About Jeremy Pappenfus

Where It Started

Jeremy Pappenfus started working with wood at age 11, helping his father build houses in Minnesota. By his twenties, he had specialized in finish carpentry: trim, cabinets, the work where precision matters and mistakes show.

When the housing market collapsed in 2008, there were few homes to build. Jeremy picked up a set of library books on guitar construction and started teaching himself.

The transition from houses to guitars was not as large as it sounds. Both require understanding how materials behave under tension. Both reward patience and punish shortcuts.

The Great Northern Years

From 2008 to 2017, Jeremy built 23 guitars under the name Great Northern Guitar Company. He was self-taught, working from books and YouTube, and he improved with each build. By instrument number twenty-three, the guitars were good. But Jeremy knew there was a gap between what he could figure out alone and what a master could teach.

He took a five-year break from building. The break was not a retirement. It was the space between knowing what he wanted to learn and finding the right teacher.

Five Weeks in Chelsea, Quebec

In 2023, Jeremy traveled to Chelsea, Quebec, to study under Sergei de Jonge, one of the most respected acoustic guitar makers alive. The training spanned five weeks of intensive, one-on-one instruction. He studied top making, bracing, and binding, and he learned the principles that separate good guitars from great ones. It was the difference between following a recipe and truly understanding the craft.

The de Jonge training changed everything. Not because Jeremy could not build before, but because Sergei showed him why certain choices work and others do not.

Guitar No. 026 was Jeremy's first build after returning to Montana. He deliberately duplicated de Jonge's dimensions, methods, and materials in his own shop. It was not a copy. It was proof that the training had taken root.

That guitar is still available. It represents the direct, traceable application of Sergei's teaching to Jeremy's hands.

The Work Now

The gallery stands at over 30 instruments across both eras of building. The current Pappenfus-era guitars reflect the de Jonge training in every joint, brace, and finish decision.

Guitar No. 032, "Skagit Spring," launched the Artist Collaboration Series, pairing Jeremy's building with interior painting by Northwest Montana artist Marshall Noice. Tim Torgerson is the musician who performs on most Pappenfüs introduction videos. It debuted at the La Conner Guitar Festival in Washington state in May 2025, Jeremy's first year at the festival.

The instruments keep getting better. Jeremy is not building the same guitar over and over. He refines models, experiments with ergonomic innovations, and collaborates with artists and players who push the work forward.

A Builder Who Plays

Jeremy plays guitar regularly at church and has dabbled in songwriting. The playing matters because he builds from the perspective of someone who picks up instruments and plays them. He knows what a neck should feel like at the seventh fret. He knows when the low end is muddy and when the trebles are thin.

Some luthiers build instruments they never play. Jeremy is not one of them.