High Country Guitars Australia in Mansfield, Victoria is a classical and acoustic guitar builder and school specialising in handmade guitars built from Australian tonewoods. High Country Guitars was founded by David Hole in 2016. From a technology engineering background, and lifelong lover of music and craft, in 2016 David began on his long journey towards becoming a luthier. After building his first classical guitar under the tutelage of Chris Wynne, master luthier and former owner of Thomas Lloyd Guitars, David became determined to found his own studio and school to pass on the skills and joy he found building Australian tonewood guitars.
A former engineer, David feels strongly that his lutherie development will never end. He is continually seeking new techniques to refine his craft and teaching. Always trying a new instrument build or finishing approach and adding to his skills. As of 2025, David is currently exploring smaller bodied acoustic guitars such as Parlours and Requintos.
David is passionate about the construction of traditionally built guitars from Australian timber, carefully voiced and built to both look and sound wonderful.
David Hole
Founder and Principal Luthier / teacher
Dr Rachel Badlan
Luthier and teacher
Rachel Badlan, is Australia’s only female teacher of guitar-making (that we know of!) and has been working with her partner David at High Country Guitars since January 2024. Building guitars since 2019, Rachel moved from her academic role as a research fellow in atmospheric science at UNSW to take up the art of lutherie. Now Rachel helps David run the one-on-one classes at High Country Guitars as well as working on her own commissions.
Rachel loves finding different ways for people to personalise their guitars and encourages students to incorporate their own designs on their own builds. Some examples include custom wooden rosettes, resin filled rosettes and pyrography. Rachel especially enjoys pyrography, inside and outside the guitar, internal detailing, headstock motifs and back and soundboard decoration.
Both Rachel and David play classical guitar (although not as much or as well as they would like) and compose and arrange their own music. They both encourage lutherie students to take time in planning their guitar to make it a unique and beautiful instrument to give them years of pleasure for both their ears and their eyes.