Michael Thames
Guitar Luthier
Testimonials
A lovely guitar
It was great talking to you over the phone. I have been insanely busy and I couldn’t get round to writing this letter until today! So here are the measurements I have felt happiest and most comfortable with: …….Andy’s was a lovely guitar (Thames) with the best action I’ve ever had the pleasure to play on….I look forward to hearing from you about the progress of work on the new guitar. Warmest good wishes!
— Gilbert Biberian
Responsive and Focused
My guitar sang so beautifully this morning…so fast and responsive and focused and warm and sweet. The most friendly fingerboard I’ve ever played! All the endorsements on your website speak the truth!!! Your website visitors should know that I never played one of your guitars before I ordered it and I find in just 3 weeks the instrument has more than fulfilled my expectations which in part were built from the endorsements on your website. My days begin and end with playing my Thames kevlar cedar top guitar! My best to you and family!
— Michael Katz
Fluid Playability
I have been wanting for Michael to make me a guitar for awhile and finally it’s happened and I couldn’t be happier. The guitar he made for me is as good if not better than the previous guitars I have owned in the past . Those guitars were all made in Spain by the following luthiers; Santos Hernandez, Domingo Esteso, Conde Hermanos, Jose Ramirez , Gerundino Fernandez, and Manuel Lopez Bellido, the last two makers having constructed the instruments personally for me . The quality of sound and fluid playability has re inspired me to play the guitar more and I find it hard to stop playing!
— Carlos Lomas
A rich, sustained sound
have four wonderful instruments made by Michael Thames: a cedar top classical guitar, a 13-course bass rider Baroque lute, a swan neck Baroque lute, and a theorbo. All of them have a rich, sustained sound of the highest professional quality. They are a joy to play! I’ve performed with the guitar throughout the U.S. in halls as large as 2,500 seats, and it projects clearly and cleanly. It compares favorably to my high-end guitars in the $10-20K price range. Michael is great to work with, too. He takes great care to recreate period lutes with historical accuracy, and the craftsmanship and detail are outstanding. Michael is a true artist. I enthusiastically recommend Thames guitars for professional guitarists and serious students.
— Brian DeLay
Powerful and clear
Michael Thames is one of the most talented guitar builders in the world. His instruments are at once warm and expressive, powerful and clear. And in our era of the guitar volume cold-war, he has maintained his signature quality which allows the player to easily reveal his/her entire emotional and intellectual range
— Michael Chapdelaine
Complex yet beautiful
I’ve played Michael Thames’ guitars on and off now for over 10 years (like most guitarists, I’m too fickle to stick with one instrument for any length of time!) I’ve also had the pleasure on numerous occasions of hearing his instruments played by my fellow professionals in concert and by advanced students in master classes. Michael’s guitas have always had the kind of refined sound, balance and playability that performing guitarists demand. Over recent years, however, Michael’s building has added an extra dimension of projection and sustain that makes his guitars almost impossible to put down. He has found that elusive combination of qualities that makes a guitar irresistible: complex yet beautiful sound, strong projection, quick response, sustain, playability and balance. These are beautiful instruments to make beautiful music on — I can’t put my new one down!
— Stanley Yates
Refined and varied sound
I have had many years of experience with guitars. I have owned and played numerous guitars by Ramirez, Bernabe, Romanillos, Friedrich and Fleta. My guitar by Michael Thames compares with them all. It has a very refined and varied sound, warmth and beautiful vibrato. But it has another quality few guitars offer: maneuverability. It has an agreeable touch and the hand loves it immediately. Thanks Michael!
— Rafael Andia
Works of Art
I owned and played a Romanillos for many years until Yoni Riley came by to practice some duets we were going to perform. He was playing one of Michael’s guitars at the time. I was so blown away at how much better it sounded than my guitar that I sold the Romanillos. Within a week, I went to France for a vacation and came back and bought a Thames. I have had other guitars made by Michael since then and all have been works of Art. A classical guitar must have a beautiful quality to its sound; one that captures the listener’s attention. It so happens that Michael’s guitars, in addition to having as much volume as any guitar I have played, also are balanced and have a beautiful sound and they play with ease.
— Gregory Leupp
Warm and poetic
The guitar and I are inseparable. I haven’t touched my others since the day it was delivered. I grow more pleased every week. It has opened up into a bi-polar instrument (in a good way). It can be warm and poetic, as well as a bit growly. Perfect! And it’s loud, too. I checked the projection in a very large auditorium last month, and the vocal prof with whom I work said that it was excellent. He could hear the pianissimos in the back row! I could hear the reflections from the balcony. Niiiiice. I play different when I have that kind of projection.
— Larry McDonald
Rich bass ... Singing Treble
I have used a Thames guitar in concerts for most of the decade and have found it to be a remarkably responsive and expressive instrument. I especially appreciate the way its warm, rich bass is complemented by a surprisingly punchy and singing treble. I am consistently complimented on my sound and projection and people always ask for the builder’s address. I have had the good fortune to make two recordings using this first-class guitar. As a side note, Thames guitars are the first-choice instrument of my students at the University of Akron and the Oberlin Conservatory. Not only are they competitive in sound with other ‘major-name’ guitars, they are surprisingly more affordable, a major concern of most of my students.
— Stephen Aron
The greatest treble
This wonderful instrument was made for me by the great luthier and friend, Michael Thames. The guitar is very loud and even in response in all registers. This guitar has the greatest treble and was constructed with graphite-laminated bracing. The guitar took a while to break in (6 months) because of the graphite, but the end result was astonishing. I have never had a more responsive guitar. I own other concert guitars, Freiderich & Bernabe, but every time I pick up the Thames to play, I am seduced and amazed at the power of this instrument.
— Jamey Bellizzi
Just fun to play
The Thames guitar is extremely responsive, and has a fast attack. It can sound sweet or growly depending on what I need, and its dynamic range is outstanding. Trebles really sing out and the basses are throaty and well separated. The guitar wins in the playability department as well: the neck profile is great, and the big frets make it very easy to play. One of my favorite things, though, is the arm rest on the body. It makes my right arm very comfy. The guitar, in addition to sounding great and playing well, is gorgeous. The rosewood on the back is beautiful, so is the cedar top. I really like Michael’s rosette as well. The guitar is a complete package: the clarity, projection and volume I was looking for combined with great playability and looks. Frankly, it’s just fun to play.
— Christopher Davis
best thing I ever heard
I play Michael’s spruce/cedar guitars for recording, playing, mic up or acoustic performance, for Jazz, World Music, or Classical, I think Michael must build these instruments just to amaze me and my audience. The ringing bell tones and the pearly sparkle of a fine steel string instrument. The warmth, the nuance and medley of expression of the best classical guitars. And they are loud. Any Michael Thames guitar is the best thing I ever heard.
— Erich Avinger
Beautiful workmanship
While living in Europe in the 1970s, I had the opportunity to play many fine guitars, and was fortunate enough to own a great sounding Ramirez and a very powerful Fleta. My search for the perfect instrument was rewarded when I found out about Michael Thames guitars. The ease of playability, the power and warmth of sound, and the beautiful workmanship are a thrill to experience rolled into one fine guitar.
— Mike Dezavelle