Welcome
I am Gary Lewandowski, Owner of Cedar Mountain Mandolin and builder of Lewandowski Mandolins and Guitars. Since 2008 I’ve been building stringed instruments in my 400-sqft shop, located in the foothills of the Washington Cascade mountains just east of Renton, Washington. My goal is to build traditionally styled Archtop instruments from the mandolin and guitar family for the accomplished musician. My designs are inspired by the instruments of Lloyd Loar from Gibson in the early 1920s. In addition to traditional designs, I also build custom stringed instruments to meet the musician’s specific needs that may include alternate wood selections, unique neck\fretboard\nut geometries, body styles, sound holes, custom inlays, and/or color schemes.
ABOUT
Luthier (lu·thi·er)
a maker of stringed instruments such as violins or guitars.
I don’t just build your standard mandolin or archtop guitar. I take my own unique styling and add all the knowledge I’ve gained from my engineering background to come up with my own individualized method of creating what I think are perfect instruments.
Starting with the highest quality materials, utilizing fine wood hand-picked for each part of your instrument, then adding top shelf components, I’m able to craft an instrument that’ll meet the high standards of the most discriminating musician.
As an engineer and musician with a love for fine woodworking, I am always experimenting with new ways to enhance instrument sound quality using the latest innovations. This includes acoustic tuning of the soundboard and backboard plates and a specialized tension compensated fret scale to provide perfect intonation over the ENTIRE fret scale.
Models
Traditional
String Instruments
Our Lewandowski Mandolin and Guitar designs are inspired by the Gibson Lloyd Loar era F-style, A-style mandolins and L5 guitars using only the highest quality materials and hardware, utilizing innovative engineering & construction techniques.
Custom
String Instruments
A Lewandowski archtop instrument is built from the finest quality materials and modern engineering principals for the accomplished musician. Our custom instruments are true works of art in and of themselves.
How it works
Send Us Your Thoughts and Let's Get Started
To start the order process, let’s discuss what you’re looking for in an instrument. Once we agree upon the specifications, pricing, and a delivery time frame, we’ll need a non-refundable $500 deposit before work begins on your instrument. In addition, we try to maintain a small stock of completed instrument models for immediate purchase. We’re always building new instruments so check out our “Instruments for Sale” page to see what’s currently available for immediate shipment.
I generally try to keep a couple of instruments for demo purposes, and if you’re located in the Pacific Northwest, I can work with you to try one out. Other arrangements can also be made to ship you a demo model to try out yourself before making a final decision.
Throughout the building process, we will keep you updated so you can see your instrument as it’s built. Final payment is due before shipment and you have 7 days and decide that it’s your perfect instrument.
If for any reason you’re not completely satisfied, we will work with you to make any reasonable modifications or you can return it during the 7-day evaluation period, in original condition with the case, for a full refund. Select custom instruments are nonrefundable.
Services
Traditional
String Instruments
Our Lewandowski Mandolins are based on the Gibson Loar era F & A style mandolins using only the highest quality materials and hardware, utilizing innovative engineering & construction techniques.
Custom
String Instruments
A Lewandowski archtop instrument is built from the finest quality materials and modern engineering principals for the accomplished musician. Our custom instruments are true works of art in and of themselves.
Events
Fretboard Journal's Fretboard Summit
- August 23-25, 2024
- Old Town School of Folk Music, Chicago, IL
- fretboardsummit.org
Ready to Get Started?
If you’ve seen enough and are ready to take the leap towards your very own custom instrument,
the process begins with getting in touch with us!