Interview John Monteleone

Richard Bennett with the Isabella signature , picture credit : Guy Fletcher

John Monteleone Master Luthier Interview September 2010

Visit John's website to find more info : Monteleone.net

Talking with John Monteleone is talking with a man with passion , a passion for his work or is it his hobby : building guitars and mandolins. John was born in Manhattan in 1947. His father was an award-winning sculptor of Italian descent who played also the mandolin. John always tries to improve his work , is thinking about new ideas , and all these things combined ,the passion and the new ideas, has made him to one of worlds greatest and finest instrument builders from now. I asked him to do a little interview and after he gently agreed I asked him how he became a luthier , where his dedication has come from , how he did meet Mark Knopfler and more . . .

Q. Hi John , nice to meet you . Can you give us a little introduction , where do you come from and where do you live now?
A : Hello Henk. I am still living in the same town I grew up in on Long Island. It is also where I built my workshop specifically for making guitars and mandolins. I lived in Missouri for four years where I completed college, and then I moved back to the Island and began my first workshop a few years later.

Q. What have you studied and what did you do for living at the beginning ?
A : I graduated college with a BA to teach music, which I didn’t really make much use of. I started out working in my father’s workshop as a pattern maker and did that for three years until I began doing repairs for the Mandolin Brothers on Staten Island.

Q. So how did things involved to come at the point where you are now , how did you develop your passion for music instruments?
A : It goes back farther than I can remember. Music was always in the house and when I went out somewhere it was to hear music, probably. I was constantly intriqued with all things mechanical, even more so if it had strings attached. The old family piano was in sad shape with many broken parts. Before the brand new piano was delivered to our home I was able to have our old family piano working 100% before they rolled it away. I was eleven.

Q. What was the first instrument you totally build yourself ?
A : The first real instrument that I completely finished was a mahogany dreadnought at about fourteen years old.

Q. Of course you play music instruments yourself , what other instruments are you playing beside the guitar ?
A : Piano and brass was my major in college but I was also playing guitar and both string and arco basses. I used to play valve trombone too. I once receitaled on the euphonium. But these days it’s the piano mostly and then guitar and mandolin.

Q. Did you ever take music lessons?
A : Yes, I studied ten years on piano and several years on most of the orchestral instruments. On the guitar and mandolin I am self taught.

Q. What is your favourite music style and do you have a favourite artist?
A : I have far too many different favorites in both music and artists that I couldn’t single one out. I like them too much to pick one. It also depends on the mood of things. Among these I like to listen to Django when I’m carving. I also like to mix it up and put the iPod on shuffle.

Q. Are there many famous artists that you have worked for and can you name a few?
A : Mark Knopfler, David Grisman, Christopher Guest, Chris Hillman, Bela Fleck, Henry Kaiser, Mike Marshall, Don Stiernberg, Anthony Wilson, John Jorgenson, Massimo Gatti, Jonathan Kellerman, Tiny Moore, Robert J, Waller, Gary Larson, Judy Collins, Peter Yarrow, and others so please forgive me if I can’t recall.

Q. After working as repairman for the Mandolin Brothers you started on your own ,was that a difficult decision at that time or was it just a normal evolution for you?
A : It wasn’t difficult at all.

Q. What job would you like to do if you could not do this job?
A : None.

Q. Do you mind telling us how you came in contact with Mark Knopfler ?
A : I was introduced by our mutual friend Rudy Pensa at one of Mark’s concerts at Radio City Music Hall. He expressed his desire then to have me make a guitar for him.

Q. And when did you realize that he was making a song about you?
A : I had no idea until I was invited to his studio in London to hear something. It was a kind of surprise actually but I can recall his taking mental notes while he was visiting my workshop and we selected the woods for his guitar. Never in my wildest dreams did I ever think that Mark would write a song about me. That kind of thing just doesn’t happen.....but it did.

Q. I believe he invited you to his studio before he putted the song on his new CD?
A : Yes, I was deeply honored to accept his invitation to hear this song before it went onto the Get Lucky album.

Q. Can you describe your feelings when you first heard the song?
A : It was like an outer body experience. Kind of surreal to hear my name in a song, like it was somebody else that he was singing about. I must have froze in my chair and after hearing it twice I was so stunned like a dear caught in headlights that I couldn’t remember the melodie enough to later describe it to my wife. I had to wait until the album came out like everyone else so I could remember that experience again. But I do however recall being choked up with a tear or two at his studio.

Q. During his last tour Mark didn't play the "Monteleone" song until you were in the audience in New York at the United Palace Theatre , that is probably the ultimate appreciation sign ?
A : Well, what would you expect from a true gentleman. I was deeply honored by the gesture. That evening was indeed the ultimate compliment for me and an event that will never leave my memory.

Q. Mark obviously loves his "Isabella" signature that you made for him very much , the guitar is too precious to take her on tour?
A : The guitar is important to him and he’d rather not take the risk of touring with it as it is perhaps so new but I am confident that the guitar could handle it easily as any other well made guitar. He just doesn’t want to chance it I suppose and that’s just fine with me.

Isabella
Q. Did you know that your song is used for a commercial ?
A : No, I didn't know. It's a nice compliment I suppose, and I love olive oil and the Italian language but I was wondering if Knopfler even knows about it. I hope so.

Well you don't need to worry John , it is official indeed !

Q. Back to the instruments building , when you make a guitar everything is handmade by yourself . Do you have people that work with you?
A : I only work by myself and make almost everything right here in the workshop.

Q . Is Tom Marcell still working for you?
A . Tom hasn’t worked for me in perhaps ten years or so. He’s still working out there somewhere. I miss him. He is a fine person and a terrifically talented repairman and builder.

Q . Do you have a favourite material to work with?
A . Yes, spruce and curly maple! I love carving them.

Q . What is the biggest compliment that a client can give you about his new instrument?
A . I like it when they subconciously can’t put it down and if they do, they can’t help themselves to pick it up again and keep on playing it. That means it’s working for them and that is equally important for me to know.

Q . Can clients bring their own wood , if it's decent?
A . It has happened but I don’t advise it. I will take a look at it anyway. You never know what they might have. Something to be considered in the end though, it’s my own wood that is going to be warranted against defect.

Q. Is it possible to tell us something about the way instruments are built , how do you start with it?
A : We haven’t got the space or time here to really open that box in a fair enough explanation. Let’s just say that I start with the basics, the very foundation of the guitar and what it is expected to sound and play like.

Q. And I take the risk to ask a maybe very stupid question : but when do you decide when a new guitar is finished?
A : When you can stand back and put the brush down.

Q . How do you see the design evolving in the future?
A . Well, the designs have come a long distance and without a crystal ball I couldn’t say. A lot depends on the music that supports the guitar. I’d like to see more research into better electronics for acoustic archtop instruments, both new and old. You’d think that this day in age that we’d have come up with something as good or better than we have for acoustic flattop guitars. That would really open up a whole new world for the archtop acoustic guitar as we know it.

Q. Are there other guitar builders that you admire , or is it difficult to say that from colleagues , I do believe you had a special bond with Mario Maccaferri ?
A : Of course, there are so many good guitar makers out there on all different levels. The quality of luthery has taken giant strides in recent years and much of that has come from the hard work of independant luthiers in the last thirty years.

Q . Did you ever met Jimmy D'Aquisto?
A . Oh yes. Jimmy was a pretty good friend who was very generous with his time and his knowledge. I learned a few things from him, to be sure.

Q . Do you have a favourite guitar for yourself and can you explain why that is?
A . I have several wonderful vintage archtop guitars that I like to enjoy on a rotational basis. I also have a set of archtops that I made called THE 4-SEASONS. I like to play those. At the moment I have a RADIO FLYER mandolin that I keep around to plunk on. Perhaps the most used guitar I have is the second guitar that I made for myself back in 1971. It’s a rosewood dreadnought that is my TV couch guitar.

Q . I believe you are also doing workshops and lectures sometimes?
A . I have done some of these in Europe and in America. I enjoy doing them when I can, which is unfortunately not often enough.

Q. What do you like to do the most in your free time , I believe making pizza's and what else?
A : Ah pizza.....well, I like making wine, cooking, and gardening. You can begin to see the parallel complexities between fine guitar making and wonderful food. Great taste, great sound.

Q. What dream would you still like to come true?
A : To live long enough to build every guitar and mandolin that I’ve ever dreamed about.

Q. Did you ever consider to be in a band yourself ?
A : I used to play music quite a lot in my younger years. From classical to rock n’ roll I always had a great time playing with other musicians. These days I get to do that every day in my workshop when musicians visit me. We break out the instruments and jam a little. That’s one of the good things of what life’s about.....isn’t it.

John , I would like to thank you very much for this interview and I wish you all the best for the future. It is a pleasure and an honour to talk to you , I'm not going to take more from your time , I believe I can hear some chisels calling, Henk


Published September 2010


Approved by John Monteleone
There are a few nice interviews from Custom Guitar Video
with John on youtube. You can watch and enjoy them here below.