Europe Trip, 2026

This has been my second year in a row to travel to Europe to attend the Guitar Builder’s Meeting organized by Walter Verreydt. I have been avoiding going to most of the “guitar shows” where luthiers are just a side note, sometimes tucked away in another room while the rest of a festival goes on without them.This meetup is nothing like those typical events. The meeting in Voeren is for luthiers by luthiers and the whole point is to share meals and conversations with other folks. It’s just a fun hang and a place to share ideas. I also get to be a stranger in strange lands and come back home with a fresh perspective on what’s going on in the guitar scene. I always see my home town a bit differently when I get back.

After the meeting in Voeren, I travelled around with my good friend and builder, Michael Cadiz, and we had a bunch of guitar business related things to fit in the few days I was in the EU. One major highlight for me, was being able to go to Florinett in Bergün, Switzerland and pick out spruce. I have to thank Richard for being so welcoming. I sorted thru hundred of tops to pick out exactly what I wanted to bring back. What a view from the windows! I nabbed a few really nice Flamed European Maple sets as well while I was there as well. It’s a lovely place and there is something about being in the mountains that makes me feel at home. Some weather rolled thru and even put a dusting of snow on the all too bare mountains. The landscape reminds me in ways of lots of my favorite places in Oregon and other western states.

There were even a few days where I got to be bit of tourist. There was a nice non guitar related day in Lindau, Germany as well as a stopover in Zürich, and a final day to hang out in Strasbourg, France, which is a place I had never visited. I had a nice lunch with three of the talented builders who live there and got a tour of some of their shop spaces. The one shop space photo is Jean-Noël Rohé’s.

Here’s a quick slideshow