About me
RESONANCE ARCHITECTURE
Every guitar — and every acoustic string instrument — is a system of interacting resonances.
I design and tune these relationships during construction, using acoustic measurements, structural control and traditional Spanish guitar-making techniques.
This approach allows me to create instruments with specific characteristics — in other words, instruments that sound and behave the way I intend them to.
My main task in creating a guitar is to establish the resonances of its different parts in a particular relationship, creating a rich, balanced and clear sound, with good separation of notes and a wide dynamic range.
The result is an instrument that gives the musician a broad spectrum of emotions to express.
HOW I WORK
The key to my approach is an understanding of physics and the ability to control the acoustic parameters of the instrument throughout its construction.
By setting these parameters and choosing appropriate woods and construction methods, I can design instruments with different sound characteristics and behaviour, depending on what each particular player requires.
For me, construction is not simply the process of assembling the parts of a guitar. It is the process of creating a particular acoustic system.
This is what I have been doing throughout my career, developing my own experience and vision in the design of guitars.
WHERE THIS APPROACH CAME FROM
I was born in 1969 in Leningrad, now St. Petersburg, in the Soviet Union.
The guitar has been a part of my life since childhood. My father played the Russian seven-string guitar and sang different songs. Among the Russian romances he also loved music with a Spanish or Latin American flavour; one of his favourite songs was Cielito Lindo, which I learned much later is a very popular Mexican song.
My father introduced me to the guitar, teaching me mainly to play accompaniment. Later I became acquainted with the six-string guitar and began learning to play it myself.
A turning point in my life came when I accidentally heard flamenco music on the radio one night.
I still do not know whose playing I heard that night, but the music captivated me immediately and forever.
Some time later, a friend invited me to join an ensemble of guitarists under the leadership of the unique musician, multi-instrumentalist, composer and arranger Aleksey P. Zubarev. It was an unforgettable experience, but the most important thing for me was that there I encountered handmade guitars for the first time.
I realized that I wanted to learn how to make them.
Soon afterwards, I began studying with the St. Petersburg master Alexey Nesterov. In 1995 I made my first guitar. Then another, and another — and guitar making became my profession
FROM SPANISH TRADITION TO RESONANCE ARCHITECTURE
At that time, St. Petersburg had a community of guitar makers. A whole group of them worked at the “Accord” factory in the centre of the city, and many of them helped me in my development.
I would especially mention my friend Sergei Sandovsky, who experimented extensively with different classical guitar designs. He was the person who gave me an important understanding: the sound of a guitar depends fundamentally on how it is constructed, and especially on the structure of the soundboard.
Another important milestone in my career was meeting the talented Moscow luthier Timofey Tkach, who became my mentor.
Timofey studied the designs of the great Spanish luthiers and had a library containing books and guitar plans that were extremely difficult to find in Russia at that time. Through him, I also had the opportunity to come into direct contact with fine guitars owned by Moscow musicians, including instruments by Manuel Contreras, José Ramírez, Hermanos Conde and others.
But the most important thing Timofey taught me was a way of thinking about the instrument.
Each part of a guitar has its own resonance frequency — its own “voice”, like a string or a bell. These parts can be tuned in relation to one another.
This relationship between the resonances of the different parts affects balance, dynamics, clarity, purity of sound and many other characteristics of the instrument.
It showed me that the sound and behaviour of a guitar can be deliberately designed through its acoustic structure.
This principle remains at the centre of my work today.
TRADITION, MATERIALS AND EXPERIENCE
Over the years I have built many different guitars — classical, flamenco and acoustic.
I use high-quality tonewoods, including AAA, Special and Master Grade materials, depending on the grading system used by the supplier.
I use traditional Spanish techniques of assembly and finishing, combined with my own approach to the acoustic design of the instrument.
For me, tradition is not a fixed formula. It is a body of knowledge that can be studied, understood and developed.
EVERY GUITAR IS UNIQUE
Even when I am able to achieve a desired result repeatedly, there is an important principle that I never forget:
There are no two identical players in the world.
Therefore, there should not be completely identical guitars.
Each instrument is designed as an individual acoustic system, and each guitar should have its own character — just as its owner does.
MY WORKSHOP
In 2022 I moved to Albania and established my new workshop in Durrës, on the Adriatic coast.
A new era in my luthier career began here in 2023, and this is reflected in the labels of all my guitars made in Albania.
Durrës is conveniently connected by air with many European countries, and my studio is only about 30 minutes by car from the airport.
You are welcome to visit my studio in Durrës.
Let us design your guitar!
Go to contacts Every guitar — and every acoustic string instrument — is a system of interacting resonances.
I design and tune these relationships during construction, using acoustic measurements, structural control and traditional Spanish guitar-making techniques.
This approach allows me to create instruments with specific characteristics — in other words, instruments that sound and behave the way I intend them to.
My main task in creating a guitar is to establish the resonances of its different parts in a particular relationship, creating a rich, balanced and clear sound, with good separation of notes and a wide dynamic range.
The result is an instrument that gives the musician a broad spectrum of emotions to express.
HOW I WORK
The key to my approach is an understanding of physics and the ability to control the acoustic parameters of the instrument throughout its construction.
By setting these parameters and choosing appropriate woods and construction methods, I can design instruments with different sound characteristics and behaviour, depending on what each particular player requires.
For me, construction is not simply the process of assembling the parts of a guitar. It is the process of creating a particular acoustic system.
This is what I have been doing throughout my career, developing my own experience and vision in the design of guitars.
WHERE THIS APPROACH CAME FROM
I was born in 1969 in Leningrad, now St. Petersburg, in the Soviet Union.
The guitar has been a part of my life since childhood. My father played the Russian seven-string guitar and sang different songs. Among the Russian romances he also loved music with a Spanish or Latin American flavour; one of his favourite songs was Cielito Lindo, which I learned much later is a very popular Mexican song.
My father introduced me to the guitar, teaching me mainly to play accompaniment. Later I became acquainted with the six-string guitar and began learning to play it myself.
A turning point in my life came when I accidentally heard flamenco music on the radio one night.
I still do not know whose playing I heard that night, but the music captivated me immediately and forever.
Some time later, a friend invited me to join an ensemble of guitarists under the leadership of the unique musician, multi-instrumentalist, composer and arranger Aleksey P. Zubarev. It was an unforgettable experience, but the most important thing for me was that there I encountered handmade guitars for the first time.
I realized that I wanted to learn how to make them.
Soon afterwards, I began studying with the St. Petersburg master Alexey Nesterov. In 1995 I made my first guitar. Then another, and another — and guitar making became my profession
FROM SPANISH TRADITION TO RESONANCE ARCHITECTURE
At that time, St. Petersburg had a community of guitar makers. A whole group of them worked at the “Accord” factory in the centre of the city, and many of them helped me in my development.
I would especially mention my friend Sergei Sandovsky, who experimented extensively with different classical guitar designs. He was the person who gave me an important understanding: the sound of a guitar depends fundamentally on how it is constructed, and especially on the structure of the soundboard.
Another important milestone in my career was meeting the talented Moscow luthier Timofey Tkach, who became my mentor.
Timofey studied the designs of the great Spanish luthiers and had a library containing books and guitar plans that were extremely difficult to find in Russia at that time. Through him, I also had the opportunity to come into direct contact with fine guitars owned by Moscow musicians, including instruments by Manuel Contreras, José Ramírez, Hermanos Conde and others.
But the most important thing Timofey taught me was a way of thinking about the instrument.
Each part of a guitar has its own resonance frequency — its own “voice”, like a string or a bell. These parts can be tuned in relation to one another.
This relationship between the resonances of the different parts affects balance, dynamics, clarity, purity of sound and many other characteristics of the instrument.
It showed me that the sound and behaviour of a guitar can be deliberately designed through its acoustic structure.
This principle remains at the centre of my work today.
TRADITION, MATERIALS AND EXPERIENCE
Over the years I have built many different guitars — classical, flamenco and acoustic.
I use high-quality tonewoods, including AAA, Special and Master Grade materials, depending on the grading system used by the supplier.
I use traditional Spanish techniques of assembly and finishing, combined with my own approach to the acoustic design of the instrument.
For me, tradition is not a fixed formula. It is a body of knowledge that can be studied, understood and developed.
EVERY GUITAR IS UNIQUE
Even when I am able to achieve a desired result repeatedly, there is an important principle that I never forget:
There are no two identical players in the world.
Therefore, there should not be completely identical guitars.
Each instrument is designed as an individual acoustic system, and each guitar should have its own character — just as its owner does.
MY WORKSHOP
In 2022 I moved to Albania and established my new workshop in Durrës, on the Adriatic coast.
A new era in my luthier career began here in 2023, and this is reflected in the labels of all my guitars made in Albania.
Durrës is conveniently connected by air with many European countries, and my studio is only about 30 minutes by car from the airport.
You are welcome to visit my studio in Durrës.
Let us design your guitar!