RAYMOND KRAUT

My journey as a luthier began in 2004 when I attended the Roberto-Venn School of Lutherie—a fantastic school and experience that solidified my desire to further my education and pursue lutherie as a career. In 2004, after a week-long interview in Oakland, CA, I was accepted as Ervin Somogyi's third apprentice. 

 

Ervin pioneered, mastered, and wrote about responsiveness in guitars in his published series "Making the Responsive Guitar." Among all the apprentices he mentored, I consider myself the one who elevated the mastery of responsiveness while remaining true to my training with the master himself. The physics behind a contemporary acoustic guitar, as developed by Ervin Somogyi, allows for resilience and flexibility in the voicing and structure of the guitar. He developed an unmatched ability to create a genuinely responsive guitar, and I follow in his footsteps with dedication and progress.

 

What does responsiveness mean? For some, it is feeling; for others, it is tone; for some, it is measurable; and for others, it is instinctual. All these factors contribute to the guitar experience. An optimally responsive guitar isn't just one thing; it encompasses all things. It combines all these attributes and characteristics: aesthetics, engineering, sound, and feeling.

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I have built two custom workshops on a beautiful landscape near the Tortolita Mountain Range just north of Tucson, Arizona where I live. One shop is solely dedicated to lutherie and the other for larger woodworking and welding projects.