Just Pass It On

macario-luthing
Macario working on a new guitar (photo thanks to his daughter, Virginia),

This late-afternoon project in my luthiery career aims to take what I’ve learned and “just pass it on,” to fellow luthiers, guitarists and afficionados.

OK, Paul, so what do you mean by “just pass it on?” There’s a story behind that. Four decades ago when my luthiery career was in its infancy, I was blessed by a generous gift of knowledge from my mentor, Macario Briseño. Macario was an immigrant from Mexico, a self-taught luthier but a man with wonderful natural ability and a love for the guitar. Macario never withheld any “secrets,” and neither will I.

When it occurred to me just how valuable his tutelage was, one day I offered to pay him out of the proceeds of the sale of my first guitar. His response: “No, I’ll just pass it on.” Many years ago I promised myself I would do likewise for others of my craft when my productive career was in its afternoon.

Today, however, I have many communication resources to reach other luthiers that weren’t even dreamed of when I studied with Macario…starting with this website.

5 thoughts on “Just Pass It On”

  1. Hi Paul,
    My name is Chris Stevenson. I am a guitar player from Brisbane, Australia and some years ago, I was fortunate enough to acquire a 1975 Micro Briseno classical guitar. It is a beautiful sounding instrument. I am very proud to own it. I’d love to know a little about Micario Briseno, the man.
    Kind regards, Chris.

    1. Hello, I’m Macario Briseño’s granddaughter. It’s wonderful to know that one of my grandpa’s guitars ended up halfway around the world. My 11year old daughter learned how to play the guitar on one of his that he made back in 1976 for my sister.

      1. I’m just curious if we are related, my grand fathers name was Macario Briseno. He did not make guitars though.
        Email me

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