The most important prerequisite to enjoy making music is passion. But what would the fieriest passion be without the right instrument?
My Guitars
As a luthier, I am constantly searching for the perfect sound. Finding ways to transplant this sound from my imagination into an instrument and breathe life into it are omnipresent in my thoughts and drive my work.
My goal is to build instruments which succeed in supporting the musician in realising their artistic vision while also inspiring them. To achieve this goal, my guitars combine proven construction techniques, such as a traditional top construction, with current approaches, such as multi-layered sides and a raised fingerboard. By use of this conscious combination my guitars develop a uniqe, yet familiar character with excellent playability, a grand, clear tone and strong projection and sustain.
My concert guitar was awarded the German Musical Instrument Award 2025 ("Deutscher Musikinstrumentenpreis 2025"), with the musical judges particularly emphasising the beautiful, open and lively sound with very good tone separation. They also rated very positively the easy response, the very good dynamics and the comparatively great loudness of the instrument. Furthermore they also praised the very good response to modulations of the sound colours.
How I work
Every new guitar marks the beginning of an adventure of which you can never be one hundred percent certain where it'll lead you. Starting with the various properties of the wood, countless parameters influence the sound of the instrument, which results in each guitar developing their own unique character.
While this phenomenon obviously contributes significantly to the beauty of an instrument, it is equally important as an instrument maker to have a certain degree of control over the materials. Only by that it is possible to combine the personal characteristics of each instrument with the right balance of static and acoustic properties to create an instrument full of character that also functions impeccably.
In order to be able to guarantee this quality, I pay great attention to work in a systematic way and make use of a wide range of testing methods. Be it determining important material properties of the wood used, documenting fundamental resonances in defined construction states, or comparative checks of the statics - physical measurements are an important tool for me to compliment the usual subjective methods such as tapping or bending with objectively measurable and comparable parameters and thus being able to have a more targeted influence on the very own functionality of a guitar.
Contact
Thank you for your interest in my guitars.
If you would like to find out more or have any questions, I look forward to your message or call.
Paul Hildebrandt
0174 / 78 46 76 3
kontakt@hildebrandtgitarren.de
My workshop is currently located in the Villa Merz of the University of Applied Sciences for Musical Instrument Making in Markneukirchen, Saxony.
I look forward to welcoming you to my own workshop in Rostock from September 2025.
