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Building A Guitar From Scratch

Luthiers Terry Fritz and Alex Edney talk about their craft and play live at the Triad Stage in Greensboro

Terry Fritz had two loves for most of his life: playing guitar and woodworking. During a job change in 2006, a friend suggested he marry those two passions as a luthier. Fritz quickly fell in love with the process – the properties of wood necessary for a good guitar, how to fasten the neck, the geometry that shapes the timbre of an acoustic guitar, etc.

He also met a friend, Alex Edney, who shared his enthusiasm for guitar-making. They joined Fritz’s technical expertise and Edney’s creative eye at Fritz & Edney Guitars in Summerfield, N.C. They will host a week-long class from February 21-27 to teach participants how to build a guitar from scratch under their direction.

Host Frank Stasio talks with luthier Terry Fritz. Fritz and Edney provided the music for this show.

Terry Fritz gluing the back on a Gibson A2 Mandolin.
Rita Parham /
Terry Fritz gluing the back on a Gibson A2 Mandolin.
Bracing used for a parlor guitar
Alex Edney /
Bracing used for a parlor guitar
Fritz and Edney shop wall
Terry Fritz /
Fritz and Edney shop wall

Copyright 2016 North Carolina Public Radio

Longtime NPR correspondent Frank Stasio was named permanent host of The State of Things in June 2006. A native of Buffalo, Frank has been in radio since the age of 19. He began his public radio career at WOI in Ames, Iowa, where he was a magazine show anchor and the station's News Director.
Andrew Tie