Builder

Dudenbostel Guitars

US · TN · by Lynn Dudenbostel

Dudenbostel Guitars come out of Maryville, Tennessee — a one-builder shop run by Lynn Dudenbostel, who builds both flat-top guitars and mandolins. Lynn — known to the boutique community as "Dude" — is best known for pre-war Martin replicas: herringbone-trimmed 28-style 00s, 000s, and OMs in Brazilian rosewood and Adirondack spruce. He works on roughly three instruments at a time and rotates between phases — months of mandolin work, then months of guitars. The mandolin range runs from snakehead A-styles to full F-styles in varnish finish. Tonewood patience is the through-line: Brazilian rosewood sets held quietly for fifteen years until the right commission justifies them. Fretboard Journal calls the work "some of the most coveted acoustic instruments built today." Multi-year wait list.