William Laskin guitar maker since 1971 The first musical instrument maker to receive Canada's most prestigious national craft award, the Saidye Bronfman Award for Excellence Originator of the built-in "Armrest" and"Ribrest" edge bevelling A founder of the Association of Stringed Instrument Artisans (ASIA) and author of the first code of ethics for the luthier's trade

William "Grit" Laskin decided he wanted to be a guitar maker at age 17 when he saw a Jean Larrivee instrument at the now defunct Toronto Folklore Center. "It hadn't occurred to me before then that guitars were made by hand," he recalls. "I remember holding one of Jean's guitars and wondering how you could glue two pieces of wood together and not have a visible glue line." He met Larrivee at a folk festival soon after and was taken on as an apprentice in 1971. During his two-year apprenticeship, Laskin helped Larrivee complete more than 100 instruments, and his own reputation began to spread. By the time he struck out on his own, he already had all the orders he could handle.

Laskin has received accolades from prominent guitar makers such as Bob Taylor, Bill Collings, Bob Benedetto, Mark Campellone and Roger Sadowsky, as well as players as diverse as Paco Pena and Rik Emmett. The Museum Of Civilization, Canada's equivalent to the Smithsonian, has four Laskin guitars in its permanent collection, and in 1997 Laskin received Canada's prestigious national award, the Saidye Bronfman Award for Excellence In The Crafts.

Laskin Guitars