Life With Strings Attached

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• Biography | The Story of Cristian Mirabella 03.07.2026 1ч 29мин

  My guest today is famed archtop guitar maker Cristian Mirabella. Cristian's story begins in New York, on Long Island, in a family shaped by music, resilience and a deep sense of purpose. At just 10 years old, Cristian started working at Ronnie's guitar shop, where he swept floors, polished instruments, learned repairs and found himself surrounded by working musicians, vintage archtops, Gibson, D'Angelico, D'Aquisto and the living culture of the New York guitar world. In this conversat...
• Biography | The Story of Steve Klein 26.06.2026 1ч 46мин

  Today's special biography episode with legendary guitar maker, Steve Klein, was filmed live on location in Northern California. Steve's story begins in San Francisco in 1949. It's a story shaped by Austrian immigrants who were ski instructors, scientists, artists, and the generation that came of age during one of the most creative periods in California's history. Over the next six decades, Steve would build a career that reflected the same curiosity that shaped his childhood as he continues...
• Biography | The Story of Ervin Somogyi 19.06.2026 1ч 20мин

  Today's special biography episode with legendary guitar maker, Ervin Somogyi, was filmed live at a location in Northern California. Ervin's tour begins in Budapest during the Second World War. The son of parents whose lives had been shaped by conflict and displacement, his early years carried him across Europe, through Cuba and Mexico, and eventually to the United States. Along the way, he developed a fascination with making things, models, drawings, woodwork, anything that could be bu...
• Tom Anderson & Markus Spohn | Passing the Torch at Anderson Guitarworks 12.06.2026 1ч 18мин

  This episode is filmed live on location at Anderson Guitarworks in Southern California, where I sat down with the company's co-owners Tom Anderson and Markus Spohn. Now, in their fifth decade, Tom Anderson Guitarworks has earned one of the best reputations in the guitar world. Tom speaks with the clarity of someone who has spent decades refining an idea, not simply chasing perfection, but showing up daily to work and asking what we could do better. Markus brings the perspective of a player, ...
• David Sutkin | What 350 Basses Taught Me About Craft, Collecting & the World's Best Luthiers 05.06.2026 1ч 32мин

  This episode was filmed live on location in Tuscany, where we sat down with David Sutkin, founder of Bass UpFront. A global community of more than 36.000 bass players, builders, collectors, people who care deeply about the instrument. David is known for his remarkable collection, the Bass UpFront studio and the conversation he's held built around bass culture. He brings a player's ear, a collector's eye, and a deep respect for the people who dedicate their lives to making the instruments.&nb...
• Biography | The Story of Sheldon Dingwall 29.05.2026 1ч 7мин

  This episode was filmed live on location in Tuscany, where I sat down with revolutionary guitar maker Sheldon Dingwall to document his biography. He'll be the first to tell you that he didn't invent the multiscale concept, but he recognized what it could solve for the bass, replied it with purpose, and in 1993 brought the first production multiscale bass to the market. From there, Dingwall guitars has continued to innovate through hardware, pickups, strings, electronics, and notable co...
• 50 Years of EMG | Rob Turner on Metallica, Active Pickups & the Black Box 22.05.2026 1ч 25мин

  Today's episode was filmed on location in Northern California at the headquarters of EMG. Our guest is Rob Turner, founder of EMG pickups, a company that helped change the sound, function, and possibility to the electric guitar, becoming synonymous with some of the most famous musicians in the world. Rob grew up in Long Beach, California, in a family where engineering, music, electronics, and making things were part of everyday life. He describes his mother as an artist in nearly every sense...
• Biography | The Story of Tom Anderson 15.05.2026 58мин

  Today's special biography episode was filmed on location at Tom Anderson Guitarworks in Southern California, with a man whose life's work is so interwoven into the modern history of guitar that it becomes difficult to see the forest for the trees. That man, of course, is Tom Anderson. Tom's story starts in Southern California. Surf music, the British invasion, a transformative Dick Dale concert at eight years old, then a Jimi Hendrix experience at 15, all of which fueled the passion fo...
• The Obsession Behind 2-Rock | Eli Lester 10.05.2026 1ч 1мин

  My guest today is Eli Lester, owner and CEO of Two-Rock Amplifiers and Divided by Thirteen. Eli is someone deeply obsessed with sound, craftsmanship, history, and the idea that the smallest details still matter. From vintage gear and vacuum tubes to photography, hot rods, and building amplifiers component by component, his world is driven by curiosity and an unwillingness to settle for “good enough.” What stood out to me most is that Eli still approaches this work like a fan. Even aft...
• Biography | The Story of James Trussart 01.05.2026 1ч 18мин

  In this episode, I'm sitting down with legendary guitar maker James Trussart in his workshop located in Echo Park, California. From growing up on a French horse farm near the border of Luxembourg to discovering American music through nearby airbases, to hitchhiking with aspirations of becoming a vagabond. James' story moves from farm life and American military influence to building his first instruments, later finding Cajun music in Louisiana, then eventually moving his workshop from Paris t...
• The New Music Industry | Linnea Sundberg 24.04.2026 1ч 34мин

  In this episode, I’m joined by Linnea Sundberg who's joining us from Brooklyn, where she’s working at the intersection of music, technology, and the evolving artist economy. From her early days in Sweden to Oxford, to investment banking at Goldman Sachs, and into the heart of Spotify’s rise, Linnea has been part of some of the most defining shifts in modern music. Today, she’s with UnitedMasters, helping shape a more independent and equitable future for artists. One where ownership, a...
• The Guitar as Art, Not Just a Tool | Michihiro Matsuda 17.04.2026 1ч 37мин

  Today, Michihiro Matsuda returns to the podcast. It feels less like a continuation and more like stepping back into an ongoing conversation that never really ended. When you walk into Michi’s workshop, you don’t just see guitars, you see ideas in motion. Instruments at different stages, each one exploring something distinct, each one asking a different question. As he put it, even having a few finished guitars in one place feels unusual. This is a conversation about identity of instru...
• Should Musicians Be Worried About AI? | Sourabh Pateriya 10.04.2026 2ч 3мин

  Welcome to Life With Strings Attached, I’m your host, Jamie Gale. In this episode, we’re stepping into a space that is, depending on who you ask, either full of possibility… or full of uncertainty. My guest today is Sourabh Pateriya, founder and CEO of Soundverse AI, a platform working at the intersection of music, technology, and what it means to create in a world where the tools are changing faster than ever before. Sourabh’s path is an interesting one. From engineering to design, f...
• The Man Who Redesigned the Guitar | Steve Klein 03.04.2026 1ч 20мин

  Today’s conversation takes place in the workshop of Steve Klein. Someone who, for more than half a century, hasn’t just built guitars, but has continuously rethought what the instrument could be. This isn’t a conversation about legacy. It’s about what’s still unfolding. Steve is one of those rare builders who never settled into a fixed idea. While many define their work and then repeat it, he’s continued to question, redesign, and push forward. Still chasing new forms, new functions, and new...
• The Lesson Every Maker Needs to Hear | Ervin Somogyi 27.03.2026 1ч 51мин

  Welcome to Life With Strings Attached, I’m your host Jamie Gale. There are certain figures in guitar making whose influence runs so deep, it begins to shape not just instruments, but the way we think about them. Ervin Somogyi is one of those voices. His influence can be felt across generations of makers. Names like Jason Kostal, Michihiro Matsuda, and Raymond Kraut. Each carrying forward a piece of that thinking in their own way. In this conversation, we move far beyond the guitar as an obj...
• The Role of the Artisan in the Age of AI | Grit Laskin | LWSA Ep 100 23.03.2026 1ч 9мин

  Welcome to the 100th episode of Life With Strings Attached. There are certain conversations that stay with you. And sometimes, if you’re lucky, they’re the ones you get to return to. For this milestone episode, it felt right to come back to where it all began by welcoming back our very first guest, William “Grit” Laskin. Grit is one of the most respected voices in modern guitar making. But more than that, he’s a thinker whose work continues to shape how we understand the guitar, not only as ...
• Experience Filters w/ Neural DSP, Fishman, D'Addario & Two Rock | Live Panel Discussion 13.03.2026 49мин

  Welcome to Life with Strings Attached. Today's episode is recorded live in Anaheim, California at The NAMM Show as part of the 125th anniversary of NAMM within the 10th annual Boutique Guitar Showcase. As part of these special anniversary events, we moderated a three part series of panel discussions on the unwritten future of guitar. This second part features Francisco Cresp of Neural DSP, Larry Fishman of Fishman, Chris Griffiths of D'Addario and Eli Lester of Two Rock as we di...
• Verso Instrument's New "LOG" Lapsteel and Creativity through Play 06.03.2026 1ч 28мин

  In this episode, Robin Stummvoll returns to the podcast to talk about the release of Verso Instruments’ latest design and the broader ideas that continue to shape his work. Robin is a designer and luthier whose work consistently challenges how we think about guitars, materials, and musical interfaces. This time, our focus turns to the lap steel. An instrument with no fixed archetype and enormous expressive potential. From innovation in tuning and construction to the physics of sound, percept...
• Guitar UI w/ Bob Taylor, Ola Strandberg & Sheldon Dingwall | Live Panel Discussion 27.02.2026 38мин

  Welcome to Life with Strings Attached. Today's episode is recorded live in Anaheim, California at The NAMM Show as part of the 125th anniversary of NAMM within the 10th annual Boutique Guitar Showcase. As part of these special anniversary events, we moderated a three part series of panel discussions on the unwritten future of guitar. This second part features Bob Taylor, Ola Strandberg and Sheldon Dingwall as we discuss 'User Interface' in Guitar Design, live from the BGS Booth ...
• Future Collectibles w/ George Gruhn, Dustin Miller & Joe Glaser | Live Panel Discussion 20.02.2026 41мин

  Welcome to Life with Strings Attached. Today's episode is recorded live in Anaheim, California at The NAMM Show as part of the 125th anniversary of NAMM within the 10th annual Boutique Guitar Showcase. As part of these special anniversary events, we moderated a three part series of panel discussions on the unwritten future of guitar. Our panelists are some of the most influential people in the guitar business today. I hope you enjoy this special three part series on Life with St...