About
Yun Young Shin is a classical guitar maker based in the Cotswolds, working from a workshop in Kingham, Oxfordshire.
Her path to guitar making was not a conventional one. After graduating from Seoul National University with a degree in Consumer Psychology, she encountered the world of classical guitar and became increasingly drawn to the craft behind the instrument. What began as a curiosity soon became a new direction in her life.
Yun Young began learning the craft in Korea under guitar maker Moon-Seok Choi. She later moved to the UK and continued her journey as a maker. She studied with British luthier Christopher Dean, and went on to train at Merton College London and the School of Musical Instrument Crafts at Newark College, where she earned a BA in Guitar Making.
The classical guitar has remained closely woven into her life outside the workshop as well. Her husband, Sungbin Cho, is a classical guitarist, and the instrument has naturally become a part of their shared life — and, more recently, a little boy too.
She now makes her guitars in Kingham, a small village in the Cotswolds. Her approach is rooted in traditional craftsmanship, while leaving room for each instrument to develop its own character. She is particularly interested in the balance between warmth and clarity, responsiveness and depth, and in creating guitars that feel natural and intuitive in the hands of the player.
For Yun Young, making guitars remains a process of continual learning. Each instrument brings small decisions, discoveries and refinements. Perhaps the most rewarding part comes afterwards — when the guitar leaves the workshop and, in the hands of its player, becomes something beyond what she could make alone.
And, as always, she is back in the workshop, already shaping what comes next.
