Michael Bashkin

Bashkin Acoustic Guitars — Forest Science, Acoustic Art

Michael Bashkin is not your typical guitar builder. He began building in 1994 during graduate studies in Forestry at Colorado State University, went on to post-graduate research at Duke University studying the biology and mechanics of wood, and spent time teaching tropical forestry in Belize, where he personally hand-selected the unique tonewoods that have appeared in his guitars ever since. When he opened his shop full time in Fort Collins, Colorado in 1998, he brought with him a depth of scientific understanding of wood that no other independent luthier in the country can match.

The workshop in Fort Collins sits in an ideal environment for the work: a college town, a music town, and a gateway to the Rocky Mountains, with the kind of low humidity and stable climate that keeps tonewoods aging gracefully in Bashkin's personal collection for years before they reach the workbench. The order list is currently closed, with a waiting list forming for when new commissions open. Each instrument carries a base price of $16,700 and takes eighteen to twenty-four months from order to delivery.

Wood as the Foundation of Everything

Michael doesn't select tonewoods the way most builders do. He understands them on a scientific level, studying grain structure, density, stiffness, and resonant behavior before a piece of wood ever becomes part of a guitar. He sees the grain the way a photographer sees texture in reflected light, and hears the voice in a raw sheet of spruce before it is braced or joined. That depth of material knowledge, combined with over twenty-five years of building experience, produces instruments that are balanced, powerful, and extraordinarily responsive across every dynamic level a player can reach.

Italian Alpine spruce, Carpathian spruce, Adirondack spruce, Western Red Cedar, and Sinker Redwood tops have appeared across his catalog, paired with back and sides in Brazilian rosewood, Madagascar rosewood, Indian rosewood, Malaysian Blackwood, Pau Ferro, and figured koa. Ebony fingerboards and bridges, Gotoh tuners, and bone nuts and saddles are standard throughout. Every guitar includes a choice of VISESNUT, Hoffee, or Calton custom case.

The Models

Bashkin builds four core models, each one based on original designs and extensively customizable to the player's playing style, tonal goals, and physical preferences.

Placencia OM — Named after the small fishing village in southern Belize where Michael hand-selected tonewoods during his forestry teaching years, the Placencia OM is the most widely celebrated model in the Bashkin catalog and the one most closely associated with his name. Designed for fingerstyle players, it delivers exceptional comfort, clear note separation, and a dynamic range broad enough to respond immediately to the most subtle touch while speaking with full power and presence when called upon. Available in standard and multi-scale configurations.

JM — Sitting between the OM and a larger dreadnought in body dimensions, the JM delivers the low-end presence of a larger guitar while maintaining the clarity and balance of the smaller OM. The model featured in StewMac's full-length documentary film of Michael's complete building process, and the instrument that most clearly demonstrates his approach to voicing and construction from start to finish.

SJ (Small Jumbo, 12-Fret) — A 12-fret small jumbo with the warmth, openness, and fundamental richness that the 12-fret neck join has always delivered. Built for players who want maximum acoustic resonance and the deeply rooted character of the pre-war body style.

OO (12-Fret) — The most intimate model in the Bashkin lineup, compact and deeply personal, with the focused warmth, touch sensitivity, and midrange clarity that makes the small-body format a perennial favorite for fingerstyle, blues, and late-night playing.

Beyond the Guitar

Michael Bashkin's contributions to the acoustic guitar world extend well beyond his own instruments. As host of the Fretboard Journal's Luthier on Luthier podcast, now more than one hundred episodes deep, he has become one of the most respected voices in the independent lutherie community, interviewing builders from around the world and sharing knowledge that has shaped a generation of aspiring luthiers. Owning a Bashkin guitar means owning something built by the person at the center of that conversation.

Browse our available Bashkin inventory. Instruments that come to market from this builder sell quickly, and new commissions are currently on a waitlist basis only.