My Approach

I am a maker of traditional guitars ~ I promise not to move the hole, slope the front, lace it with carbon fibre or to invent new fret material. But like so many of the traditionalists I am quietly innovative inside the guitar and have developed some of my own internal structures and assembly procedures.

My guitars have good carrying power due to their higher mix of harmonics than many others. Smaller than average size helps here but there are other considerations. I build a slight dome into the lower bout front of my guitars. This allows increased rigidity/weight ratios to be achieved. My bridge design is carefully built to match this and the skirt of the lower bout is contoured so as not to distort the doming. You may notice this since the perimeter of my fronts is not a single plane ~ you have to look carefully! Smooth tonal transition from string to string is achieved. My neck design is invisibly modified to encourage better tone and sustain right to the 19th fret ~ you can have a 20th if you like! As well as high fret position sustain, my guitars are often remarked on as feeling easy in the left hand due to careful and slender neck profiling and sophisticated fingerboard contouring.

My surface finish for a modern guitar is a modern lacquer. It is a type of spirit varnish derived from vegetable materials. I apply it by brush, cloth and spray at different stages and different parts of the instrument. It is extremely good acoustically ~ in no way inferior to French Polish and much more robust ~ and it finishes to a high gloss. I have tried many other finishes but this is the right one. I use French Polish only for repairs and restoration work.

The frustration of trying to learn from the existing literature on guitar-making led me to write up my own methods. So in 1997 "The Guitar Maker’s Workshop" was published to serve as a how-to-do-it instruction book as well as a general interest woodwork text. Naturally, my own working methods have moved on in search of fine tuning and improvement but the method given in the book is still valid for a first guitar.
The book has just been republished [by Crowood Press (ISBN: 1-86126-707-X) Price £9.99] with some improvements, which are also simpler. Crowood Press sell it from their <website> (it's in the 'woodwork' section) at £7.99 but charge postage. So, have a go at building one yourself, knowing if it doesn't work out you can always come back here and buy one of mine.

 

Testimonials

"The guitar arrived the other day and I'm having a fine time with it. I don't know exactly how it is that you shape the neck but the playability... well, my left hand thinks that Christmas has come, which I guess it nearly has. My right hand, meanwhile, is enjoying experiments with tone colour. Attached is a photograph of two family members enjoying your guitar. Merry Christmas,"
Matthew (with Portia).

 

 

"I am a professional guitarist living in Tokyo. I own a small Torres guitar made by you. I have been using it since 2000 and am very happy with it. In fact I have just done my recital using your guitar. The audience (as well as me) was amazed by the sweetness and loudness of your small guitar. It is very easy to play and I can do my own music without any kind of physical or mentally stressed feeling. My students and guitarist friends are all impressed by your instrument."
Ikuo Hasegawa.

"As for your guitar, what can I say ~ nothing bad!! It's loud, colourful, warm and the treble sound can only be described as magic. ... it strikes me that you take a lot of interest and great care in your guitars, which is only natural I suppose, but it's comforting to know I have a guitar from a highly skilled and passionate luthier. In today's turbulent world it is nice to meet someone kind and helpful who takes pride in their work. If I get a spare 3 or 4 thousand in the near future then you can build me a really exotic looking and magical sounding instrument!"
Richard Fereday.

"I have just played one of your 1999 cedar guitars ... Of all the guitars I have played, it is the most player-friendly. When I played ... I couldn't believe how much the instrument helped my left hand and how easy the scale runs were. There was a lovely cushioned and springy feel to it. Also, the high end of the first string was very pure and ringing. I think that your neck profiling is the best I've seen and the instrument was visually stunning as well. All-in-all, I rate your guitar as the second best I have ever played (the best being my own Christopher Dean) ~ it made my heart beat more quickly and for that I thank you!"
Anon.

"I bought one of your guitars, the Aranjuez model I believe... ...and I thought that I would drop you a line to say how much I still enjoy it. I have used it for performances and the guitar really comes alive in large acoustic places. The sound it produces appears to be getting better and better. I hope that... ...you continue with what clearly is a passion to you ~ the making of quality guitars. In consequence, your guitars allow the player to keep alive the passion of music making."
Anon.