Before becoming a full-time luthier, twenty-two-year Guild member Michael Bashkin was a soil scientist for the U.S. Forest Service. Before that he hiked the Continental Divide Trail from Mexico to Canada, for no apparent reason.
▪ bio current as of 2022
2022
AL#145 p.4
Michael Bashkin
▪ Bashkin ornaments his pegheads and end grafts with marquetry combined with thin, free-flowing veneer lines. He shows us in detail how he accomplishes some of these effects, including scorching decorative pieces in hot sand.
2020
AL#139 p.3
Michael Bashkin
▪ Fixing a boo-boo.
2019
AL#138 p.6
Michael Bashkin
▪ Michael Bashkin’s lutherie cred is unimpeachable, and it turns out that he previously had a career in forestry, with years of experience in many places from the tropics, to the temperate zone, to the arctic. So he knows a lot about trees and about wood. How should we feel about using the earth’s dwindling supplies of fine traditional woods to make our wonderful, precious guitars? And will our clients give us less of their wonderful, precious dollars if we don’t? Let’s ask Michael. This fascinating article is based on his 2017 GAL Convention lecture.
2018
AL#134 p.42
Michael Bashkin Harry Fleishman
▪ Everybody knows Harry Fleishman, right? We first “Met the Maker” in 2001, but by then Harry had already been an active GAL author and convention attendee for some time. Now we are catching up with him. This recent chapter of his story is a doozy, with major moves, businesses opening and closing, fruitful collaborations, international travel, and new beginnings.
2017
AL#132 p.6
Brian Yarosh Michael Bashkin
▪ Michael Bashkin came to lutherie after earlier passions and careers in photography and tropical forestry. But for decades now he has been happily Geppettoing it, building beautiful steel string guitars in a cavernous industrial space. Mentions Harry Fleishman and Abe Wechter.
2002
AL#72 p.46 BRB6 p.433
Michael Bashkin Michihiro Matsuda
▪ Changing countries and cultures to enhance one’s skills must be a daunting and exhilarating experience. Matsuda came from Japan to learn lutherie in Arizona, then apprenticed in California. His designs are innovative and his guitars lovely to behold. With 9 photos.