Me, the person, the builder and the teacher

My name is Gerardo Meny Collette. I was born in Uruguay in 1972. At a very young age, I moved to Sweden, where I spent most of my childhood. As a teenager we moved back to Uruguay. When I was 15 years old, my cousin showed me how to play a U2 song. At that moment, I knew I wanted to play guitar, so I asked my mom to get me a guitar for my birthday. In 1989 I started guitar lessons with my neighbour, a famous Uruguayan guitarist and singer. My intention was to learn some chords to play The Beatles, but on my first day he played Villa-Lobo's Preludio Nº1, from that moment on, I knew I wanted to play more than chords on the guitar. 

As a guitarist, I've always been charmed by the profound connection between a musician and their guitar, the way it becomes an extension of one's artistic expression. ​ ​This relationship inspired me to explore the art of guitar making. Playing guitar allowed me to appreciate its nuances, the complexity of the sound, and the way it resonated with my emotions. I wanted to delve deeper into this tool that had become such an integral part of my life. The desire to understand its construction, the way in which different types of wood, shapes and craftsmanship affect its sound and playability, led me to venture into the Luthier.