqueguitarshowcase.com/anderson-guitarworks Watch the video version on YouTube: 🔗 YouTube Channel – Life With Strings Attached Learn more about Life With Strings Attached, Boutique Guitar Showcase, and Jamie Gale's work in the guitar industry: 🔗 Boutique Guitar Showcase 🔗 Jamie Gale Thank you for listening and supporting the ongoing conversation between music, makers, history and the future.

David Sutkin | What 350 Basses Taught Me About Craft, Collecting & the World's Best Luthiers

This episode was filmed live on location in Tuscany, where we sat down with David Sutkin, founder of Bass UpFront. A global community of more than 36.000 bass players, builders, collectors, people who care deeply about the instrument. David is known for his remarkable collection, the Bass UpFront studio and the conversation he's held built around bass culture. He brings a player's ear, a collector's eye, and a deep respect for the people who dedicate their lives to making the instruments. We've discussed many things. The guitar's potential as functional art, the pull between utility and beauty, the value of imperfection in music, the relationships that form between players and builders, and even market demand and valuations. I thoroughly enjoyed my conversation with David Sutkin, and I hope that you do as much as I did.​ Watch the video version on YouTube: 🔗 YouTube Channel – Life With Strings Attached Learn more about Life With Strings Attached, Boutique Guitar Showcase, and Jamie Gale's work in the guitar industry: 🔗 Boutique Guitar Showcase 🔗 Jamie Gale Thank you for listening and supporting the ongoing conversation between music, makers, history and the future.

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Biography | The Story of Sheldon Dingwall

This episode was filmed live on location in Tuscany, where I sat down with revolutionary guitar maker Sheldon Dingwall to document his biography. He'll be the first to tell you that he didn't invent the multiscale concept, but he recognized what it could solve for the bass, replied with purpose, and in 1993 brought the first production multiscale bass to the market. From there, Dingwall guitars have continued to innovate through hardware, pickups, strings, electronics, and notable collaborations. Beyond all the innovations that the world sees, Sheldon is also one of the nicest guys you can meet. Thoughtful, empathetic, and kind, I thoroughly enjoyed my conversation with Sheldon Dingwall, and I hope that you do as much as I did. To learn more about Sheldon Dingwall and Dingwall Guitars, check out https://www.boutiqueguitarshowcase.com/dingwall-guitars Watch the video version on YouTube: 🔗 YouTube Channel – Life With Strings Attached Learn more about Life With Strings Attached, Boutique Guitar Showcase, and Jamie Gale's work in the guitar industry: 🔗 Boutique Guitar Showcase 🔗 Jamie Gale Thank you for listening and supporting the ongoing conversation between music, makers, history and the future.