Martin Klema
From the First Guitar to a Brand of Its Own
I was born in 1976 in Ilava. I first encountered a guitar at the age of six. Originally, I was supposed to learn the accordion and my sister the guitar. However, the first instrument we had at home was a guitar, and I fell in love with it at first sight. That decided it—I chose the guitar as well.
I studied guitar making in Luby near Cheb under master Pavel Jung, a member of the Czech Association of Violin and Guitar Makers.
I began building acoustic guitars at the dawn of the new millennium, without any doubts or a plan B. Since then, my instruments have been owned by hundreds of satisfied guitarists both in Slovakia and abroad.
History
- 2005 – Within his company, Martin Klema focuses exclusively on building all-solid guitars. At the same time, he occasionally travels to China, where he oversees the quality of mass-produced guitars intended for the commercial market. At that time, he has no idea that these experiences will later be reflected in the production of the original Klema White Line series.
- 1997 – His first participation at the music trade fair in Frankfurt. In 2000, production moves to a farmhouse in Kameničany, and the company expands with its first in-house employee—long-time collaborator Braňo Paulen. Monthly production ranges between 3–5 guitars.
- 1995 – After finishing school, he remains working in Cheb, where he takes part in the serial production of violins. He later returns to Slovakia and works for PetSlov, assisting in the production of cimbaloms. In 1996, he establishes his own one-man company focused on guitar repair and production under the Klema brand.
- 1990 – Instead of attending the planned conservatory in Žilina, which did not open a guitar program that year, he begins studying guitar making in Luby near Cheb (1990–1995). In 1991, he builds his first handmade guitar.
- 1976 – Martin Klema (*October 23, 1976, Ilava, Czechoslovakia). His father was a veterinarian and his mother an economist. At the age of six, he begins taking guitar lessons. After finishing primary school, he decides to continue studying the guitar.