Finished Guitar

Just in time for Christmas Eve delivery, here is the finished article!  We did our best with the photos under some extremely dark clouds.  Minutes after we took these the Heavens opened, but my wife couldn't let it go without taking some shots.

Not long 'til Christmas...

...and the guitar I'm making is nearly finished.  Here are some more shots of its progress:

In the photo above, the bent sides are being held in place by a jig I designed whilst I peg on the kerfing.

Below is the roughed-out neck, fret board and truss rod.

Above: the back and top showing the bracing patterns.

Below: glueing down the top using the jig and elastic.

Above: ready to add the back.

Below: I add my signature to the inside of the guitar.

Below: closing the box.

Bracing

Below is a photo showing the guitar back with bracing in place.  I prefer to glue most of the braces in place and carve them in-situ.

Guitar Order

Here are a couple more photos of the guitar I am currently working on.  Here's the roughed-out back with the centre strip in place:

And here I'm using go-bars to keep the sound hole doughnut in place while it's being glued:



Christmas Guitar Order

I've just received a box of goodies from LMI which will be transformed into a guitar by Christmas - I hope!

The rosewood back:

The design for the guitar and a template showing the bracing pattern:

 

A general view of my workshop:

I will keep you updated on its progress.

 

Video Clips

Lee Shackley kindly sent along these clips he took of Mike Simpson playing the Stephen John guitar he recently acquired from me.  Please click the links below to see them on YouTube:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-ka3u2QCI3g

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DkfVuHNS6to

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j017rZLbFSQ

I'm pleased to see that Mike is really enjoying playing it!

Guitar Commission

Just started my next commission to be made in time for Christmas - a dreadnought-size guitar of my own design with rosewood back and sides and a spruce top.  Will be posting photos as it comes along.  Someone's going to be very surprised come Christmas morning...

Guitar Photoshoot

A small selection of photos of a recently made Stephen John acoustic, now sold to musician and friend Lee Shackley.  My wife waded into the cold depths of Crummock in the Lake District to get these!

Even Newer Shed!

Since I last blogged I have moved the workshop again, hopefully to its final position. I made lots of great contacts at Racket Studios and thank Ian Rowell for his support while I was there. The reason for the move is simply one of convenience - the workshop is now at the bottom of the garden, and most importantly within shouting distance so the wife can make me a cuppa!

I can attest to the fact that shifting a 10 foot wide gable end by yourself is certainly an interesting experience.

New Workshop

Hi all.
New beginnings for 2011. I've just moved into a new workshop in conjunction with Racket Studios in Cleator Moor, Cumbria. A more friendly and inviting place you wont find. It has already been very beneficial for me as I am steadily getting more and more guitar set-ups and repairs which is good news indeed. Hopefully I can be of equal benefit to Rowell and Lena of Racket.

Here's to a good New Year.

Click here to visit Racket Studios.

24th February 2010

It took longer than I thought to get back into the workshop - over a month - but I'm now back in and looking forward to tackling more guitar orders.

13 January 2010

Disaster nearly struck!  Due to the harsh weather conditions we've been having in Cumbria recently, the water pipes above the workshop burst and caused a flood.   Luckily the damage was not as bad as we first thought, and after a sweep out the workshop should be back to nornmal within a few days.

28 December 2009

I have been itching to get back into the workshop after Christmas and I've just started making another guitar similar to the last one, but with Indian rosewood back and sides. 

23 Decmeber 2009

The cocobolo guitar with a Venetian cutaway has been delivered to the customer in time for Christmas.  It was a huge success and the customer likened the sound to his top of the range Santa Cruz.

17 November 2009

I am currently working on a small-bodied guitar with a venetian cutaway.  The back and sides are cocobolo with a bear-claw spruce top.  The customer provided bell brass bridge pins, which should provide a beautiful constrast to the ebony fingerboard, heel-plate and headstock.