I grew up in Jørpeland, which happens to also be where our workshop is located today. I take a short ferry ride to work every day from my home in Stavanger. Jørpeland is the nearest town to the very famous Norwegian attraction Pulpit Rock, which is shaped like a cliff and hovers over the Lysefjord 600 meters below.
Ørjan and I attended instrument-making school together in 2002. After three years there, we completed a short internship with luthier Daniel Roberts in Montana. Upon returning to Norway in 2005 we started the business and have been operating under the brand Strand Guitars ever since.
Besides building guitars, I’ve also played them for many years. I fancy many types of crafts—anything that involves making something. I like to cook, especially slow-cooked meat. I love having outside carpentry projects. It’s nice to build other small things in the shop, such as picture frames and shelves, or to help friends with projects.
I think my passion for guitar-making was obvious as soon as I started instrument-making school. It was just so fun, and I think the opportunity to build something that could be used to make music was just fantastic. The combination of handcraft and music is nice.
My inspiration comes from the old guitar brands and pioneers like Martin, Gibson and many of the successful solo builders like Benedetto and Olsen. The biggest challenge has been the marketing process. It’s easy to build and work in the workshop, where I’m at home, but to get out and brag out our instruments isn’t a natural thing for me. My biggest accomplishment has been watching all these great musicians embrace my guitars and use them every night to make music.
The business is about to increase production from 25 guitars each year to 50 to 70 each year, in an attempt to gain a wider audience. We’ll continue with our current model of building bespoke instruments to order but will also aim to have a stock of pre-built instruments available for on-demand purchase.
P.S. I Love This!
My favorite item in my shop these days is my Lie Nielsen planer, which I got last year. I also really love my old Eskilstuna chisels.
