Passion for guitars

As a teenager I learned music theory and I played the cornet in the local brass band. Later the guitars followed and I wanted to know the fine arts of setting up guitars. I wanted to know precisely how a guitar exactly works, what the principles and the mechanics are that all together make your guitar better playable and nicer sounding. Finally I traveled to the US and to the UK several times to learn more.

Galloup School of Guitar Building and Repair, Michigan, USA

Galloup School is highly estimated education institute for luthiers. The school is located in Big Rapids, Michigan. It is founded about 50 years ago by Dan Erlewine and is now run by Bryan Galloup of Galloup Guitars. Long term trainings (two, four or six months) and short term trainings (one week) are organized throughout the year. I hzve been educated in following skills up to now:

• Small repairs, such as removing dents, glue one or more loose frets, repair small cracks.
• Measure, clean and repair or replace electronic guitar compnents en connections.
• Handicrafting a bone nut for an electric or acoustic guitar and handicrafting a bone saddle for an acoustic guitar.
• Fretting a guitar neck by menas of the Erlewine jig. By using this technique the string tension on the guitar neck is simulated with the strings being removed. This way it is so much easier to work on a straight guitar neck, while the measurements and the adjustments can be done horizontally and in playing position.
• Fret leveling, which is an efficient option when frets are uneven and the guitar is hard to get setup correctly. Also for this technique the Erlewine jig is used.
• Setup and stringing of acoustic and electric guitars, basses, classical guitars and guitars with a Floyd Rose system.

I was at Galloup Guitars in April 2026 for the Taylor Silver Certification training (two days). To guarantee the best possible setup of Taylor guitars following skills needed to be acquired:

• Evaluate setups from the Taylor plants in California and Mexico and adjust when needed.
• Nauwkeurig afstellen van de gitaarhals.
• Measure and repair electronic guitar components and connections.
• Gain expertis in Identifying humidity-related issues and performing advanced humidity treatments.

Guitar Tech Courses Academy, Heathfield, UK

In 2007 James Collins was trained for guitar building and repair at the Galloup School in Michigan, USA. Since 2008 he’s running his company 12th Fret Guitar Setup and Repair, a recognized Gibson Repair Center in the UK. James makes also this own brand of guitars via his company James Collins Guitars. I followed these trainings oranized by James:

• Pro Guitar setup course: guitar setup, restringin and maintenance.
• Build your own Guitar course: build your guitar starting from a pre-ordered guitar body and neck. I choose to build a red Jazzmaster guitar.
• Online Pro Guitar setup course: many dozens of video lessons, in which explains step by step all details of the setup and maintenance techniques, while he’s paying attention to the various brands of guitars.

I attended two workshops of Marc Terreur, a luthier from Sint-Niklaas. Together we organized two guitar workshops in the Guitar Saloon.