William Laskin

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.

Link to recent reviews of Laskin guitars



"Hand Releasing Dove"

link to the millennium
"DIY Inlay" guitar!!!



"Inlay Prep. Rm 2"

-Concert Classic-

Top: Western Red Cedar or Sitka Spruce
Back and Sides: East Indian Rosewood, bound with Ebony
Neck: Spanish Cedar reinforced with Ebony inset
Fingerboard: Ebony, gound with Ebony
Bridge: Rosewood with bone/ebony or bone/shell tie block
Nut, Saddle: bone
Machine Heads: Sloane hand made Bronze, Ebony buttons
Options: "Armrest" edge bevel on lower bout
Brazilian Rosewood, when available
multi-string models
Case: custom Calton flight quality case

-Flamenco-

Top: Western Red Cear or Sitka Spruce
Back and sides: Spanish or Italian Cypres or East Indian Rosewood
Neck: Spanish Cedar
Bridge: Rosewood with bone/ebony or bone/shell tie-block
Fingerboard: Ebony bound with Ebony
Nut and Saddle: bone
Tuners: Ebony pegs capped with bone or shell
Options: "Armrest" edge bevel on lower bout machine heads
Case: custom Calton flight quality case

-Steel String-

Top: Sitka Spruce
Back and Sides: East indian Rosewood, bound with Ebony Curly Maple Curly Koa
                          Brazilian Rosewood when available
Neck: Tropical American Mahogany
Fingerboard: Ebony bound with Ivoroid or Ebony
Bridge: ebony
Nut and Saddle: bone
Machine heads: Schaller
Options: "Armrest" edge bevel on lower bout
              "Ribrest" bevel on back edge
              single cutaway body style
              12 string
               Elaborate custom inlay
Case: custom Calton flight quality case

Link to the What's New Section for most recent reviews of
William Laskin guitars

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