The origin of Manea Guitars can be traced to the interests of a young Romanian boy, Dumitru Manea. In 1959 the communist government of Romania took away the lands of Dumitru’s father.  The loss of the 3,000 acres of farm land and orchard lands left Mr. Manea with 13 children and the reality of a new lifestyle.  In spite of these obstacles, Mr. Manea instilled within Dumitru a respect for hard work and the ability to set goals and achieve them.

Dumitru’s woodworking skills originated during his early childhood.  Life was hard for the Manea family and toys were not easily available or affordable. Young Dumitru began to carve his own toys from wood and soon became an accomplished young wood carver who knew and understood the properties of various woods.

At the age of six, Dumitru was given an old and decrepit guitar. He was a resourceful young man and soon found two old wires which could be used as strings. This was the beginning of a love affair with music and the acoustic guitar.  At the age of 16 Dumitru’s hard work and attention to detail paid off for him.  He was accepted into music school after finishing first in the entrance examination.

When he was 17 he took the first opportunity available to migrate to the United States.  Under the communist government in Romania it took almost 4 years to obtain a passport so that he could finally reach this country and pursue his dream of becoming a Master Luthier.

Dumitru continued to hone both his wood carving skills and his musical ability.  His knowledge in woodworking continued to develop to the point where he was making elaborate wooden toys, finely detailed ship models, and most importantly, acoustic guitars. Working with wood also enhanced his mechanical skills and his abilities to conceptualize ideas into finished products.  These additional interests and abilities allowed him to expand into the design and building of electronic sound effects and electric guitars.