Last week I (Geoff) made a visit to the Gernandt Guitar shop in Bryson City, North Carolina. Bob Gernandt has been building since 1977, and is doing some wonderful work. In addition to “standard” instruments like archtops, acoustic guitars and mandolins, he has carved out a great niche with dulcimers, Irish Bouzoukis and Citterns. All of his work is custom and done completely by hand in a beautiful little shop next to his house. I learned a great deal about the building process and tooling during our short visit. Bob’s development as a builder was interesting to hear about, especially how much better his guitars became after he quit trying to tap tune everything to a specific note and, as he put it, “let the wood be what it wants.” He’s a true craftsman, and a heck of a nice guy. Check out his work at www.gernandt.com.
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I have 2 instruments by Bob Gernandt. One, my first, is a custom built A style mandolin. It is an awesome instrument.
The second is an octave mandolin that my wife bought for me that Bob had made for Merlefest. It has excellent resonance and playability.