Bashkin Guitars

Michael Bashkin came to lutherie sideways. He was a scientist first — graduate work in forestry at Colorado State, post-graduate research at Duke, and time teaching tropical forest ecology in Belize. That training shaped how he sees wood: not as inventory but as a material with history, climate, and acoustic personality. He apprenticed with Ervin Somogyi and Harry Fleishman, two of the foundational figures in modern American boutique acoustic guitar making, and opened his own shop in Fort Collins, Colorado, in 1998. Bashkin builds four core models — the small-bodied OO, the OM, the mid-sized JM, and the jumbo SJ — and each is heavily customizable. Across them the consistent thing is voicing balance: fundamental and overtones in careful conversation, with neither overpowering. Players describe Bashkin guitars as responsive and unbiased — quick to translate touch without imposing a built-in coloration. His inlay and headstock work draw regular community attention, but the deeper story is the thoughtfulness behind every decision; longtime players talk about Michael as a builder who has reasoned through each element rather than inherited it. In 2023 StewMac filmed his entire build process: a two-hour documentary from wood selection to final setup, with jazz guitarist Sean McGowan playing through the finished instrument as soundtrack. The kind of access shops rarely allow, and the kind of patient explanation only a builder who actually thinks about each step can give. He also co-produces Luthier on Luthier with the Fretboard Journal, a monthly long-form interview series with other builders. Twenty-five years in, the shop remains one builder, in one Colorado town, with a multi-year wait list and four models — and there's no reason to think it will change.