Saul Koll is an American guitar maker based in Portland, Oregon, and the founder of the Koll Guitar Company. He is known for his Glide series of electric guitars, and for his experimental designs for musicians such as David Torn,Elliott Sharp,Henry Kaiser and Lee Ranaldo of Sonic Youth.
Koll began playing guitar at the age of 12, and discovered Irving Sloan’s book, Classic Guitar Construction, at a Southern California library. While attending college at San Diego State University, where he earned a bachelor of arts in sculpture, Koll began experimenting with guitar construction. After college he began his professional luthier career at instrument repair shop The World of Strings in Long Beach, California, where was tutored by Jon Peterson and Glen Mers.
In 1990, Koll founded the Koll Guitar Company and subsequently relocated from Los Angeles to Portland, Oregon, where the company is currently based.