Behind the scenes at Gretsch's awe-inspiring Custom Shop

Gretsch Custom Shop
Having joined Fender in 1996, Gretsch Custom Shop Master Builder Gonzalo Madrigal learned his craft under the tutelage of Stephen Stern (Image credit: Future)

Stephen Stern learned from the best. In 1994, during his tenure with the Fender Custom Shop, he earned the title of Master Builder before going on to develop his skills as an archtop luthier.

This led Stephen to the Gretsch Custom Shop where he and his team continue to practice the fine art of building these legendary guitars. We delve deeper into the story...

Thank you for reading 5 articles this month**

Join now for unlimited access

US pricing $3.99 per month or $39.00 per year

UK pricing £2.99 per month or £29.00 per year 

Europe pricing €3.49 per month or €34.00 per year

*Read 5 free articles per month without a subscription

Join now for unlimited access

Prices from £2.99/$3.99/€3.49

Jamie Dickson

Jamie Dickson is Editor-in-Chief of Guitarist magazine, Britain's best-selling and longest-running monthly for guitar players. He started his career at the Daily Telegraph in London, where his first assignment was interviewing blue-eyed soul legend Robert Palmer, going on to become a full-time author on music, writing for benchmark references such as 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die and Dorling Kindersley's How To Play Guitar Step By Step. He joined Guitarist in 2011 and since then it has been his privilege to interview everyone from B.B. King to St. Vincent for Guitarist's readers, while sharing insights into scores of historic guitars, from Rory Gallagher's '61 Strat to the first Martin D-28 ever made.