Thomas Ochs

Thomas Ochs builds refined concert guitars that unite tradition and research. Based in Bavaria, he combines Spanish luthiery heritage with modern innovations like the Kasha bracing system. His instruments reflect academic insight and practical expertise, offering musicians a distinct tonal response, structural clarity, and an elegant aesthetic shaped by years of study and craftsmanship.

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Thomas Ochs – Guitar maker from Bavaria

Since September 2004, I have been working in my own workshop in Kemmern near the world heritage city of Bamberg in Upper Franconia. As a master guitar maker, I also have the ambition to deal intensively with the history and scientific foundations of the guitar as an instrument. I regularly teach in Markneukirchen as a lecturer on the musical instrument making course at the West Saxon University of Applied Sciences in Zwickau.

Learning the Craft

I learned the craft of guitar building from 1996 to 1999 at the company Hanika in Baiersdorf. After successfully passing the journeyman’s exam, I wanted to learn more about how the guitar worked and attended a seminar with the Israeli guitar maker Boaz Elkayam. There I got my first insight into the Kasha construction method.

Scientific Foundation and Style

To explore the scientific basics of instrument making and to develop my own style of guitar making, I studied at the University of Applied Sciences for Musical Instrument Making in Markneukirchen from 2000 to 2004. At the beginning of my studies, it was important to me to penetrate the Spanish guitar building tradition and form my idea of a traditionally built concert guitar on the highest aesthetic, craftsmanship, and tonal level.

Kasha Model and Research

I used the practical semester in my main studies to return to Boaz Elkayam’s workshop in Mexico, where I tested the Kasha construction method on site. In my diploma thesis, I then dealt intensively with the theoretical foundation of the Kasha construction method and realized its practical implementation in my own Kasha model.