From a workshop to world stages: The story of a brand saved by a single decision

I think it’s a great show, mainly because it finally brings a vision of a Slovak product that can be sold all over the world. Slovak viewers get the chance to see that we are creating something that can also be appreciated by someone on the other side of the world, for example in Japan.

The company was founded by my father, who grew up in a violin-making environment and therefore had extensive experience working with wood. Making a violin on a table is possible – it’s relatively simple and can be done by one person. But making a guitar, as you can see in the show, is not simple at all. It requires machinery, equipment, and an entire production background.

At first, my father had to earn enough money to be able to manufacture guitars and create such an environment. He started, but it didn’t go very well and at one point he even wanted to sell the company. That was when I stepped in and said that we were not selling, that we had to prove it somehow.

When I saw the immense talent of my colleagues and the experience my father was willing to pass on to me – which is not easy at all in family businesses across generations – I realized that it had potential. I knew it would take time, but if we kept trying and had the desire to present what we can make to the world, it would eventually find its customers. And it did.

I think every guitarist has their own answer to that question, so it’s very subjective. Our approach is based primarily on careful selection. We personally visit our suppliers, tap every single piece of wood, and listen to how it sounds.

The sound of the wood itself already tells us a lot about how the guitar will sound later. That’s why we place so much emphasis on it. We travel, examine both the acoustic and structural properties of the wood, really feel it, tap it, listen to it, and based on our experience and knowledge we decide whether we buy it or not.

What’s interesting is that I once thought there was no chance people would choose a guitar brand based on a specific sound. But the reality is that our players really do know. They say: I bought a Dowina because it sounded this way.

That comes from the selection of wood – for example, we use purely Swiss spruce for the internal bracing, which has a significant influence on the sound. At the same time, we have very precise tuning rules and a target sound we aim to achieve. We have clear processes in place, and it’s obvious that people respond to that.

I’m very happy when my colleagues come to me proudly and say, “Look what I managed to do,” or “Look at this idea.” When I see that childlike joy in someone who has come up with an idea, brought it to life, and is proud of it, that’s incredibly rewarding.

For me, it’s a great satisfaction to see the personal pride of every single colleague, who are willing to walk from one side of the building to the other just to show me what they have accomplished. I feel that we have created an environment where people do something that makes sense to them and brings them joy.

I also personally love the wood storage and the process of selecting wood itself. Since I work on many custom orders, I often talk to clients, go into the wood storage, and send them photos. When I see the design of an instrument literally taking shape under my hands, I enjoy it immensely.

We have an outstanding R&D team, made up of just three people, but they are absolute top experts in terms of knowledge and experience. One of my colleagues is an incredible mathematician, which allows him to model and predict how individual soundboards will bend and behave.

We work with thermal wood treatments and innovative techniques for attaching the neck to the body – things the market hasn’t seen before and often reacts to with great amazement. Of course, we sometimes struggle with execution, because we come up with ideas that are extremely difficult to manufacture.

However, the biggest innovations lie in the process of wood seasoning and aging – how we bring the wood into the state where it is best suited for use. It’s surprisingly much more complex than it might seem. And then there are the innovative techniques of joining the neck and the body, where we currently have no real competition.

I’m most proud of situations where the guitar specification is truly very complex and requires us to put our heads together as a whole company and brainstorm how to approach it. One thing is design, but sometimes these concepts are technically so demanding that they include very specific requirements, such as wanting a certain material at a precise thickness or milling something out of another material. That really calls for intensive brainstorming.

When we manage to bring something like that to life and the client then writes to me on WhatsApp saying, “Wow, you nailed it,” that’s when I feel enormous pride. I remember several guitars like this that I could name, but the truth is that every new client manages to surprise me somehow. I often think I’ve seen it all, and then someone comes along and asks, “Would this be possible?”

First and foremost, they have to love it. Without love for the craft or for music, it doesn’t make sense. There will be moments when things don’t work out, when no one praises you, and when nothing goes the way, you imagined.

If someone has enough love for what they do, it’s worth it. I would definitely not recommend doing it in a calculated way – thinking you’ll make money or that there aren’t enough craftsmen. The challenges that come along are so demanding that if a person doesn’t truly want to do it, they shouldn’t go down that path at all.

We’re always working on something new, but the project I’m currently most proud of and fully immersed in is the RAY boutique guitar series. These are instruments created in a way that each one is truly one of a kind.

Neither the design nor the material composition is ever repeated, so anyone who buys such a guitar knows they are holding something absolutely unique. I enjoy this immensely, even though it’s very time-consuming. Constantly coming up with new ideas and not repeating yourself requires a lot of mental energy, as well as many sleepless days and nights.

That said, I believe that people who are willing to invest in such an instrument know exactly why they did so.