Andy Danser builds in his hometown of Durham, North Carolina, where he has run Danser Guitar Works since 2006. He comes from a family steeped in craft, his father a woodworker and stained glass artist, his mother a metalsmith, his identical twin a fellow luthier, and from a playing life in the Chapel Hill music scene. He built his first guitar under Sergei de Jonge in 2001, then studied classical guitar making under Roy Courtnall at the famous guitar making school at Newark and Sherwood College in England, where Christian Koehn was his classmate and Dennis Tolz would follow some years later. Further study alongside Gary Southwell and two years in Brooklyn restoring fine instruments, including a 1956 Robert Bouchet, rounded out his training.
Danser has focused his full-time building on the modern double top, using a finely machined balsa core between veneers of spruce or cedar, in the lineage of Antonius Müller. He finds that balsa gives a more natural, woody sound than the synthetic cores in wider use, and he builds accordingly. Beneath it he braces with a traditional five-fan pattern, a nod to his Spanish grounding, and finishes entirely in French polish. The years spent restoring historic instruments show in the details: flawless polish, immaculate bindings and purflings, and all-wood rosettes of his own design. Structural integrity matters deeply to him; these are guitars meant to be enjoyed for generations.
The first Danser to reach us, No. 74 of 2026, a spruce double top over glowing Nicaraguan rosewood, made a striking impression. Fine players who picked it up were surprised by the volume but never guessed it was a double top, which is about the highest compliment the construction can earn. The basses growl and fill deeply, recalling a great Santos Hernandez, while the trebles sing with long, steady sustain and a rare, silky third string. Its French polish is among the most mirror-like we have seen. We look forward to more of his work, and our expert team can advise on what is coming.
Our incoming spruce and Brazilian rosewood double top, taking shape in Andy’s Durham workshop.
Polished, awaiting its bridgeAugust 2026His V joint head designAugust 2026Inside the body before the back goes onAugust 2026The Brazilian rosewood rim, in the whiteAugust 2026Fitting the slotted headstockAugust 2026Assembled in the whiteAugust 2026The neck at the bench, body freshly polishedAugust 2026His all wood rosette under polishAugust 2026The heel, and that Brazilian rosewoodAugust 2026
This guitar is available to reserve before it arrives. Contact our expert team to make it yours.
Watch
Our video on the Andy Danser No. 74 Spruce Doubletop 2026
Available & incoming instruments
No instruments by Andy Danser are in the shop at this moment, but the next one is already on the way: it is expected to arrive in Q3 2026. Instruments at this level are often reserved before they land, so if you would like first claim on it, contact our expert team to reserve it ahead of arrival.
