Michael Fontenot

Fredericksburg, Texas

Michael Fontenot came to building after two full careers in music and medicine. He studied classical guitar at the University of North Texas under Tom Johnson, spent summers at the Aspen Music Festival with Oscar Ghiglia, Eliot Fisk, and Robert Guthrie, and earned a master's degree in music from Yale studying with Fisk. He then practiced pediatrics for 33 years before retiring to the workbench. Since 2020 he has built classical guitars in Fredericksburg, Texas, accelerating his learning through courses with Pablo Requena, Robert O'Brien, and Garrett Lee.

Fontenot builds double tops as well as lattice and fan braced guitars, and what sets him apart is a near obsessive curiosity about sound. He has spent years measuring and charting data from fine classical guitars, air resonances, response curves, stiffness to weight ratios, and he translates those findings directly into his instruments. His signature is a very low main air resonance that gives his double tops the low, punchy depth of an old Torres without souring the treble E strings. Most are 640mm scale with slim C shaped necks, integrated armrests, and French polish.

Michael is a friend and a neighbor, and he has been coming by our Austin shop for years to measure guitars and look over new arrivals. We have represented several of his instruments, from No. 19 onward, and each has made a clear leap past the last. His 28th guitar, finished in April 2026, rang so open and true that we struggled to find a single piece of feedback for him. These are double tops that sacrifice nothing: volume, detail, and comfort all at once. We expect his reputation to grow quickly.