BIO PAGE

Hello, my name is Marcus Dominelli. I am a luthier specializing in the construction of concert quality classical and flamenco guitars. Building new instruments is my full-time occupation. I also have an interest in doing restorations and repair work when I have the time. I live in Victoria, British Columbia , Canada, with my wife Heidi and our two boys Ruben and Leo.

Marcus, at the set-up bench.

Here's the story of how I became a luthier. I'll try to keep it short.... 

I grew up in a musical family, and started playing the guitar when I was 12. My mom played a steel-string acoustic and an old yamaha classical guitar which she passed on to me. My father was not a musician, but his father and four brothers were, and they all made a living with their music for many years.

I bought myself an electric guitar when I was 13. I played it unplugged for about a year until I had saved up another $250 for a good amplifier. It was a massive 100W tube amp from the 60's which I bought used from my guitar teacher. This was in the early 1980's and I was really into playing electric guitar. I played the classical and steel string guitars too, but I had to get this electric guitar thing out of my system.....

I was very mechanically inclined as a kid and spent much of my time taking things apart to see how they worked. I enjoyed working with my hands, and was really into woodwork, mechanics, and other hand crafts, so it was only natural that I would eventually discover guitar making, given my love of the instrument.

My parents thought that I was going to be a mechanic,  because I spent so much time working on my car. It was a 1965 VW beetle, and it always needed tinkering. But after high school I enrolled in University, much to my parents' surprise. Although I found the world of academia interesting, I realized that I really wanted to work with my hands. So after graduating with my Bachelor of Arts degree, I chose to not pursue any more academic schooling.

I spent a few years in my early 20's working in the forestry sector. I loved the outdoors, and most of the work was seasonal, allowing me to pursue my love of music, woodworking, and travel in the off-season.

I traveled to India, Nepal, Spain (Andalusia), Mexico, Cuba, and to some other parts of Latin America. I picked up several well made instruments during my travels, and began learning to play the flamenco guitar. 

After returning from traveling, I started a cabinetmaking apprenticeship in Vancouver. I worked in three or four high end shops, but they were all pretty much the same: too much machine work, dust and noise. Aside from the occasional custom job, I found the work too production oriented for my tastes; there was little need for fine hand work, which is what I was interested in. Am I picky or what?

By this time I had decided to fully pursue guitar making. I had in fact, already made my first guitar at home, using the Cumpiano book (Guitar making - Tradition and Technology) as my guide. I was pretty happy with the results, especially considering it was my first guitar. But I really needed some formal training, either in the form of an apprenticeship or some course work.

In the mid 90's I attended the Timeless Instruments School of Lutherie in Saskatchewan, Canada. There I studied under David Freeman, who showed me the Spanish method of guitar construction, as was taught to him by American Lutherie pioneer Charles Fox, still and active luthier and teacher today.

After I graduated from Timeless Instruments I moved to Victoria, B.C. where I was offered full-time employment at the Old Town Strings Shop, one of Canada's most respected specialty repair shops. Here I worked under fretted instrument repairman Dave Cahil, and the renowned double bass maker & violin restorer James Hamm. This is where my lutherie education really got going.

Working with Jim and Dave was a great experience. At that time, the Old Town Strings Shop was the best repair shop around. Jim and Dave had a huge clientelle, including many of the finest musicians on the West Coast. Since then I've always believed that the best way to learn about guitar construction & design is by studying the instruments of the great makers, from the past and present. Many exceptional guitars came through the shop for work, and I felt honored to examine and work on them. Before you can make a great guitar, you need to know how a great guitar differs from an average one.

While I did repair work by day, I spent most of my evenings and weekends building my own guitars. I made my first 25 classical guitars while I worked at Old Town Strings, before setting out on my own.

Around this time I met Geza Burghardt at the Guild of American Luthier's Convention in Tacoma, Washington. Geza was trained in Hungary, in the Old World European style. He is very well known for his impeccable workmanship, and in particular, for his beautiful french polish finishes. He agreed to teach me his method of french polishing and v-joint neck constuction at his shop in Vancouver. Since then, I've perfected the art of french polishing, and have taught Geza's methods to other luthiers, two of whom were already well established classical guitar makers in thier own right.

I built many guitars on spec, through commission, and also sold through dealers. The Rosewood Guitar in Seattle, and the Kirkpatrick Guitar Studio in Baltimore were a big help in jump-starting my career. Feedback from accomplished musicians has also been critical to the development of my work, and so aside from the many luthiers who have influenced my work, I also give much credit to the players who've taken the time to perform with, purchase, or test drive my guitars. A good classical guitar player can put a guitar through its paces in a way that I cannot. This has helped influence my development as a luthier in a big way.

The days of doing restorations by day and building guitars in the evenings have long since ended. Having a family (and a need for personal balance) put a stop to that. I have been operating my own business Dominelli Guitars from my home shop for several years now.

Business has steadily been getting better over the years, even with the current economic recession, and I've now shipped guitars all over North America. I appreciate the fact that people are willing to pay for quality and customization in this day and age of factory production.

I currently build about 10 or 12 classical guitars a year out of my home shop in Victoria, B.C., Canada.

To be continued....