Meeting Linda Manzer – The Moment Everything Changed
In 1989, while touring Canada with the Danish guitar trio “Acoustic Guitars,” I visited the legendary luthier Linda Manzer in Toronto. Our manager had arranged the meeting, but none of us could know how profoundly this day would change my life.
My first-ever tour, already feeling starstruck next to guitarist Mikkel Nordsø, whose music shaped my youth. That feeling completely deepened when we walked into Linda’s workshop, only to see photos of Pat Metheny and David Bowie holding Manzer guitars on the wall.
But what truly struck me was picking up one of her instruments for the first time. Suddenly, I realized: I had never really played a guitar before—at least, not like this. At that time, there wasn’t much of a market for high-end acoustic guitars in Denmark. Mikkel and I played Yairi guitars, and the state-of-the-art option was Ovation, which always sounded plasticky to my ears. Amplified, it was like hearing a "Yonex badminton racquet" blasted through a speaker.
That day at Linda's workshop, everything changed. I immediately decided to order a guitar—investing my entire tour salary as a down-payment!
My First "Real" Guitar!
My first Manzer was a custom-built 6-string with steel strings and a built-in Fishman pickup. I wanted certain adaptations: for example, a wider neck like on a classical nylon-string guitar. Linda was incredible in the care and depth with which she gathered input. I sent her cassettes of my playing; she made a whole "profile" on me as a musician.
Fate took a happy turn: in 1990, Linda came to Denmark and had just finished my guitar. It arrived in person, and with it began a lasting friendship and the beginnings of a Manzer guitar collection that would shape my musical identity.
This is my first Manzer guitar from 1990
Finding My Sound
Playing the new Manzer guitar was a revelation. Sometimes, a note would ring out with a depth and clarity I could only call "divine." It was no accident—certain notes just wanted to sing, and I quickly learned that I needed to listen to the instrument, trimming away unnecessary notes and following the sound wherever it led me.
This was the start of a journey: really listening and reflecting on what my fingers were doing, and when I found "my" sound, I never looked at other guitars again.
Linda is a magician. Her instruments offer a remarkably wide, crystalline register. As a soloist, every concert I’ve played with my Manzer guitar brought comments about my tone and the unique instrument.
Building a Collection
I was lucky enough to connect with Linda while there was still money and optimism in the music business. Over the years, I invested most of what I earned back into my true passion—guitars. In 1992, I ordered a matching 12-string with an oversized “cowpoke” body for even more output.
Soon after, I commissioned this archtop "Au Naturel" from Linda.
The Manzer "Au Naturel" guitar
Then came a sitar guitar—a Manzer with a modified saddle for an unmistakably Indian sound ( can be hard in this video )
The Manzer Sitar Guitar - notice the "Buzz"-saddle.
One visit to Toronto, with my son Lukas, I saw Linda's own collection—and fell for a tiny soprano guitar. She wasn’t planning to sell, but after a week of me playing it non-stop, she finally relented: "Okay, you win, you can buy it!" ( can be heard in this video)
My Manzer soprano guitar
The Manzer Medusa Guitar: A Dream Takes Shape
The climax came in 2009, when I returned to Toronto and commissioned my signature instrument—a project even wilder than the legendary "Manzer Pikasso" she built for Pat Metheny. I had long admired the Pikasso's creative vision, but wanted to push boundaries even further, adding more strings, more necks.
LInda with the "Pikasso Guitar"
After returning to Denmark from this meeting, I realized just how crazy my idea was. How do you even begin to design such an instrument? Linda and I used humor to break the tension; I sent her this cartoon drawing.
A week later she replied with a simple message: “Are you sure?” And I wrote back, just: “Yes!”
That drawing became the blueprint for the “Manzer Medusa Guitar”—a three-necked, 52-stringed beast that went beyond what I thought was possible. Linda later explained some features from my "joke"—like the central saddle held in place by two “harps”—solved real design challenges. The Medusa was born: functional, wild, and truly visionary.
Designing the guitar took a lot of testing before the actual construction of the instrument.
More Than a Luthier: Meeting the Queen of the Craft
It took me years to realize just how extraordinary Linda is. At a guitar show in Berlin, I witnessed master builders from Guild, Martin and others lining up for an audience with "The Queen," as they called her. Her talents feel metaphysical.
To own a handmade instrument like a Manzer is a gift—an infusion of living, personal, creative energy. In an interview I once quoted on my debut album, Linda herself said, “Sometimes I’m not even sure what I am doing.” (Listen here) That spirit of improvisation and obsession is something a machine can never possess. This is what you invest in with a master builder: the hand, the soul, the unknown spark.
Linda Manzer is our generation’s Stradivarius.
Experience the Medusa
You can experience the Manzer Medusa Guitar in our new theatre production (outoftheboxteater.dk) “Elixir Aromatica”, premiering in Bergamo, Italy, on January 30th. See my Facebook and Instagram for details about this event..
Thank you, Linda—for your friendship and artistry
Visit Linda's website and learn more: https://manzer.com