The Beginnings

After holding my first guitar in my hands as a child, I was hooked. This love never let me go. From the passion of playing different guitars grew the dream to become active in guitar building. It didn't even take one day in a guitar making shop to know that this was going to be my life. The three years of my apprenticeship and the following years working in a well known guitar making company allowed me to gain great experience and to develop my own line of guitars, in which all my acquired know-how and understanding of design flow together. Little by little, the overall concept matured with only one logical consequence: The foundation of Pertsch Gitarrenbau.


The Beginnings

After holding my first guitar in my hands as a child, I was hooked. This love never let me go. From the passion of playing different guitars grew the dream to become active in guitar building. It didn't even take one day in a guitar making shop to know that this was going to be my life. The three years of my apprenticeship and the following years working in a well known guitar making company allowed me to gain great experience and to develop my own line of guitars, in which all my acquired know-how and understanding of design flow together. Little by little, the overall concept matured with only one logical consequence: The foundation of Pertsch Gitarrenbau.


The Beginnings

After holding my first guitar in my hands as a child, I was hooked. This love never let me go. From the passion of playing different guitars grew the dream to become active in guitar building. It didn't even take one day in a guitar making shop to know that this was going to be my life. The three years of my apprenticeship and the following years working in a well known guitar making company allowed me to gain great experience and to develop my own line of guitars, in which all my acquired know-how and understanding of design flow together. Little by little, the overall concept matured with only one logical consequence: The foundation of Pertsch Gitarrenbau.

The Development

With the concrete idea of the own guitar building workshop it was immediately clear that the crossed perch should be the logo of Pertsch Gitarrenbau. This has always been the family crest of my ancestors. My surname Pertsch is derived from the Latin Perca, which translated means perch.

I create guitars for individualists, in a historic street in the Art Nouveau style in the city Worms. Worms on the river Rhine is located in the heart of Rheinhessen, the largest wine growing region in Germany.

The local color, the element of water and the theme of the river, which ties in with the logo, as well as the mediterranean flair of the region, I capture in my guitars.

This is reflected in the model names like "Rhein“" or "Isar" as well as in the use of materials such as Rhine mussels and the wood of the old vine from the vineyards for inlays or discarded wine barrels from local winemakers for the backs, sides, fingerboards and bridges. 

The Philosophy

The possibility to create a companion for life, over several generations, with my own hands drives me. Outstanding quality in all that I do and especially in the result is always in the first place. The most important thing for me is basically my ideals of moral justifiability, locality, individuality, transparency and comprehensibility as an overall concept.

To do justice to this guiding principle consistently along my entire value chain, I have made it my highest goal out of conviction.

In concrete terms, this means for me not only the use of regional materials, local woods, the replanting of trees, as well as the upcycling through e.g. the use of ancient wine barrel staves or discarded wood, for example, from the construction of a port facility near Hamburg, but also the conscious renunciation of woods that are subject to conflict, such as tropical woods. I limit the use of synthetic varnishes to the most necessary and rely on alternative surface treatment. The same applies to synthetic glues and adhesives: as much as necessary, as little as possible.

Many parts of the guitar make different special demands on the glue used. That's why I use up to five different glues - both natural and synthetic ones. After all, sustainability also means that the instrument is resistant and will hold up. The process of optimizing and researching is never finished. I am in close contact with experts in the relevant industries in order to keep being up to date of the latest developments. The goal is always to minimize the footprint without having to compromise on the longevity or quality of the instrument. 

Thanks to appropriate partners, associations and companies, I am able to implement my principles and ideas in a holistic way: Gutenbergmuseum Mainz, Papieroffizin, Janta Island, Black Meadow Siebdruck Studio, Copy Print Mainz, Bergwaldprojekt e.V.


The Beginnings

After holding my first guitar in my hands as a child, I was hooked. This love never let me go. From the passion of playing different guitars grew the dream to become active in guitar building. It didn't even take one day in a guitar making shop to know that this was going to be my life. The three years of my apprenticeship and the following years working in a well known guitar making company allowed me to gain great experience and to develop my own line of guitars, in which all my acquired know-how and understanding of design flow together. Little by little, the overall concept matured with only one logical consequence: The foundation of Pertsch Gitarrenbau.

The Development

With the concrete idea of the own guitar building workshop it was immediately clear that the crossed perch should be the logo of Pertsch Gitarrenbau. This has always been the family crest of my ancestors. My surname Pertsch is derived from the Latin Perca, which translated means perch.

I create guitars for individualists, in a historic street in the Art Nouveau style in the city Worms. Worms on the river Rhine is located in the heart of Rheinhessen, the largest wine growing region in Germany.

The local color, the element of water and the theme of the river, which ties in with the logo, as well as the mediterranean flair of the region, I capture in my guitars.

This is reflected in the model names like "Rhein“ or "Isar" as well as in the use of materials such as Rhine mussels and the wood of the old vine from the vineyards for inlays or discarded wine barrels from local winemakers for the backs, sides, fingerboards and bridges. 

The Philosophy

The possibility to create a companion for life, over several generations, with my own hands drives me. Outstanding quality in all that I do and especially in the result is always in the first place. The most important thing for me is basically my ideals of moral justifiability, locality, individuality, transparency and comprehensibility as an overall concept.

To do justice to this guiding principle consistently along my entire value chain, I have made it my highest goal out of conviction.

Concretely speaking, this means to me not only the use of local resources, such as wood from the area, replanting trees, and upcycling techniques like using old wine barrel staves or scrap wood from projects like building a port facility nearby, but also the deliberate avoidance of conflict-affected woods like tropical woods. The only synthetic paints I use are those that are absolutely necessary; otherwise, I utilize alternate Surface treatments. The same rule applies to artificial glues and adhesives: as much as necessary, as little as possible. Many parts of the guitar make different special demands on the glue used. That's why I use up to five different glues - both natural and synthetic ones. After all, sustainability also means that the instrument is resistant and will hold up. The process of optimizing and researching is never finished. I am in close contact with experts in the relevant industries in order to keep being up to date of the latest developments. The goal is always to minimize the footprint without having to compromise on the longevity or quality of the instrument. 

Thanks to appropriate partners, associations and companies, I am able to implement my principles and ideas in a holistic way: Gutenbergmuseum Mainz, Papieroffizin, Janta Island, Black Meadow Siebdruck Studio, Copy Print Mainz, Bergwaldprojekt e.V.

Thoughts and Ideas

Binding Work

I like to combine tradition and modernity. Therefore some of my work steps are are centuries old. For example, one of them would be gluing the binding with a rope. After the routings for the bindings and the purfling are made with the help of a router the glue is applied and a rope is looped [...]

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Paperwork

Almost every acoustic guitar has it - the builder's label inside the body. There you have the opportunity to get creative with your logo, serial number and so on. I like to compare it with a label on a wine bottle - really little space to give the customer a brief outline of the whole [...]

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Rhine Shell Inlay

It is a special attraction for me to capture my environment in a certain way in my guitars. An important position in this respect takes the option to decorate the guitars with inlays. Since I have been living on the Rhine for a few years now, it was obvious to me to use the shells I find in the river [...]

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Binding Work

I prefer to blend modernism with tradition. Thus, some of my steps date back hundreds of years. One such method would be to use a rope to coil the edges. After using a specific router jig to cut the trench for the curving edge [...]

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Paperwork

Within the body of almost every acoustic guitar is a note from the maker. You have the opportunity to let some steam off and immortalize yourself there, on a small area. I like to compare it to a wine bottle label since [...]

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Rhine Shell Inlay

To me, there is a distinct appeal in being able to accurately express my surroundings through my instruments. The decision to embellish guitars with inlays holds a unique place in this regard. And not with some imported abalone shell [...]

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Any questions?

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