Daniel Stark

Oldenburg, Germany

Daniel Stark, born in 1981, fell in love with the classical guitar as a child. After a year long apprenticeship in Stephan Schlemper's guitar building atelier, he studied instrument building in Markneukirchen from 2002 to 2006 under the masters Armin Gropp and Christoph Sembdner, earning his diploma. He opened his first workshop in Friedrichsfehn near Oldenburg in autumn 2006 and moved into central Oldenburg in 2012, where he now works alongside fellow luthier Hartmut Stührenberg. His guitars have been played in more than 3,000 concerts worldwide and appear on over thirty recordings.

Stark's signature is his double top construction, which joins two thin soundboards over a balsa lattice core, a design he has refined for years into something acoustically explosive yet lively and malleable. His Master series centers on the Concert Double Top alongside traditional Española models, baritones, and seven strings, while the Studio series Española II is built in Spain and then checked and adjusted in his own workshop. Torres inspired rosettes, ultra low profile bridges, integrated armrests, and soundports with magnetic covers show a maker who sweats every detail.

We have known Daniel's work since first visiting his workshop in Oldenburg, and his Española II series remains a rare exception at its level, braced like his concert models and sounding surprisingly close to them. His Limited Edition versions, built with hand selected wood from his personal collection, blew us away. The first of his full concert double tops arrived recently, a 630mm model that is among the most powerful short scale guitars we have ever played, and his baritone is the most musical we have come across. More are on the way, and our expert team can arrange a reservation or a showroom visit.