Blending what he considers to be the best aspects of traditional custom guitar building with a progressive and multi-influenced design approach Todd Lunneborg is finally building instruments that make him smile. Being a guitar maker in Minnesota sets the bar high and it is the best source of inspiration, education, and hand-me-down tools for this fingerstyle guitarist/ guitar tech/ guitar teacher turned guitar maker.
His education as a luthier started at the age of 13 as a repair apprentice at a mom and pop music shop in the Alexandria, Minnesota. He has served as a tour tech for Billy McLaughlin, Halloween, Alaska and numerous other MN local bands, studied fingerstyle guitar technique with John Stropes, palled around the greater acoustic guitar universe with Michael Gulezian, and currently is a regular contributor to the Fretboard Journal.
He has benefited from time spent loitering in all of Minnesota’s custom guitar makers shops. As Michael Keller said in Todd’s FBJ story, “If you pay attention when you’re visiting people’s shops, with your eyes wide open, you can learn a lot.” Todd’s acoustics draw their origins, shapes, and traditions from all of the custom guitar makers in Minnesota and his electrics are a finely cooked, ergonomic blend of his favorite commercially made electric guitars and modern custom bass builders.