Walter Stanul, guitar maker

Walter Stanul has worked as a guitar maker and woodworker for nearly four decades. Prior to building the first archguitar for guitarist Peter Blanchette in 1981, Stanul built many conventional classical guitars, having studied lute and guitar construction with the renowned luthier David Rubio, creator of Julian Bream’s lute and guitar, at the University of Toronto. In addition, he studied lute guitar making with Joel Van Lennep and harpsichord making with William Dowd at the Museum of Fine Arts Boston and vihuela making with Donald Warnock at the Boston University School of Artisanry. Currently, along with building instruments, Mr. Stanul is on the faculty at the School of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, and is an instructor at the Carpenter Center of Harvard University where he teaches courses in musical instrument making and woodworking. His original work has appeared in FINE WOODWORKING and ACOUSTIC GUITAR magazines. If you are interested in having an archguitar built, or would like more information on Walter Stanul’s other instruments, please email: w.stanul@archguitar.com
or call (1) 781-322-6610
13 string tenor archguitar, built for Eliott Gibbons.
Also an accomplished guitarist, Stanul started out his career by teaching classical guitar at the Boston Conservatory of Music. He attended the landmark 1964 master class with Andres Segovia and has studied guitar with Oscar Ghiglia, Michael Lorimer, and Carlos Montoya. Writing about his impetus to develop a guitar with an expanded range, Stanul states, “many pieces fit well on the 6-string guitar. When arranging more complex pieces such as keyboard works, however, the guitarist benefits greatly from an instrument of wider compass.”
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Above left, smoothing the back of a renaissance lute.
Above right, a more traditional renaissance vihuela da mano.