A Look Inside Montreal’s Guitar-Building Cooperative

I stumbled across the Mile End Guitar Coop while searching for guitar stores. But this was clearly something more interesting than just a retail shop; their website explained that this was a cooperative of independent guitar builders.

The first time that people set foot in the shop, they often stop at the door for a moment in awe. That’s exactly what I did. The first thing I noticed was that the shop smelled really good—like wood and coffee. All around were tools, stacks of wood, machines, and guitars in various stages of the building process. I was shown around by Nicholas Brygidyr of NGB Guitars, a former coop member, and Brett Hawes, a current member who runs Belvedere Instruments. Nick and Brett showed me how they wind custom pickups. I was fascinated!

On another visit, I talked to Josh Greenberg of Larkspur Lutherie. He showed me his gypsy-jazz guitars, some of the loudest, clearest acoustic guitars I’ve played. I was introduced to Nic Delisle of Island Instruments and held some of his retro-inspired electric guitars.