Sebastian Stenzel was born in 1966 in the university town of Goettingen as the son of a university professor of German literature and a schoolteacher. In the context of his widespread interests in the entire field of fine arts and science, he was working with wood from childhood on. He started playing classical guitar at the age of 10, and made his first guitar at 14. At that time already, his guitar teacher suggested he choose guitar making as a profession. However, he graduated from highschool with the intention of studying Physics, but abandoned the idea when he found that it was practical application, not abstract theory, which interested him.
He served his apprenticeship with a local guitar maker from 1989 to 1991.

In the following years he continued making and improving his own classical and flamenco guitars. After passing the Master of Crafts Examination in 1996, he established his own workshop in Munich. Since then he has been enjoying a rapidly growing reputation for his instruments as well as for his repairs and restorations. In 1998 he was awarded the Masterprize of the Bavarian Government for his extraordinary performance during the Master of Crafts Examination. In the fall of 2000 he was offered a teaching position at the Mozarteum University in Salzburg, where he is now teaching Theory of Guitarmaking.