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~ Joerg Tandler Guitars ~
Joerg Tandler was born in 1965 and grew up in the Frankfurt/Germany area which was heavily infected with Rock’n’Roll brought by the American soldiers stationed there, especially in the 70s and 80s. His first guitar related experiences began after hearing his first Van Halen record at the age of 15. Wanting to be a Rock’nRoll guitar player, he bought his first amp and borrowed his cousin's cheap plywood Strat-wannabe, which did not deserve the title "musical instrument" at all. He began pimping his first playable guitar, a Japanese Strat copy, and making repairs. Once his friends knew this, they gave him their guitars and basses, having him do mods and repairs for them. At the age of 18, Joerg Tandler planned and built his first Strat.
Joerg's career as a professional maker actually began after high school, when he had the chance of passing an apprenticeship at Hoyer Guitars, one of the old traditional German makers since 1874. His masters were W. Krahl, famous for his electric guitars, and Hans Herb/Lutemaker for classical guitars. During his apprenticeship, he also had to attend the Mittenwald School of Violin Making, where he learned about violin and historical lute making, as well as the making of archtop guitars. After passing his apprentice final examination with an A+, he joined Schack Guitars in Germany, mainly known for their Carbon Fibre Bass guitars and later worked with Hanika Guitars in Germany, a small, family driven undertaking, exclusively making classical guitars.
In 1994 he started his own business, first by building classical guitars for the Hopf and Voigt guitar company, as well as spray finishing Citterns for other makers and doing repairs. But his first love, the electric guitar, never left him and he always felt the tonal behavior and the playability of many new and vintage 'classic electrics' was of minor quality. So, the same year he founded Morgaine Guitars, with a fine line of handmade classic electric guitars, combining a playability suited to modern playing techniques, the feel of a cool vintage guitar and outstanding tone achieved through classic luthier style craft with the latest knowledge of modern instrument making and, of course, the best available materials; what he considered "no nonsense" guitars.
In 1996, Joerg passed the master exam in Germany and won a gold medal and the title "Best German Masterluthier," handed over by the German Secretary of Finances.
Today, Joerg still makes what some people call modern vintage. He uses 50s style machinery only for the rough stuff, original old stock 50’s style Cellulose Hot Laquer, handcarved tops, necks and body shapings. The building process, especially of the setneck guitars, compares to Spanish guitar making, although some steps are executed "the other way round“ in order to avoid inner stresses. Some of Joerg's clientele includes Neal Schon, Randy Hanse, Joe Walsh, Andy Susemihl and Reinhold Bogner.
In Joerg's words, "I always used to say that a good luthier should be able to make a good guitar out of garbage and a fantastic musical instrument out of fine wood. One needs a deep understanding of the process and the feel on the fingertips. But I’m still learning something new every day and always try to improve my guitars. I’m working on a new original design for an electric at the moment and new innovative composite materials are keeping me busy for an outstanding steel string acoustic."
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Joerg Tandler Custom Guitars - $4100-$6275
DAG is the exclusive representative for Tandler in North America and anyone interested in a custom build should contact us for pricing and availability....
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Tandler
