2025 Kris Barnett CD/EB

A 2025 classical guitar by Kris Barnett, with a cedar top and exotic ebony back and sides, built in Berlin – with his Fibonacci lattice bracing, his own tuners and a new rosette design.

In the video above you can see and hear this guitar.

Fibonacci Lattice Bracing

Its lattice system is based on the golden ratio: brace lengths and spacing, and the frequencies of top and back, all follow the Fibonacci sequence. That gives great power without the boom and tinny trebles of many lattice guitars – rather, a balanced and consistent tone up the whole register. Sneak peek: this guitar being built.

Sound and Details

For a cedar top, the color palette is astounding – bright and sparkling near the bridge, creamy over the soundhole – for virtually any style. It is impeccably built, with decorative touches in the head and purfling, a new rosette, Kris's own Berlin-made precision tuners, an elevated fingerboard and a 20th fret for high-C repertoire.

Kris Barnett: An American Guitar Maker in Berlin

Kris Barnett began building guitars in 2004 as a hobby while working full-time as a mental health therapist in Atlanta, Georgia. He turned his bedroom into a workshop, and within two years he had enough commissions to become a full-time classical guitar maker. In 2014 he moved with his wife to Berlin, Germany, where he joined the "Berlin Luthiers", a small community of makers who share ideas and experience – remarkable for the diversity of their styles.

"To Continue the History, Not Simply Repeat It"

Kris began with traditional Torres-style guitars and went on to lattice, double tops and designs of his own; today his guitars combine modern and traditional ideas, built by hand without CNC machines or prefabricated parts and finished in French polish. His recent lattice bracing is based on the golden ratio of the Fibonacci sequence, and he makes his own precision tuning machines in Berlin. GSI is his only dealer in the USA.