Each day in a dusty
workshop on the second floor of a warehouse on Elton Street, art is born — functional art. Art that lives and
breathes each time it is brought on stage, or set in a lap, or held closely and
simply strummed. It’s a marriage of woods. The notes it renders speak from and
to the heart of the player. It is a Bernie Lehmann
guitar.
ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย Lehmann
handcrafts roughly 15 custom guitars each year. He offers two Gypsy-style
guitars, three classical guitars, three archtop
guitars, and one regular flattop guitar. Though all are made to be played, your
first impression is of fine furniture. They are all lush, six-string beauties
standing proudly throughout his shop. You can almost hear them in the relative
quiet. It’s hard to take your eyes off of them.
ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย In his workshop, the sun streaks
through the saw-dusted air, and Lehmann gently taps a
thin piece of maple. The wood is still rough and
obviously incomplete, its edges are jagged. But it is already guitar-shaped,
and there is a hint of its innate beauty and potential. This is what he’s
listening for. To the untrained ear, the wood just gives off a thumping sound.
But to Lehmann’s ears, it’s a mysterious and
beautiful glimmer: the first sound from the womb.
ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย Lehmann, 54,
talks about his history and passion in soft, measured tones. His demeanor is
pleasant and kind. His clothes are well worn, standard-issue plaid and denim
sprinkled with sawdust. Just behind his glasses, soft creases surround his
eyes. It’s as if he’s been smiling for years.
ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย “I picked up the guitar when I was a
sophomore in high school,” he says. “I played with folk groups and really
realized that I was not of the musician class. I had more enthusiasm than
talent. But I still loved the music. And guitars were a combination of the art
and the music.”
ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย While studying in an art-based design
program at SyracuseUniversity, Lehmann tried to create
instruments that hadn’t ever been made before. These experiments turned out a
keyboard guitar and a purple, metal-flake electric dulcimer.
ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย “It was an experimental design
program,” he explains. “It was to create art pieces more than functional
musical instruments. They were half art pieces, half concoctions. Most of them
worked.”
ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย It was during this period that Lehmann watched his teacher build a guitar for his son, and
the idea of building guitars first dawned on him.
ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย After
graduating in 1971, Lehmann found himself making
dulcimers in his barn before he moved to Boston
to study with master luthier Owen Shaw. He studied
and worked with Shaw for seven years before returning in 1977 to Rochester,
where he set up shop at 34 Elton Street.
He’s been there ever since.
ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย “About half of my business is still
local,” Lehmann says. “Most players who come to me
are talented amateurs and they have several guitars already and they are
looking for something special, different from what they already own.”
Look and listen: It’s clear. Lehmann is a truly gifted artisan. But it
is the way he involves the player in the instrument’s creation that makes his
guitars special and unique.
ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย “I like to make each instrument
different,” he says. “It’s an artistic expression for me. Every single
instrument I’ve made has been different in some way. Each instrument is a new
challenge. I don’t like repetition.” These differences include choices of
woods, neck size, finish, and decorative flourishes, all based on Lehmann’s vision and the player’s desires.
ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย “It’s important to me to talk to the
customer a lot in the beginning,” he says. “To find out what their expectations
are in terms of the practical aspect, what they’re trying to get out of the
instrument. But I also try and find aesthetically what’s pleasing to them. I
like to hear them play so I can set the instrument up.”
ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย Lehmann has
a 17-inch archtop in the works for jazz master Steve
Greene, who has played two Gibson L-7s (a 1942 and a 1948) almost exclusively
for the past 15 years.
ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย “Steve is really a master of tone,” Lehmann says. “So getting an instrument that was broadly
expressive was important. Additionally, the neck is very important to Steve.”
ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย “It’s gotta
be one of those baseball bat necks, like you found in the ’40s,” Greene says.
“That keeps the hand open.”
ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย Lehmann and
Greene have brainstormed back and forth with this project. Ultimately, Greene
acquiesced to the master, who he says is “painting a portrait of Steve with a
guitar.”
ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย “I actually called him up a few days
ago and said ‘Bernie, you know me. Just build me an ax.'”
ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย After Lehmann
selectswoodsand irons out custom features, he begins by cutting out the face
of the guitar and then “thicknessing” it down to
about 3/32 of an inch. He then braces the top and back and bends the sides with
molds and a steam press. The necks are made from scratch — no pre-fabs. Then, “It’s just a matter of assembly,” Lehmann says.
ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย Finally, he sprays six to eight coats
of lacquer, sanding and buffing them down to a rich patina. He works on two to
three instruments at once, each one taking about a month from start to twang.
The cost for one of these Lehmann lovelies runs from
$3,500 to $10,000.
Lehmann is somewhat of a rare bird. There are other luthiers
around, but few at Lehmann’s level. He guesses there
are two other guitar makers in the US making Selmer-type Gypsy jazz guitars and perhaps just four
more internationally. Archtop and especially flattop
makers are more common. But it’s hard to imagine a better guitar than Lehmann’s.
ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย Though Lehmann’s
guitars mirror classic designs, he’s not content to simply re-create.
ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย “It’s important to me to advance the
art of luthiery,” he says. “Not by doing copies of
what’s been done already but by experimentation.” Lehmann’s
innovations include advancement in bracing, developing an almost endless array
of neck joints, and a player sound port — an additional sound hole on the
guitar’s side facing the player — a feature some players swear by, like
Philadelphia’s award-winning finger-style guitarist Rolly
Brown.
ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย “I don’t care who you are, whether you
play professionally every night or whatever,” he says. “You still spend most of
your time playing with you as the only person listening.”
ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย “He consistently, of all the makers
I’ve dealt with over time, has come up with the best tone and playability that
I’ve run across in a lot of instruments,” says acoustic multi-instrumentalist
Dennis Monroe. Monroe owns four Lehmann instruments,
including a German Baroque guitar Lehmann built in
1980. “He’s cracked the code on putting together a good sounding and playing
instrument,” he says.
ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย Brown played his Lehmann
guitar (the Selmer Eclipse model) “for about a minute and knew it was the right
guitar.”
ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย Lehmann’s
guitars are loved and used in a way he may not always approve of: electrified.
“It’s
a practical necessity,” he concedes. “But I don’t like it. Often I think
electronics are used when they don’t need to be. A good
acoustic guitar projects.”Lehmann prefers to
hear his guitars in small acoustic settings.
ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย And he won’t build solid bodies.
ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย “They’re boring to me,” he says. “It’s
the acoustics that have kept me interested all these years.”
ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย And apparently for
years to come.
ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย “I have no intention of stopping,” he
says. “I’ll do it till I drop, I imagine.”
This article appears in Apr 7-13, 2004.
