Stonebridge Guitars International partners with world-class builders to offer a wide range of fine, handcrafted acoustic guitars—with the aim to inspire, connect, and support players, artists, and teachers around the world.
Where it All Started
In 2004, Roger Schmidt came across Furch Guitars while attending a music trade show in Germany. He was immediately impressed with their instruments and knew that they truly stood out from the crowd.
The following year, Roger started his own guitar distribution business and returned to the same trade show, where he had the opportunity to play and evaluate the instruments a second time and confirm his original impressions. After some positive and fruitful discussion with the Furch Sales team, they were delighted by his proposal to introduce their guitars to Canada and the United States.
Roger then began his new role as the official distributor and brand strategist of Furch guitars for North America. He decided to name them Stonebridge Guitars, which paid homage to the historical Charles Bridge in Prague, and also felt like the perfect name and brand for the North American market.
Building a Thriving Community
From the onset, the growth and direction of Stonebridge Guitars International was heavily influenced by Roger’s passion and experience as a seasoned fingerstyle guitar player. With much hard work, dedication, and a true grassroots mentality, Roger built and fostered a flourishing community of notable fingerstyle players, including Antoine Dufour, Calum Graham, and Adrian Bellue.
In 2007, Roger met Chicago-based musician and sales representative Todd Allison and appointed him as the Sales Manager for the USA market. Since then, Todd has worked diligently at building and maintaining strong relationships with dealers and artists across the United States.
With the introduction of our Artist Collaboration Program in 2010 and later coordinated by Luke Michielsen, our community of players grew significantly and extended into the Bluegrass and Singer/Songwriter genres. While such notables as Glen Hansard, Suzanne Vega, Craig Cardiff, and Lauryn Hill were added to our artist roster, we are most proud of the hundreds of independent musicians that we have been able to support, inspire, and partner with over the years.
Since the inauguration of the Canadian Guitar Festival and Fingerstyle Competition in 2005, Stonebridge Guitars has always had a strong presence at the event as a key sponsor. Every year, fingerstyle guitar players came together from all over the world, and Roger was always amazed by how many passionate players would compete in the festival using their Stonebridge Guitars and speak praises about the brand.
Overcoming Hurdles
With the advent of the North American economy crash in 2009, the business soon faced severe challenges and Roger had to look to new strategies and solutions to stay afloat. With much passion and determination, Roger pressed on.
In 2010, Roger joined forces with Ontario-based entrepreneur and music store owner Ken Wilson, who is now the president and CEO of Stonebridge Guitars International. Ken brought his strong business mindset and expertise to the table, and played a significant role in keeping the company moving forward on a strong foot. Roger and Ken’s close relationship, combined skills, and shared love of guitar playing provided Stonebridge Guitars International with a solid and hopeful pathway to success.
In the years that followed, the Stonebridge business and community experienced exciting growth and continued to meet—and even exceed—their goals.
New Beginnings
In 2018, a new era was on the horizon. By this time, Furch had undergone significant growth and modernization, and they knew that in order to meet their long-term goals, they needed to assume full responsibility and control over their global branding. As a result, it was decided that Stonebridge Guitars would be rebranded as Furch Guitars in North America. Over the course of the next few years, the Stonebridge branded guitars was phased out entirely. Stonebridge Guitars International continues to partner and collaborate with Furch Guitars, with a strong retail presence within our product family.
This transition also opened up new opportunities for the expansion of the SGI business, and a new vision emerged. Roger and Ken knew that they wanted to continue strengthening and pursuing their strong ties to the SGI community. With this in mind, they decided to create and introduce three new product portfolios, in partnership with several world-class builders.
Avenir Guitars
Hand-built with the highest level of craftsmanship and boutique-grade voicing, Avenir Guitars fit perfectly in the hands of professional musicians and shine in live performances and studio recording sessions.
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Bridgeport Guitars
Elegant yet affordable instruments, purposefully designed for students and enthusiasts. With unique specifications tailored to the needs to fingerstyle players, these guitars make ideal partners for those embarking on their musical journey.
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Boutique Collection
An artfully-curated family of handcrafted guitars, exclusively designed in partnership with luthiers from across the globe. Each instrument bears the builder’s logo and is particularly suited for players looking for a custom guitar.
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Looking forward
As we share our new collection of guitars, we also look forward to growing the SGI community and offering new and innovative ways to collaborate with artists, students, teachers, and players around the globe.
Whether you’ve been with us since day one, or this is your first time stopping by our website, we want to thank you for your interest in SGI and we hope we can help you find your dream guitar!