THE MAKING OF MY STRATMANN PAULA part 4

the oil for the wood has an intense smell that makes you kind of high

The course was a bit crammed. Building such a beauty in 10 days only requires a lot of commitment for beginners like us. I think today Thomas Stratmann`s guitar-building-courses last 14 days and that is certainly an improvement. It gives you some time to breathe (between two sips of beer). But don`t get me wrong! I fully enjoyed it altough it was exhausting.

The last days were so intense there wasn`t much time left for taking fotos. Some days we worked till midnight. But it was worth every single minute! In the end I was so exhausted and exited and at the same time so sad that it was over that I couldn`t help but cry when I left Thomas`shop with my new guitar on the shoulder.

I`ll never forget how much I enjoyed this experience!

Thanks Thomas and Paul, Frankie, Markus and Dentist!

Frankie test driving his beautiful creation

Guitarfritz testing the Dentist`s fine axe. Believe it or not, at that time the Dentist wasn`t a guitar player. No, he couldn`t play a single chord or scale... I`m sure in the meantime he must be pretty good because he is quite an ambitious guy.

Note that thing on the left behind my head.

That weirdly shaped guitar on the wall is Thomas Stratmann`s FORMENTERA guitar. The body has the same shape like the spanish island of Formentera (only a little bit smaller).

Thomas Stratmann and Dieter "Atze" Gölsdorf, the man behind the "Rockinger" and "Duesenberg" and "Göldo" companies founded "Formentera Guitars" in the eighties, I think. Thomas offered guitar-building-courses there as well - just like this one here.

Today his former business partner Ekki Hoffmann runs these Formentera courses.

The year before I went to Thomas Stratmann in Hannover I had already built a guitar in Formentera with Ekki.

See it and read about it

here.

Paul, Thomas and Thomas`girlfriend surrounded by four very, very happy customers

Clearly inspired by German luthier Frank Hartung`s "Embrace" model was this guitar that Markus built.

the "Dentist" model has a swamp ash back and a three piece neck made of mahogany and maple in the middle. A very interesting combination.

The two guitars above look gorgeous but yet a little pale.

The reason is that both were not oiled because Markus and the Dentist wanted them to get a "proper" laquer based sprayed finish.

Of course this can`t be done that quickly during a 10 days course...

I would love to see pictures of these guitars as they look today!

Frankie`s maple neck Les Paul with that stunning top and unconventional fretboard dots, too.

"Stratmann Okolyt", custom built by Thomas according Frankis design long before Frankie decided to build a guitar himself with Thomas`s help.

And there is even a blue one, too, belonging to Frankie as well.

In short.

A guitar-building-course with Thomas Stratmann is the the best thing you can do. As you can see from my fotos the most important and difficult steps will be done by Thomas himself if you may feel a little uncertain about them. So you can be sure that the neck fits perfectly into the body and that the qualitiy is up to custom shop level.

The course and the accomodation in Hannover will not be cheap but will result in a custom guitar that you`ll love more than any instrument you can buy.

The last two fotos show that alternatively Thomas can build any guitar for you that you may dream of if you don`t dare to build one yourself.

Click here to got to Thomas Stratmann`s website.

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