It’s always humbling when other people say nice things about my guitars. Of course, I’m fond of them, but I also spend much of my time thinking about how to make them better in a thousand different ways. (Just ask my wife what I talk about all the time!) It was no different when the […]

Handcrafted with Care Each Smith & Fison guitar is the result of careful craftsmanship by a single luthier—me, Ben Smith. My goal is to create instruments of the highest quality and beauty with the tonality and responsiveness only possible in a handmade guitar. I think these guitars are actually quite rare these days. Every element, […]

Almost all wood sourcing for acoustic guitars involves some combination of: The ethical choice of woods is a very complicated topic. This is my brief take on it as a way in. I think there’s a place for a long, fully-detailed exposition about why most woods used on most guitars are ethically questionable, at the […]

10 things you should know about my guitars 1. It was built by one person – me. Every guitar I make is the object of the care and attention of just one person, whose only goal was to create an amazing instrument. No teams, no market research, no trendy features. Just the best guitar I […]

Smith and Fison guitars are built on spec. That means I build whatever I think makes the most sense to build next and then make those guitars available for sale on a first-come, first-serve basis. If you are interested in buying a Smith and Fison guitar, the best thing to do is add your name […]

My first workshop in Berlin was just in a couple’s apartment down the block. A room they had sublet to a young woman, who’d recently moved out. I did the sort of thing one did in the Before Times: I printed out a couple dozen little pieces of paper saying something like “Neighborhood guitar builder […]