FG instruments was established in 2025 by myself, Florian Grobety, with the aim to produce fully customizable high-quality musical instruments.
I was born in 1992 in a small village in Switzerland, with a rapidly growing interest for woodworking and music instruments. Despite excellent math grades and many hours of instrument practice in the fingers, the circumstances to become a luthier were just not right at the time and I moved to Québec City in Canada to study at the circus school (which happened to be on the same street as the luthier school…).
After graduation, I pursued my career as a circus artist, blending acrobatics and music on stage, which led me to move to Finland. The climate crisis, the Covid, the reality of working as a circus artist, all of this had me question my career choices and try to find new ways to sustain a living in Finland. All of this inevitably led to the infamous middle-age crisis and it was then that I learned about the only luthier school in Finland located in Ikaalinen. The choice was quickly made, and, after years of playing and collecting multiple music instrument and designing and crafting various objects, this return to the origins was simply obvious.
At the heart of my philosophy is the sound quality of the instrument, and its workability as a tool, onstage or at home. Luckily, many areas of the instrument don’t affect the sound or playability, and I take great pleasure in carving laces, braids, or other shapes into these areas. I like to use contrasting woods and colored woods to create shapes and patterns throughout the design. Of course, sometimes less is more, and the choice always goes down to the customer.