KOLYA PANHUYZEN, Germany
Spruce / Indian Rosewood 2018

European Spruce top
Indian Rosewood Back / Sides
Tuners : Alessi
French polish overall
Scale length : 650mm
Nut width : 52mm
Hiscox case
Kolya Panhuyzen was exposed to the classical guitar at an early age. His father played the instrument, and his uncle, Edgar Monch, was a reputable luthier whose guitars were played by the likes of Julian Bream, Jorge Morel, Andres Segovia, and John Williams.

It was in the Toronto workshop of Monch, in 1967 that Kolya built his first guitar. Two more followed in 1968, and when Monch returned to Germany in 1971, Kolya joined him as an apprentice and eventually established his own workshop in Toronto in 1974. A second shop in Germany was set up in 1992. All in all he has made more than 400 guitars which are played by professional musicians and advanced students.

Guitarists who have recorded on Panhuyzen guitars include Carlo Domeniconi, Zoran Dukic, Jury Clormann, Giovanni Grano, Helmut Jasbar, Dale Kavanagh, Hubert Kappel, Matt Palmer, Sonja Prunnbauer, Raphaella Smits, Nathasja van Rosse, and Laura Young.

Panhuyzen guitars come in a variety of models and materials. Woods include Alpine spruce, Sitka spruce, Engelmann spruce, and Western red cedar for the soundboard, Brazilian and Indian rosewood, cocobolo, maple, Madagascar rosewood, Malaysian blackwood, Macassar ebony, and ziricote for the body, Spanish cedar or Honduras mahogany for the neck, and African ebony for the fingerboard. For tuning machines the player can choose between Baljak, Alessi, Scheller, and Rodgers. The standard model is built with a more or less traditional fan-braced soundboard. Lattice bracing and sandwich or double top guitars are available on request. An elevated fingerboard has become a popular option, and a Fleta reproduction has found ready acceptance in the last six years.

As much as possible Kolya attempts to tailor-make a guitar to the needs of the individual player.