D’Arcy Blake was born and raised in Vancouver, Canada. As is true for so many luthiers, it all began with building chairs in high school shop class. Throughout his adolescence and early adulthood, he worked as a carpenter framing and roofing houses as well as other construction jobs ranging from swimming pools to high-rise buildings, all while pursuing and obtaining a degree in art. After earning his degree, he moved to New York and began designing and building picture frames for some of the same artists and museums he had studied in school. His frames can be seen hanging in the Metropolitan Museum of Modern Art and other such institutions.
While working at Sadowsky Guitars on Long Island, he has done repair and maintenance for such acclaimed musicians as Steve Miller, Russell Malone, Chico Pinheiro, Tal Yahalom, Frank Vignola, Jimmy Bruno, David Blake, Luis Salcedo and more, all the while gaining the fortunate knowledge required to pursue his real goal of crafting archtop guitars.
D’Arcy’s designs are rooted in the traditions of the great 20th century guitar builders. He strives to build instruments with complex, rich voices using the finest woods available. Each instrument is hand-carved in his one-man Brooklyn, New York workshop, and is tuned to develop the unique sonic characteristics and optimal voice of each individual top and back.
The aesthetic and tonal choices made in each D’Arcy instrument is made with love and joy. He is pleased to work closely with you to build your dream guitar in any variation of his current models with the ability to go beyond in order to realize your vision. His skills will amaze you.
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