Are you looking for a new guitar? If so, you should check out these beauties made by my old friend Bill Kraus. Each one is painstakingly handcrafted in his shop near Lockport, NY.The level of craftsmanship in these instruments is not often found these days, and it is apparent not only in their looks but also in their amazing sound.
I have known Bill since 1973 when, on my first day of third grade in a new school in a new neighborhood my family had just moved to, our teacher, Mrs. Suggs, asked the class to write something in cursive longhand. Being new to the terminology, I had no idea what she was talking about, so I started to look around to see what the other kids were doing. The kid behind me picked up on the fact that I was completely lost, and catching my eye as I looked behind me, he said in a loud voice "What, don't you know cursive?". That was Bill.
For some reason that still escapes me, we became friends. As teenagers, when we weren't busy getting into trouble, we spent many hours playing guitar and listening to music. I always figured Bill would go on to a career in music, as a musician, but after a rather circuitous path he found his music career as a luthier. He's really well suited to it.
