Thomas Fredholm

Thomas Fredholm, Sweden

Thomas Fredholm has been crafting fine concert guitars for almost twenty-five years. He writes:

It was the best ever made Martin D 45 that started it all off for me. I heard that instrument and I just had to find out how to do make such a guitar! I was driven, maybe even a little possessed. However, when I began making guitars Sweden could not brag of a guitar making tradition to speak of. So I had to teach my self. The first guitars I made were Western style steel string guitars. These first guitars I put (forced) into the hands of friends who were into music. Later I turned to professional guitarists. I was also into folk music at the time, so I made some Irish bouzoukis and dulcimers as well.

Over the years I've received quite a few scholarships and grants. Thanks to these I've been able to travel to many places in the world and spend time with luthiers such as Jonathan Hinves in Granada, Spain and master luthier Bernhard Kresse in Köln, Germany. I've met colleges in Asia, America and Europe, and I've visited numerous saw mills as well. I have visited the US several times, met many guitar enthusiasts and brilliant luthiers, and seen and heard a lot of fantastic guitars of all types.

It was during one of my trips to the States that I came across the making of fine classical guitars. The techniques and processes involved in making these guitars were very different from what I had been doing - much more complicated. I became hooked by the sound of the classical guitar and the challenge of building such refined, elegant instruments. I have this passion for clear beautiful sounds and a long sustain; these things are among my guiding inspirations to this day. I still keep in contact with guitarists when it comes to the quality of tone and visual aesthetics. Every year I travel around Europe to visit different schools and festivals showing my guitars, listening, thinking, planning, dreaming about the next guitar I will build.

Recently both David Russell and the Los Angeles Guitar Quartet's John Dearman have purchased Thomas Fredholm classical guitars.

Thomas Fredholm

GUITARS INTERNATIONAL