Custom Guitars

Custom​ising the build of your new guitar is something that can take many forms and start points.   You can:

• choose from the Standard range (see below) and have one built for you with more exotic/ornate woods, cutaway, or special inlay design that you’ve always wanted on your guitar.  (see below for a complete range of custom options)
• or chose one of my other designs (see below).  These guitars are only built 'to order' - allowing an even higher degree of custom​isation and individuality.

I have been building custom guitars for many years, and I am always ready and happy, to guide you through the "tailor made" guitar experience.

Standard Range of Guitars - with Custom options

* The Rezolution custom range    Due to the benefits of using laminated top and back construction for the Rezolution guitar, it is possible to give the custom option of highly figured woods for the laminates used for the guitar, thereby giving the customer the chance to own a really “one of a kind” resonator guitar!     Wood options are too many to list here, so please call for details, or sample pics. can be sent via the wonders of the Interweb !!!

Custom Built Guitars

The Legend Archtop
The Legend Archtop guitar has aged Flamed Maple cello wood for the hand carved back and the ribs, and the highest grade European Spruce for the hand carved front. The neck is of three piece quarter sawn Flamed Maple construction, with carbon fibre inserts, a two-way truss rod, and topped with an Ebony fingerboard with Flamed Maple binding and fine bw purfling.

The fingerboard is finished off with wide Les Paul style frets. The headstock is faced with Ebony, bound with flamed maple and bw purfling to match the finger board and the adjustable bridge is of Ebony, as is the finger rest. The standard pick up on the Legend guitar, is the Kent Armstrong floating jazz pick up, mounted onto the finger rest, with a volume knob mounted at the end of the finger rest, all of which gives a fabulous sound for the gigging jazz guitarist.

The original design and specification was commissioned by 'Session Legend' Big Jim Sullivan.

Body length: 525      Width: 430 ( 17”)         Depth(ribs): 76         Scale length: 647 (Gibson jazz scale)      Nut width: 46

The Legend Electric EMA
The EMA (Electric;Midi; Acoustic) has book matched American Black Walnut for the carved front and back facings, with a Mahogany core that has routed out resonant chambers on either side of a central solid spine.

The neck is Brazilian Mahogany with Ebony fretboard, head veneer and bindings, set off with black/white purfling. The neck is 24 frets to the body with deep double cutaways to give generous access and playability at the upper frets. The head has Hokusai's "The Great Wave " inlayed in Mother of Pearl, Abalone, Black pearl and Water Buffalo horn.

The Humbuckers are Seymour Duncan, with a '59 Classic at the neck and a JB at the bridge, These are tapped using push/pull volume and tone controls, coupled with a three way switch to give neck/both/bridge switching in both Humbucker and single coil mode.
The bridge pickup is a Fishman Powerbridge, wired through a Powerchip to buffer and mix the Mag signal, with the acoustic signal from the bridge. This again goes through a three way switch, which gives Mags/both/acoustic bridge.

A Roland GK 3™ MIDI pickup with internal electronics is used. This again is switched to enable Jim to have guitar (the mags and acoustic) / both / MIDI only.
The guitar is fitted with the Bigsby™ B5 unit (for those infamous Big Jim Sullivan dives!)
For tuning purposes, Sperzel™ locking tuners are used to give all the stability you could want.

The original design and specification was commissioned by 'Session Legend' Big Jim Sullivan.

Body length: 18 1/8" - 460         Width: 16 1/4" - 412          Body depth at edge: 1 7/8" - 47           Scale: 25 1/2" - 647

The Orpheus Hawaiian Lap slide guitar (Weissenborn)

The Weissenborn guitar, it has to be said, is a truly WONDERFUL instrument.  I was first asked to build one for the fabulous slide guitar player Nigel Johnson & it was decided to base them upon the Weissenborn Style 1.
 
The Orpheus guitar bodies are made from Flamed American Black Walnut throughout, bound with Flamed maple, with an Ebony Maple bound “fretboard”, which has Maple position lines inlayed into it.

The bridge is Ebony with Ebony bridge pins and the headstock is either faced with Ebony or Flamed Black Walnut to match the body.
Tuners are Gotoh™.

Body length: 800 (nut to tail)        Width: 385         Depth: 80        Scale length: 630            Nut width: 55