Commission Builds
Fancy a handmade instrument? I can build you an instrument to your specifications. If you are interested, best to get in touch to discuss ideas etc. Prices will vary greatly depending on the project, materials etc.
what I could build for you:
Acoustic guitar, banjo, ukulele, flat-top mandolin, bouzouki, mandola.
If you have any obscure or out there ideas for instruments, get in touch, I love a challenge!
Below are a few examples of instruments I have built:
Mahogany 12-fret dreadnought acoustic
Mahogany neck, back and sides.
Mahogany top
Rosewood fretboard, bridge, and headplate.
Rosewood binding with herringbone purfling
Bone nut and saddle
Bone bridge pins with mother-of-pearl inlay dots.
Soft satin hard Wax oil finish.
Golden age restoration tuners
12 inch old-time banjo
12 inch rim, 26.5 inch scale length.
Walnut block construction rim, walnut neck
Rosewood fingerboard and head plate
Bone nut, walnut bridge with ebony cap
brass hardware from rickard banjos, brass
gotoh tuners.
JD balch goatskin hide head.
carbon fibre neck re-enforcement rod.
tru-oil finish
7-string Stauffer style Romantic era guitar.
Parlour Acoustic
This guitar I built for a customer was inspired by the Viennese guitars of the Romantic era, particularly Stauffer's Legnani model, but with an additional bass drone string.
Materials:
Stained maple neck, bird's eye maple back and sides, spruce top, ebony fingerboard and bridge, ebony nut, saddle and bridge pins.
Sapele neck, back and sides.
Spruce top
Rosewood fretboard, bridge, and headplate.
Walnut binding
Maple decorative headstock inlay
Bone nut and saddle
Rosewood bridge pins with mother-of-pearl inlay dots.
Soft satin hard Wax oil finish.
Golden age restoration tuners
steel bar re-enforced neck, non adjustable.
Dreadnought Acoustic
Sapele neck, back and sides.
Spruce top
Rosewood fretboard, bridge, headplate and scratch plate.
Maple binding
Maple fretboard inlays and decorative headstock inlay
Bone nut and saddle
Bone bridge pins with mother-of-pearl inlay dots.
Soft satin hard Wax oil finish.
Golden age restoration relic brass tuners
Two way adjustable truss-rod, adjustment through sound hole.
Jumbo 3mm fret wire
rosewood strap end pin.
Flat-top mandolin
English Sycamore neck, back and sides.
Spruce top
Rosewood fretboard, bridge, and headplate andbinding
Maple decorative headstock inlay
Bone nut and saddle
Soft satin hard Wax oil finish.
carbon fibre re-enforced neck.
Romantic style classical guitar
This small bodied romantic style guitar, was inspired by the classical guitars of the romantic period, with is bridge inspired by the work of 19th century luthier Louis Panormo, it's friction peg headstock, and ladder-braced soundboard, which was a common method of re-enforcing a guitar's soundboard at the time.
Maple neck, back and sides.
Cedar top
Ebony fretboard, bridge, and headplate.
Ebony binding
Maple decorative headstock inlay
Bone nut and saddle
Ebony bridge pins with mother-of-pearl inlay dots.
Soft satin hard Wax oil finish.
Hill heart style boxwood friction pegs, with black collar and pin.
Minstrel-style tack-head fretless banjo
This banjo was inspired by banjos of the American Civil War, with it's fretless fingerboard, big deep 12.5" pot, boucher style friction peg headstock and 27.5" scale length for a deeper sound and lower tunings.
Beech neck, Ash block construction pot.
tacked on bleached vellum head.
Ebony friction pegs
Rosewood fingerboard and headplate.
Maple fretboard inlays
Bone nut
Spirit stained and finished with shellac varnish.