Marcus

Marcus van Engelen has been building and repairing guitars for more than 30 years. He owned guitar shops in Amsterdam and Volendam, and he helped a friend set up a guitar-making factory in China, before opening De Brug Gitaren in Leiden in 2018. Marcus, 60, is always looking for ways to innovate and come up with new designs and technology for guitars. He lives with his wife, a sculptor, above his shop.

“I like innovating. I’m not so interested in building just another acoustic guitar. For example, I helped design a new guitar bridge, and to develop a digital wireless pickup for acoustic guitars.”

 “I usually spend the mornings doing repairs and builds. Building guitars requires inspiration, but repairs are actually more difficult. They require a talent for improvisation. Every repair is different … and shops that do good repairs are not common.”

“There’s more money in repairs than building instruments. Many guitar shops claim they build guitars when in fact they merely assemble them.”

“Very often someone brings in a guitar that’s beyond repair if you compare the price of the repair to the price of the instrument. But I still do it. I don’t want to leave the instrument broken. I do it for the people and for the guitars. It gives me satisfaction.” 

Together with his wife, a sculptor, Marcus has designed a series of guitars shaped like islands famous for their music, such as Cuba, Hawaii and Jamaica. “All islands have a similar melancholy. We see these islands as paradise, but the people who live there feel an isolation. But when they leave the island, they long to be back there. This sadness comes out in the music. Even the uplifting Cuban music has a strong streak of melancholy. I was drawn to that.” 

Marcus enjoys playing guitar, often blues and folk with a slide. “I taught my brother and son how to play. They have both surpassed me.” (laughs)

De Brug Gitaren is located at Noordeinde 17 in Leiden. Information is available at http://www.debruggitaren.nl