| William Laskin has earned
international renown in part due to the startling visual impact of the
graphic inlay work that highlights his instruments. Departing completely
from traditional guitar aesthetics, he has pioneered such diverse and unusual
materials as azurite, coral, camel bone and Tahitian black pearl. He has
the uncanny ability to breath life into his subjects using unconventional
acid oxidizing techniques. His fluid images are modern, almost surrealistic.
His stimulating inlay seminars have attracted artisans from across the
continent. In 1995 Larry Robinson wrote the definitive book on inlay, featuring
Laskin's work. |
| Inlay is just one of
the visual attributes of a Laskin instrument. The wood worker in me has
always been delighted with William's flawlessly executed design details.
Seamless mitred marquetry leads the eye past exotic woods, to outline a
perimeter of classic proportions. His radical "armrest" flows out of the
traditional guitar shape like a cresting wave. It has been universally
embraced by even the purists of the classical guitar world as a significant
ergonomic improvement. He melts form and function together into a whole
that is rarely seen outside of nature. |
| While Laskins inlay work has set
new standards for his contemporaries and his craftsmanship earned credibility
and respect globally, it is the astonishing sonic properties of his instruments
that have secured his place as a world class luthier. An accomplished musician,
composer and recording artist himself, Laskin has developed a highly evolved
ear for the nuances associated with concert grade instruments. His complete
grasp of the physics involved in modes of vibration and resonant frequencies
guide him as he conceptualizes and executes more and more departures from
mainstream lutherie.
It is a curious collection of talents one
needs to excel in the world of instrument making. Laskin exhibits the precise
ordered mind of a seasoned mastercraftsman, yet time after time shows the
courage to take an artistic "leap in the dark". This is a person who is
realizing his dream of propelling the acoustic guitar to a new evolutionary
plane. |
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