Alan Perlman/Perlman Guitars

By Annakai Hayakawa Geshlider

As a well-wrought guitar ages, its wood changes on a cellular level, and the instrument’s sound becomes richer, more resonant. To attain and preserve that lucid tone, Alan Perlman – who has been making, repairing and restoring guitars for 50 years – prizes old wood. 

When Perlman, as a young sapling of 19, moved to Vermont, he found himself drawn to woodworking. 

“The world of building things – a guitar, a house or an electronic device – is a naturally familiar and comfortable place for me,” Perlman said. 

He studied a 1966 book called “Classic Guitar Construction,” and also absorbed everything he could from a woodworker who carved whales for cash and built dulcimers for love.  

As the years went by, Perlman became a renowned luthier, a maker of stringed instruments such as guitars. His repair clients have ranged from stadium headliners – Keith Richards, Paul Simon – to neighbors in the Outer Sunset, where he works in a small woodshop in his home, near Golden Gate Park and Ocean Beach. The sources of his timber are equally varied, and the wood may come from northwest Canada, the Adirondacks or the Swiss Alps. 

Each instrument presents a new set of challenges. 

“I love that part of it,” he said. “It’s constant experimentation.” 

Perlman often fabricates tools specific to the job. Some he uses only once, and others come in handy later, like his homemade press for bending wood. After moistening a piece of wood – “I throw it in the shower for 10 minutes” – Perlman places it inside the press, heating the wood using three ordinary light bulbs, and shapes it between stainless-steel plates. For a guitar covered in mother-of-pearl that was missing a section of the veneer, Perlman’s assistant, who was a trained silver and goldsmith, created an elaborate engraved design on a sheet of mother-of-pearl to replace the vanished section. 

Perlman says he has made “all sorts of oddball instruments,” including an 11-string guitar with an eight-string harp attached to it. He has repaired a guitar built in 1867 by Antonio de Torres Jurado, considered the father of the modern classical guitar. 

Older guitars have a quieter, more nuanced sound, according to Perlman. And if a sonorous old guitar needs repair, he is ready to apply his long-seasoned knowledge.

This article is part of a series produced by reThinkRepair, a grassroots group started by Kathryn Hyde. The team has interviewed and photographed more than 40 local repair businesses since 2018. Composed of a small team of eco-conscious San Franciscans, reThinkRepair celebrates the art of preservation by sharing stories of local repair shops with the broader community.