Koch Guitars
Markus Koch Dobros, Weissenborn & Steel String Guitars: Germany’s best! Exceptional sound and quality, and built with you in mind!
It was 11 October 2015 and a colorful crowd was gathering at Adiaha’s Bluegrass Camp in beautiful Aschau, Bavaria for three days of love, peace and bluegrass music. In the multi-functional lounge of the venue a luthier had set up his instruments for display: mostly dobro-guitars, some Weissenborns and a few acoustic steel strings. I could hardly keep my eyes off the spectacle! Various shapes and exceptional materials are superbly combined and create a special visual effect of depth on Markus’s guitars; especially the different kinds of tone woods, such as cloudy maple, Padouk, and Madagascar Rosewood. I wasn’t the only one… needless to say. A firework of sound started when Rob Ickes (who was there as a teacher and performer, together with his partner Trey Hensley) picked up one of Markus’ dobros and began to play. Rob was very impressed! Have a look at the video: https://www.koch-guitars.de/videos/index.html
This was my first encounter with Markus Koch, but not my last!
When it comes to his work, Markus is a perfectionist and lives his credo that an instrument can only claim true class when it opens up new aesthetical paths to sound. It should inspire the musician so he/she can rediscover it every day. Markus believes that such an instrument is the sum of many details, which have to be a perfect harmonic match. The passion for his work is shared by his lovely wife who keeps him on the ground, out of the workshop when he needs to rest, and also does the bookkeeping and PR for the emerging family business.
In his compact little workshop in Munich, a stronghold of bluegrass music in southern Germany, he builds guitars of the highest possible quality. In addition to resonator guitars, Markus builds Weissenborn guitars and steel string guitars exclusively by hand. In close cooperation with artists, he combines stylish designs with unique sound and places great emphasis on selecting first-class tone woods and premium components, using the very best craftsmanship and observing the individual requirements of each musician. Therefore, each and every Markus Koch Guitar is unique in its entirely individual characteristics. As a musician and creative mind in production, he creates an exceptional sound experience with each new instrument. Anyone who has already played one knows what it feels like to play an instrument that has such perfect balance.
Dobro Resonator guitars in particular are played softly, gently and with feeling, as well as loudly, powerfully and piercingly. Experience shows, however, that guitars that sound good at home fail completely in sessions (or on stage), as they cannot hold their own alongside banjos and mandolins. The sound level alone is not sufficient here; the thickness of the sound is also required to be able to penetrate, without losing brilliance and volume. Such sound diversity can only be achieved with top quality instruments.
The unique design of the guitars named after the founder of Hermann Weissenborn, Weissenborn Guitars is highly appreciated by spouses, partners and neighbors alike. And in contrast to the dobro, they sound softer. Markus also builds very nice steel strings and recently started to build Selmer/Macaferri-style guitars, which are truly something for the ear and eye to behold.
Not surprising is that Markus has experienced increasing demand for
dobros throughout the last couple of years (and Weissenborns – the latter presumably due to musicians such as Ben Harper), which fills up his order books – although he still is very happy to take in new orders. The test of one of his Padouk-Spruce Squareneck Dobros “Bison”, featured in the popular German guitar magazine “Gitarre&Bass (October 2017 edition), is another indication that Markus Koch instruments are becoming more and more popular.
Today most of the dobro players who frequently come to camp – and there are now quite a few – are now equipped with Markus Koch instruments. For Martin Gross, dobro teacher at the camp for the last 2 years, playing his Koch guitar feels like coming home. Have a listen: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uA9vuP3QXo0
We are sitting in the lounge in Aschau again. Last night there was a session going on until the early morning hours. I heard Silvio Ferretti, the marvelous banjo player of Red Wine praising the sound of the Koch guitar.
In comparison to the big American brands, Markus Koch’s instruments have a competitive price at the same or even higher quality level. So why spend hard earned money on shipping costs, when you can buy a great instrument in Europe? Grab one now – before it’s too late!
