“A short list of the finest individual makers working today might include Manuel Velasquez, John Gilbert, Jeffrey Elliot, Dwayne Waterman, Tom Humphrey, Alan Chapman, and R.E. Brune”

-William R. Cumpiano, Acoustic Guitar Magazine, vol. 3 no. 4

Alan Chapman has been building Fine Classical Guitars by hand since 1973. Over the past 50 years he has built everything from an exact Torres copy to experimental extended-composite-lattice guitars of his own design, and almost everything in-between. Gef Fisher joined Alan in 2018 after studying Organology and Classical Guitar performance at Williams College.

Our Philosophy

The art of Classical Guitar making exists at the intersection of tradition and innovation. While the fundamental construction of the instrument we know and love has stayed largely the same for the past couple centuries, the delicate inner workings of the Guitar continue to be the subject of constant experimentation and creativity. Luthiers today continue to push the envelope of what the Guitar can do, while remaining true to the beautiful tradition from which we draw.

As perfectionists and tinkerers, we are never satisfied with ‘good enough' when we still see room for improvement. This spirit of innovation inspires and pushes the two of us to build the best guitars we can, while striving constantly to improve upon our past work.

Taking a scientific approach to Guitar making, we hold ourselves to the highest standards of craftsmanship and quality in construction for sound production and beauty, as well as structural integrity and longevity. For that reason, we are extremely selective, picky even, about our materials and tonewoods. We rigorously examine each piece of wood to ensure that it meets our exacting standards for ideal tonal, structural, and visual qualities. We are not interested in building with woods that are just decent, or even ‘pretty good,’ only the cream-of-the-crop, top 5% most visually stunning, acoustically responsive, and structurally stable materials will do. Aesthetically, we like to let these beautiful woods speak for themselves with simple, clean and elegant decoration.

To be consistent, we take precise measurements of every element of the guitar throughout the building process. This also allows us to pinpoint the effects of small changes to different parts of the guitar's structure as we constantly experiment to improve our existing designs, and develop new ones.

As luthiers, we find great joy in helping our patrons find the right instrument to best fit and compliment their individual playing style. In order to provide the greatest possible range of options, and believing that variety is the spice of life, we build a variety of different bracing designs and scale lengths, and work closely with our clients to choose, or custom build, the perfect guitar to suit their particular needs, taste, and technique.

Repairs

We are able to assess and repair handmade classical guitars when our building schedule allows. Please inquire for your specific issue.

For any inquiries call or text 413-884-3361, or send us an email using the contact form at the bottom of the page. We usually respond to email within a few days, if we haven't gotten back to you, give one of us a call. We look forward to talking with you!

-Gef