“When I understood that I could learn to make a guitar, that I could create sound with my own hands and toolbox, I cried.”
—Thierry André, maker of unique instruments
When Thierry André first picked up a guitar he felt as though the vibrations of the strings were bound to the divine.
At that moment, the physics and chemistry he was learning in high school started to make sense, as if they were encompassed within that one note of music.
That eureka moment was a call of destiny he couldn’t ignore.
“It was like discovering a new universal language,” André says. “A big door opened in front of me. That vibrating string gave me a road to follow.”
A musical calling
From fixing a friend’s bike to building a ramp for the local skate park, André has always found joy in working with his hands. Yet as a teenager, his private high school was directing him toward more academic professions like law or medicine.
“I was honestly feeling a little lost, and I didn’t know where to put my energy. I didn’t find satisfaction in my academic studies,” André says.
It was during this time that he fell in love with the guitar. André had a strong sense of musicality but it never dawned on him that he could make such a magical instrument with his own hands.