About Steve Koenke

Steve Koenke is a luthier with 27 years of experience and the owner of Koenke Guitars LLC in Indian Land, South Carolina. He builds electric and archtop acoustic guitars, winds pickups by hand, and provides premium tonewoods and milling services.

Steve was born in Cooperstown, New York in 1978 and grew up in Bergen County, New Jersey. His introduction to the guitar was at age 14, when he took a guitar class at school, which he enjoyed so much that he asked for an acoustic guitar for Christmas the same year. With great anticipation, he found a ‘Fender Alexxus 20’ under the tree and over the next four years, he practiced playing tirelessly, while listening to all the great blues masters: Eric Clapton, Stevie Ray Vaughan, Jimi Hendrix, Jimmy Page, Jeff Beck, Muddy Waters, Howlin' Wolf, Buddy Guy, BB King, Albert King, and Freddie King, Elmore James, and Albert Collins, to name a few.

At 19, Steve wanted to build his own guitar and delve deeper into luthiery. In 1997, he enrolled in the Roberto Venn School of Luthiery in Phoenix, Arizona, where he built his first flat top acoustic steel string guitar and a set neck electric guitar, and learned how to repair acoustic and electric guitars. The experience provided valuable knowledge and further fueled his desire to be a professional luthier.

After graduating, Steve became a guitar repair technician for Lark Street Music, a world-renowned vintage guitar dealer in New Jersey. During the next nine years, he repaired approximately 15,000 stringed instruments, including vintage pre-war Martins, Gibson flat tops and archtops from all decades, D'Angelicos, D'Aquistos, Monteleones, banjos, mandolins, resophonics, and electric guitars of every brand.

After learning about the ailments and nuances of every brand and model, and discovering flaws caused by unforeseen manufacturing and design errors, he set out to build his own signature guitars. Today, he works out of his workshop in Indian Land, South Carolina.