John Knutson established Knutson Luthiery in 1981. He first began building instruments during his senior year at San Francisco State University in 1978. Using books, intuition, and trial and error, he built his first Songbird archtop mandolin and dulcimer as a project for a wood technology class, and he has been a full-time luthier and repairman ever since. As a custom builder of acoustic, electric, and archtop guitars, as well as basses and mandolins, he has produced hundreds of instruments, including custom double- and triple-neck combinations.