Michael Spalt is an Austrian-born luthier and artist known for redefining the boundaries of what a guitar can be. His work fuses art and function, blending traditional craft with modern materials to create instruments that are visually distinctive and sonically rich.

His journey began in the 1970s, modifying guitars for himself and friends during a time when custom was cooler than stock. After studying film and fine arts in San Francisco and Vienna, he moved to Los Angeles in the 1980s to work in the film industry. In the mid-1990s, he returned to his early passion, crafting guitars in his garage as a counterbalance to the cerebral solitude of screenwriting. In 1997, he formally founded Spalt Instruments and the LA Guitar Garage, where he repaired and built guitars for some of the industry’s top players.

Spalt’s instruments reflect his belief that the guitar is both tool and symbol—an expressive object that merges sculpture, history, and sound. His iconic Totemguitars feature embedded antique objects, reclaimed materials, and hand-poured resin tops. His Hybrid series celebrates industrial design and modular architecture. His custom BoneTop pickups—developed in collaboration with Lindy Fralin and later Harry Häussel—ensure that each guitar sings with clarity and character.

Over the past three decades, Spalt has built over 700 unique guitars and co-founded the Holy Grail Guitar Show and the European Guitar Builders Association. Now based in Portugal, he continues to work at the intersection of creativity and precision, offering players a deeply personal, expressive instrument that’s built to last—and to inspire.