Luthier Christian Koehn classical guitars

Christian Koehn is a very special luthier and we are very proud to have the chance to list from time to time one of his guitar. What makes him special despite the awesome quality and detail craftmanship is his will to improve and test again and again new things. We knew the traditional braced classical guitarsof christian and now love the doubletop balsa core guitars that he does.

Such a move show how open-minded is Christina: we use to rate his traditional guitar at the top, his balsa are close to perfection.

Here are some bio information borrowed from Christian’s website:

I was born in Berlin on the 1st of January 1976 and grew up in this wonderful and unconventional city. When I was 12 years old my parents gave me a classical guitar and, quickly, I was fascinated by its sound and its simple yet perfect shape.

During my studies in agriculture I spent a lot of time in libraries. That is where a copy of Roy Courtnall’s „Making Master Guitars“ fell into my hands. This was a very inspiring moment in my life.

In my one-room student apartment I made my first guitar. Looking back, it wasn’t particularily beautiful, but it sounded better than any guitar I could afford at that time.

I contacted Roy Courtnall and, shortly after, was on my way to England to study with him at Newark College. So I learned how to make classical guitars in the traditional way. During my studies I was also instructed by Tony Johnson, Malachy Brady and James Lister. I also visited Paul Fischer’s and Gary Southwell’s workshops.

In 2006 I graduated from International Guitar Making School (Newark College). I received a diploma with distinction and was awarded the Ashley Mark Publishing Prize (Classical Guitar Magazine UK) for being the best in my graduation class. After that I took the opportunity to acquire a deeper knowledge in the art of restoration and repair at Newark School of Violin Making. There I met my wife, the violin maker Thilde van Norel. In 2007 we moved to Berlin. We have two children and share a workshop in Kreuzberg.

After all this experience I still have this one desire: To build the next guitar – and to make it even better.