Acoustic Guitars

I currently make a parlour size guitar with the same body shape as my Clarendon electric and a bridge based on the pinless design by Jeffrey Elliott and Mike Doolin, in both steel and nylon strung versions.

Lots of custom options are available, e.g. the example below was designed to use no tropical woods in its construction, and so has a roasted maple neck, with bridge and fingerboard made of antiqued oak.

A couple of larger models are also in the pipeline.

Clarion Parlour:

Basic spec -

622mm scale, 310mm body width, 1920s Gibson 'A'-style bracing, all African mahogany or cedar/plain maple body, Elliott/Doolin pinless bridge, bolt-on maple or African mahogany neck, Grover Sta-tite or Golden Age 3-on-a-plate tuners, plastic body binding, Tru-oil finish

from £1400

Many wood and hardware options available at extra cost

Also available fan braced with nylon strings

As shown:

Western red cedar top; Claro walnut back & sides; roasted maple neck; bound antiqued oak fingerboard; EVO Gold fretwire; maple binding & wood purfling; Golden Age antique brass tuners

£1850

I'm also happy to consider commisions for one-off instruments. Below are some examples of previous work:

Tenor Guitar 'Royale'

royale tenor 3

royale tenor 1

royale tenor 2

royale tenor 4

royale tenor 5

royale tenor 6

royale tenor 7

royale tenor 8

royale tenor 9

This customer loved the look of those Regal tenor guitars from the interwar years (as do I) - small curvaceous body, short scale, ladder braced, often with hardwood tops and fancy purfling - but wanted a bit more sustain and better bass response than he had heard in the originals. So this tenor keeps the body outline and short (21") scale, but has a deeper body, X-braced top, dual action truss rod, and a fixed bridge rather than the floating bridge and tailpiece of the originals. It's mainly African mahogany (khaya for the top and neck, sapele back and sides) with Indian rosewood appointments, and the bridge is the pinless type developed by Jeffrey Elliot and Mike Doolin. I will also be using this body shape with different bracing for my baritone ukulele.

I'm hoping that if he ever stops playing it long enough to switch on a camera there will be a video of this on the media page here before long...

12-String 'Big Luke'

Big Luke 12 String-4

Big Luke 12 String-1

Big Luke 12 String-2

Big Luke 12 String-15

Big Luke 12 String-3

Big Luke 12 String-6

Big Luke 12 String-16

Big Luke 12 String-9

Big Luke 12 String-7

Big Luke 12 String-8

Big Luke 12 String-10

Big Luke 12 String-12

I built this for myself - it's named after my great grandad - I love Stella 12 strings and Nick Lucas Specials, so I thought I'd combine the two; it's closer in size to a "Barbecue Bob" type Stella than the Leadbelly ones but still kicks out a hell of a noise... Adirondack spruce top, beautiful Claro walnut back and sides, Brazilian mahogany neck, holly and ebony appointments. The Golden Age tuners do a good job, though I might still replace them as they were only available in a reliced finish at the time, and I'd prefer some nice shiny ones on a new guitar. Lightly X-braced (for a 12-string) and very responsive - it seems like the bridge design (which I borrowed from a Weymann guitar - I think...) may take some of the strain off the top, allowing for lighter bracing and a thinner top than would normally be advisable on a guitar under so much string tension. At least, it's been three years now, and it still hasn't imploded so I have every confidence...