British hand-built guitars

Introduction: Without getting all over-patriotic and flag-waving... I've long considered that some of the best instruments in the world are currently coming out of the British Isles.  Whether steel-strung or classical guitars, electric guitars or basses or obscure folk instruments there is a British maker somewhere who will provide an instrument of the same or better quality than higher profile US makers - often for a fraction of the cost.   My first custom built instrument was the Tony Revell acoustic bass featured on the "Basses" page on this site.  That was bought, not out of some nationalistic philosophy but rather because of the paucity of availability of acoustic basses in the UK in the early 1990s.  The only practical option was custom build.  Of course, that opened my eyes to the advantages of the process... an instrument built with personal attention at every possible stage to your own exacting standards with the potential of your own involvement at each stage.  Of course, there are disciplines involved... the wait for a start, knowing what you want while being willing to be guided by the greater knowledge and exprience of your chosen builder.  Plus, it's not a route for the dilettante who changes guitar every two weeks... When I decided to upgrade from my mid-priced Washburn acoustic there really only seemed one option.  I started researching and trying out whatever British-built acoustics I could find.  Ironically, bearing in mind the two acoustic guitars I now own, the choice came down to two possible brands - Fylde and Brook.  The balance was tipped by a very happy afternoon spent in Guitar Village in Farnham tinkering on the three different Brook models which they had in stock.  I could not help but be impressed by the quality of the instruments and the fact that they cost no more than many of the more "mass produced" quality American guitars on display in the shop - "why ever buy a Taylor?" was the question I ended up asking myself.  I'm not someone who's suffered from "GAS" - gear acquisition syndrome - but I guess I was hooked.  Anyway, enjoy the features below on my guitars... examples of the finest in British luthiery...  Welcome to the world of the beautiful acoustic and electric guitars built by the masters at Brook, Fylde and Gordon Smith...

Acoustic Guitars by Brook and Fylde

Brook Tamar 010:  My first top quality acoustic guitar was built by the luthiers Simon Smidmore and Andy Petherick and their small team at Brook Guitars in Devon in 1999.  We

Andy and Simon at Brook, along with their team, hand craft some of the most beautiful acoustic guitars in the world - easily the equal of other, more celebrated US builders and luthiers.  Interestingly, in the past they also undertook much work for another respected UK luthier - Andy Manson - building many of his "production" model acoustic guitars.

My Tamar is what's referred to as a "small-jumbo" body shape with a solid flamed walnut back and sides, European spruce top and mahogany neck.  In a nice touch, the headstock is faced with a veneer of spalted yew - very pretty.  The fingerboard is ebony but with a rosewood bridge - an arrangement which is apparently common in classical guitar building. The livery is Brook's "010" style - a simpler style than their higher cost "015" style.  Simple wood purfling and binding complement the body woods beautifully and the soundhole rosette and binding feature a delicate herringbone inlay.  Despite being a custom order, after an afternoon of playing a wide range of Brooks in their workshop, most of the appointments and dimensions which I chose were pretty "standard" - in terms of neck profile etc.  Just goes to show that they got their designs right in the first place!  Always a good sign!!

All this adds up to a rich sound which lends itself well to a whole load of playing styles, from gentle finger-picking to all-out strumming.  It even manages to excel at all these diverse styles - unusual for a small bodied guitar.  The Brook's body is very light and resonant which means gentle picking produces a shimmering, delicate sound. Amazingly digging in with a pick also opens up a whole new level of warmth, depth and richness!  At no point does the Tamar seem to "overload" and sound harsh, as some small bodied guitars can.

During the building I also had an LR Baggs Dual Source pickup installed allowing volume and blend control over the under-saddle pickup and internal mic without drilling holes into the guitar sides.  Highly recommended when you don't want to carve huge holes in the side of your guitar and a very natural amplified sound!

There is an interesting point to note about the wood which makes up the guitar.  The walnut which makes up the back and sides was reclaimed from an old walnut tree which blew down in a local public park during the celebrated storms of October 1987 - adding a little more to the "green" credentials of the guitar.  Overall a beautiful sounding and beautifully built guitar.  Check out Brook's beautifully put together website for more info on these guitars and more...

Fylde Gordon Giltrap Signature Guitar:  My second guitar distinctly qualifies me for "You lucky little [deleted]..." status since I won it in a competition in 2003!  The competition was organised by Gordon Giltrap to raise money and awareness for the Arthritis Research Council's Make Music Live campaign.  This was doubly exciting for me since I've been a long-term admirer of the guitars built by Roger Bucknell in the Lake District and, ever since my brother brought home a shiny new copy of the album "Fear of the Dark", a huge fan of Gordon's music!  So, in October that year my wife and I set off to Birmingham for the presentation and spent a pleasant afternoon having lunch with Gordon and Evelyn from ARC eating, talking guitars, music, life and generally setting the world to rights!

Fylde, based in the Lake District of England have, for many years been one of the most respected guitar and acoustic instrument builders in the UK.  They started out in the early 1970s and have been building beautiful instruments (at one scale or another ever since).  Their links with Gordon Giltrap go back to that time - when he was one of their main champions and advocates.  Although more recently associated with builder Rob Armstrong, and still playing his guitars, Gordon recently teamed up again with Roger Bucknell to create Fylde's first actual Giltrap signature model.

The Fylde GG is a smaller bodied guitar but quite different in feel and sound to my Brook.  In fact they really complement each other!  The front is highest grade Engelmann spruce with a three piece solid Indian rosewood back and Indian rosewood sides. The neck is a laminate of mahogany, walnut and ash with an ebony fingerboard and bridge, walnut binding and marquetry.  Tasteful and classy without being over-the-top or ostentatious. Simply beautiful!

Like the Brook it excels at both delicate styles and an all out thrashing - I guess that any guitar designed for Gordon's amazing style, technique and range would have to!  However, the sound seems a little more "forthright" with a distinct push in the mid-range (but without sounding nasal or middly).  The neck and fingerboard are unusually wide for a steel string guitar and the profile seems "shouldered".  However, despite that it does not restrict playability at all - it's quite unlike the feel of a classical guitar neck.  Somehow it is very, very comfortable and just gives your fingers loads of room to move about unhindered while fitting right in the palm of your hand - the perfect compromise between mass and comfort.  In fact the different profile encourages a different left hand style to the slimmer Brook neck.

I've fitted a Fishman Rare Earth Blend pickup (same as the man himself uses).  Again, it is a "non-destructive" installation, gives a beautifully clear and transparent sound with the ability to mix between the magnetic pickup and the internally mounted microphone.  I've also got a Fylde Octavius bouzouki - for those folky little moments - but the less said about my bouzouki playing the better!

Gordon Giltrap playing his signature Fylde acoustic at the Birmingham Symphony Hall in March 2005
(special thanks to Sue Holton for the use of these photos)

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Electric Guitars by Gordon Smith

Gordon Smith GS90:  For the last 25 years Gordon Smith have been making good old, honest to God, working man's guitars just outside Manchester... and at about half the price of their "big name" competitors.  Most of their guitars follow a broadly Les Paul and Les Paul Special form with different levels of embellishment and features.  However my first Gordon Smith was one of their models which departs from that formula - and it's something of a one-off, the "Gordon Smith G90 Genesis".

The G90 is a variant in the Gordon Smith range of the standard model but with offset cutaways and a more contoured body.  The Genesis was specially build for a guitar raffle in support of Flora & Fauna International (a environmental charity supporting sustainable use of Earth resources) in 1995 demonstrating some of the new techniques and features which the company had developed.  The guitar is of solid mahogany construction with a revolutionary, one piece mahogany neck with no separate fingerboard BUT still with a truss-rod in the neck!  No idea how they manage that - answers on a postcard but I'm reckoning that there's highly trained woodworm involved somehow...  The other interesting feature is the pickup which is actually two single coils mounted together as a humbucker - which means that when coil split you get a real single coil tone.  Nice!

The guitar was presented to my by Yes guitarist, Steve Howe (another long time guitar playing hero) at a presentation with the other winners at the London Ecology Centre in Covent Garden, London.  The guitar was also reviewed in The Guitar Magazine by Dave Burrluck who summed up the sound as "...bright, rich and ringing..." "...resonant tone with almost acoustic-like flavour that, combined with the guitar's inherent crispness and ring, makes for a lively little mover". No arguments there!

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Gordon Smith Gypsy II:  My second Gordon Smith is a semi-solid Gypsy II model.  When I decided I fancied a new electric where else would I go! The Gypsy models are a higher spec version of the basic Les Paul Special inspired "GS model" guitar but with higher spec woods and fittings.  My Gypsy also takes advantage of the semi-solid option which Gordon Smith include in their range.  The body is birch with a solid maple core (in Gibson ES335 style).  In addition it is faced with flamed maple veneer finished in a cherry sunburst.  As with the "GS90 SC" I chose the double single coils option for the versatility of humbucking or true single-coil sounds.  All in all the guitar is another beauty - visually attractive and with an amazing selection of tones available.

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Strings and things...

Then, of course there's all those other bits and bobs that go to making a great little guitar.  When it comes to guitar strings there's only one sort that'll grace my little beauties - Newtone Strings, hand-made by Malcolm Newton in deepest, darkest Derbyshire.  Malcolm's strings are some of the best strings I've ever come across - hand-made quality at shop-bought prices.  His strings use a round core wire rather than the more common hex-core.  This leads to a much slinkier feel, more lively sound and strings that just seem to sound better and last much longer than other strings.  For the basses it's always Bass Centre Elites for my electric basses; for my acoustic bass again it's acoustic bass strings made by Newtone - I've never found better!

Then there's the vexed question of who you trust to tweak, fiddle and generally fettle your precious instruments.  Again, that's a decision which requires a skilled craftsman and guitar-lover you trust implicitly.  I'd take by Brook back to the makers but that's a long, long drive.  For me there's only one person in my area who fits the bill, Joe White of J. White Guitar Workshops in Ash Vale near Aldershot.  Over the years I've tried a number of different guitar techs around the South West London and Home Counties area and there's only two that have come up to a standard of work that's head and shoulders above the rest.  The first was Roger Giffin who's now resident in the US working (amongst other things) for Gibson's custom shop.  The other was Joe.  In my opinion his standards of work and service are second to none (and better than some "name" people that I've used!).  If you're in the Surrey, Berkshire, Hampshire area there's not a better guitar-builder and technician than Joe White that I could recommend.

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Text © Trevor Raggatt 2005

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