About Me-Roger Wendover, Luthier since 1984

My Lutherie Journey

I built my first steel string acoustic guitar in 1984 at age 23. I had been working in a cabinet shop for a few years and had developed some woodworking skills. After having my first guitar damaged in an accident, I became fascinated with the idea of building my own guitar since I couldn't really afford to buy one at the time. After checking out every book I could find on guitar building from the public library, I set out on my Lutherie journey. Little did I know how interesting and fulfilling it would be to build musical instruments as it combined artistry, mechanical principles, and fine woodworking.

I began repairing and restoring fretted instruments for Lights Music Center in Eugene, Oregon in 1997 and did so until they closed their doors in 2003, at which point I worked out of my home shop as Artisan Guitar Repair. In 2004, I began experimenting with wood veneer to create wood pickguards for electric guitars and basses and then in 2010, developed ThinWood™ Acoustic Pickguard as an alternative to the plastics which are so commonly used on guitars. It just didn't make sense to create a fine handed crafted guitar from beautiful species of wood and then stick a piece of plastic on it.

I've had the pleasure of building a variety of instruments, some as commisioned work in which I enjoyed collaborating with the client to bring their unique vision to fruition.

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