Meet the Maker #2 – David Keustermans

Meet the Maker – David Keustermans: Sitar making in France

Intro

In the Meet the Maker series, I talk to sitar makers from all over the world. People who bring instruments to life with their hands, their ears and their hearts.

David Keustermans is an instrument maker and repairer whose work is rooted in both traditional lutherie and a growing engagement with Indian classical instruments. Based in France, he combines his background in European lute building with a developing expertise in instruments such as sitar, tanpura and related stringed instruments.

After training in lute building at the CMB school in Belgium, he expanded his practice towards the repair, maintenance and construction of instruments with complex resonant bodies, including bowl-backed instruments such as the oud and lute.

His trajectory reflects a broader movement within contemporary instrument making, where builders increasingly cross boundaries between traditions. By engaging with both Western and Indian instrument-making techniques, David positions himself in a space where craftsmanship, adaptation and acoustic understanding come together.

In this conversation, we explore his approach to building and repairing instruments, and how working across different traditions shapes his understanding of sound, structure and material.

Profile

Interview

How did you start making sitars?

It started very early and at the same time, quite late in life. First instrument I built was a “guitar”, in 1973 when I was 4 years old, hammered nails into a piece of firewood and put wool strings on it. I thought it was wonderful, but was alone in that conviction. It ended up in the fireplace, which I’m still a bit mad about. 😉 

I’ve wanted to play the guitar ever since I can remember, and when I finally got my hands on one, it was so bad I had to try and improve it myself. This led to a little tinkering all through my years as a player, some refinishing, repairing broken guitars, building a Warmoth kit, etc. 

The real journey started after I met Bert Cornelis. I’d gotten interested in playing Hindustani Music, and Bertiji took me in as a student. I think that was around 2015. I will never forget the first note he played, it went straight into my chest and never left. It was one of those metaphysical experiences, a true turning point in my life. He put a sitar in my hands and sent me home with it…I’d never even seen one up close. I soon bought my own, a nice 50’s Hiren Roy, and because vintage sitars usually need some TLC to get them up and running (the parda had started falling off), I came to see you (SiTAR FAcToRY).

And that is where it really started. 

You told me about the CMB luthiery school in Puurs, I went over there, immediately enrolled in lute building class with the excellent Dirk De Hertogh, and everything else followed. I was always worried about the fragility of the sitar gourds. They break so easily, and wondered why no one made them like a lute bowl. And then you told me about Dieter Zarnitz, who I then went to visit with a classmate. Another one of those major turning points, the now late Dieter graciously bestowed me his sitar plans, his thickness calipers (one of my most prized possessions), and his blessing. And I just started building.

What does your environment mean to your work?

It is extremely important to me. I live in the mountains, surrounded by nature, and that keeps me grounded. It is quite an extreme environment, but I’m not suited for city life. People are a lot less stressed here than where I lived in Belgium, the air is pure, and the food is much better. The view from my workshop window probably helps.

What, in your opinion, makes a good sitar?

A good sitar would be one that inspires the player. It is not easy to define what would make an instrument inspirational, but I do have a few criteria. To me a good sitar needs to have a long, deep, and beautiful sound, good sustain. It also needs to have a good taraf response. It needs to be well setup, and have all the necessary angles to allow expressive meend playing. The tuning pegs or the tuning system needs to be easy to use, and keep tune. And it shouldn’t be too heavy.

Where does your creativity come from?

It basically comes from everywhere. I’ve had songs fall out of the sky into my head, written lyrics one a crowded bus because they just showed up… I guess the basic need for creation was always there, fueled by childhood events and genetics (artists everywhere in my family on both sides, going way back). Once I started acting upon it, I just kept running into interesting people, talking about it, getting information from books and those conversations.

And then there’s my absolute need not to do what everyone else is already doing. At luthiery school, the plan was for an 11 ribbed lute, so I made a 13-ribbed one. Doesn’t seem like a big difference, but it required redrawing parts of the plan and making a different mold from everyone else, and that was just my second instrument.

I just can’t help myself. The sitar I built from Dieter’s plans is a modified one, I didn’t want to just copy him, so I made quite a few changes. I got the idea for the Mononoke guitar from talking to a friend, who is an engineer. I initially wanted to build a small Martin-1 style guitar. He asked me if guitar sides needed to be symmetrical. I started drawing. Made it bigger, different, talked to Benoit Meulle-Stef (BMS guitars) And that is how I ended up with an asymmetrical long scale kasha braced weirdling.

How do you combine tradition and innovation?

I have much respect for tradition, but I’m not afraid to break it here and there if I think it’s necessary. My sitars are different because they combine Indian and Western instrument building techniques. I’m going for a best of both worlds scenario. The way it was built, the “F”-holes on the tabli, the lute bowl gourd, the quartersawn Epicea Archtop tabli make for a very resonant instrument, with a rich and complex sound, and increased projection.

On the traditional side, it retains many of the design elements that were documented in Kanai Lal sitars and surbahars. This makes that the subtle character of a good sitar is kept, good meend capability, it is easy to play, can be whisper-quiet, but it can hold up with European acoustic instruments volume wise if needed.

What materials do you prefer to use and why?

I like to use natural materials, wood, bone, antler, partly for environmental reasons, but also because I think they’re beautiful. I dislike the smell of solvents and spray paint and prefer Shellac for finishing. It requires very little finish and is easy to repair or redo. 

I like hot hide glue, it’s been used for thousands of years, is extremely strong, and is perfect from a maintenance point of view. I also like the smell of it, and maybe the exhilaration at the difficulty of working with it. 

How do you collaborate with musicians?

I listen to them carefully, and try to give them what they need, which is not always the same as what they initially think they want. It requires good listening skill, creativity, willingness to question established ideas, but also a capacity to repectfully say no.

What project are you most proud of?

Probably the Baritone Sitar, and Mononoke. Most projects run into problems, I wouldn’t necessarily call the solutions surprising, though always creative. There is the roller system for the Taraf strings on my sitar, which is basically a string ball end with a nail in the middle. It works perfectly, will last forever, and eliminates all the fiddling with moghara.

I broke the bottom rib of Mononoke while heatbending the cutaway part, so I cut out the broken piece, inserted a block of wood, and made inlays to cover it. The guitar is better and more beautiful for it.

What was your biggest challenge?

The biggest challenge to build was the Baritone sitar, with Mononoke a close second. Also challenging was keeping going after losing my workshop in 2021. It takes a special kind of fire to go out and keep making it happen. I’ve always had help, in this case a big shout-out to Baptiste Micoud (https://micoud-guitares.com) who took me in and allowed me to build guitars in his workshop. 

What are your dreams for the future?

The Baritone Sitar is off to a new home, and I’ve been approached to make a Surbahar, which is something I’ve been wanting to do for a long time. I also regularly get questions about sitar-guitars with sympathetic strings. I think a Weissenborn style instrument with a jawari and tarafs would be a really cool project…

Building a compact electrified sitar is also an idea I have been toying with, and aside from that, I’m definitely making a few archtop guitars this year.

Quote From The Bench

And then there’s my absolute need not to do what everyone else is already doing.

My Reflection

What I appreciate in David’s work is the openness with which he approaches instrument building. Moving between European lute making and Indian instruments is not just a technical shift—it also asks for a different way of listening and thinking about sound.

Each tradition has its own logic. In lute building, much depends on the relationship between soundboard, rib construction and structural balance. With instruments like the sitar or tanpura, additional elements come into play: sympathetic strings, bridge interaction and the continuous shaping of the jawari. These details strongly influence how the instrument responds and how its sound evolves.

Repair work adds an extra layer to this understanding. You are not creating from scratch, but interpreting an existing instrument—its wear, its history, and its acoustic behaviour. That process develops a very precise sensitivity to both structure and sound.

As a sitar maker, I recognize many of these challenges. The balance between stability and resonance is always delicate, and small adjustments can have a significant impact on tone and response.

What I take from conversations like this is perspective. Even across different traditions, the core questions remain the same: how material, structure and vibration come together to create sound.

Discover More

Want to know more about the work of David Keustermans:

• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/david.keustermans
• SiTAR FAcToRY: https://www.sitarfactory.be/2022/baritone-sitar-lute-on-visit/

And would you like to learn more about sitars and maintenance yourself? Feel free to take a look at SiTAR FAcToRY.

Next Episode

Coming soon in Meet the Maker: Kees Verbeek, the Netherlands