The surfing guitar maker
- Luca is a self-taught Italian luthier living in Fuerteventura
- His handmade guitars take him 300 hours
- He also makes timples, the traditional instruments of the Canary Islands
Luca Canteri made his first acoustic guitar in 2008, after reading a lot of books on luthiers. Luca used to work in IT, but he also played in a band. He wanted a new instrument, but buying an excellent one from a luthier was too expensive, so he tried to make one himself. The result was so good that an American guy, seeing pictures of it on a web forum, ordered a copy. Soon, his hobby turned into a job. In the meantime, as he’s a passionate surfer, Canteri moved from his native Italy to Fuerteventura, which proved to be pivotal for his new career. The volcanic island in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean has the perfect climate for making wooden instruments, as the humidity is always around 50 percent. It is very important, because if the air is too humid, the wood swells, if it’s too dry, it may shrink and crack.
INTERVIEW
A long time as I make everything by hand, the only electric tool I use is a power sander. I take my time, around 200 hours for manufacturing the soundboard and other parts, 100 more for painting and polishing. The rosette alone takes 5 days of work. I never make more than 5-6 pieces a year.
It’s primary. I use the best spruce from Italian Fiemme Valley for soundboards, rosewood from Madagascar for backs and sides, ebony for fingerboards. If the wood moisture content is more than 10%, I’ll wait for it to dry naturally. It may take 3-4 years, but I will never use a kiln to speed up the process.
A timple is the traditional instrument of the Canary Islands, similar in size to the ukulele but with five strings instead of four and a semi-round back called joroba (hump). I’ve been making them for local musicians, using beech wood.
Almost. To make the perfect instrument, I need to know who’ll play it and where, in which environment and climate. I have customers all over the world, from Europe to Japan and South Korea, but I remember each and every one and in general I prefer to deliver my guitars personally.
