Why Should a Musician Adapt to an Instrument? | Jerome Little (Torzal Guitars)

My guest today is Jerome Little, founder of Torzal Guitars and the mind behind the Natural Twist.

Jerome’s story begins in the Sierra Nevada mountains, where making things, solving problems, and figuring things out for yourself were simply part of growing up. He started playing bass as a teenager, studied music and acoustics at Hampshire College, and eventually brought those interests together when he began asking a deceptively simple question: why should a musician have to adapt their body to an instrument?

That question became his college thesis, the Natural Twist, and the beginning of a career that would put Jerome in the company of some remarkable instrument makers. He worked with Ken Parker during the production years of the Parker Fly, later joined Bill Collings in Austin, and carried lessons from both into a design philosophy that remains distinctly his own.

Our conversation moves through those formative experiences, the mentors who shaped him, the realities of ergonomics and repetitive injury, and his continuing search for better ways to build instruments, using materials intelligently, challenging convention, and never treating tradition as the end of the conversation.

Jerome is curious, thoughtful, and, perhaps most importantly, a maker who actually does something with his ideas.

I thoroughly enjoyed my conversation with Jerome. I hope that you do as much as I did.

Watch the video version on YouTube:
🔗 YouTube Channel – Life With Strings Attached

Learn more about Life With Strings Attached, Boutique Guitar Showcase, and Jamie Gale's work in the guitar industry:
🔗 Boutique Guitar Showcase
🔗 Jamie Gale

Thank you for listening and supporting the ongoing conversation between music, makers, history and the future.