My guitars are built from solid wood sourced from the best suppliers I can find. I buy most of my wood from the American market. This is mainly because the quality of wood provided by US suppliers (especially for the small volume builder) usually surpasses what is available in the UK and is often cheaper even after import duties and shipping.

I am a hobby builder. All my guitars are built in my spare time at my own pace. I rarely have more than one guitar under construction at any one time. It usually takes me between three to four months to build a guitar from start to finish. I build my guitars in a work room with a controlled humidity environment which is kept at 37-42% RH. I make many of the components of the guitar myself rather than buying them ready made. I make the linings, end-blocks, nut and saddle, bindings, bridges and braces. Necks are constructed from mahogany planks. If there is an inlay to be done I cut and inlay it myself. This is all part of the fun!

My method of construction has evolved as I have gained more experience. There are as many different ways to make a guitar as there are stars in the sky. Every maker has his favourite methods and reasons why they are the best for him/her. At the end of the day we each chose a particular method because it suits us best or it leads to the sound we want to achieve. If all guitars were the same there would be far less choice for the consumer.

FINISH

A word about pore filling. I hate it! Someone once said that whoever decided guitars should be completely smooth without any pores showing should be dug up and killed again. The process of pore filling the more porous woods such as Rosewood and Walnut can be very time consuming. It can also involve a lot of sanding and I have a problem shoulder that does not like to do much sanding. I haven't found a satisfactory method of pore filling yet and it is the subject of frequent discussion among guitar builders. Many methods have been tried. Some are more succesful than others. Eventually over time the finish will sink into the pores of the wood and the pores will begin to show no matter what you do. I have given up trying to hide the pores. I actually prefer to see the beauty of the wood as nature intended. So from now on my guitars will have a simple pore fill process but I cannot guarantee that the pores will be hidden forever. In fact they are likely to show from day one. If you do not like this type of finishing then my guitars are not for you. 'Nuff said.

Nitrocellulose lacquer is most commonly used by the small to medium volume builder as it has stood the test of time and is widely considered one of the best finishes. It is however solvent based, explosive when sprayed, bad for the environment and very bad for the user. I have chosen not to use it. I am currently using waterbased finishes which are now gaining in popularity and used by some very well known builders. The water based finish is safe, can be sprayed with simple precautions and does not damage the environment or your neighbour as the fumes drift over his garden! The finish when cured is waterproof but is however slightly softer than nitro and so I usually recommend a scratchplate for flatpickers. I can fit a clear scratchplate which does not detract from the beauty of the top wood.

I am also experimenting with other finishes including oil based ones such as tru-oil.

BRACING

Probably the most important contribution to the sound of a guitar is the soundboard and the bracing method. You can read a brief summary of soundboard woods here. I began making guitars using a standard bracing method with X braces and 2 transverse tone bars placed asymmetrically across the soundboard. Most guitars have this bracing pattern including Martin guitars. As I have continued to build I have sought a different sound and now adopt a different bracing pattern. I now use a symmetrical bracing pattern which was first introduced by Jean Larrivee and which is used by several others including Grit Laskin and Linda Manzer. The X-braces cross each other at 90 degrees and the 2 tone bars are symetrically placed with the lower tone bar meeting the legs of the X braces as they cross the rim of the guitar. This type of bracing imparts a slightly different sound. I'm not claiming it to be any better than the other methods of bracing, each to their own, but I find the sound produced is more pleasing to my ears.

SIDE BRACES

My guitars have side braces glued across the grain of the sides. These are made from quarter sawn spruce and are mortised into the kerfed lining of the back of the guitar. On the top of the guitar they interrupt the linings and extend towards the top, finishing just short of the top itself. The function of these braces is twofold. Firstly and most importantly they stiffen the sides. The sides do not transmit sound, they form a rigid platform for the top and back plates to vibrate upon. They absorb most of the compressive force of the strings and transmit sound only very inefficiently. Pluck a string and feel the top plate, back and sides. Notice how the sides hardly vibrate at all. The vibration of the top is transmitted to the back through the air inside the guitar and this is done most efficiently if the sides absorb as little energy as possible. The second function of the braces is to help prevent the sides cracking as the result of an accident. If a guitar side is damaged and cracked the crack can follow the grain all around the guitar from end-block to end-block. The side braces help to limit that sort of damage.

NECK CONSTRUCTION

My necks are all Mahogany and employ a stacked heel and scarf jointed peghead. The peghead is re-inforced both front and back with a veneer for extra strength and beauty. All my guitars are fitted with a dual action truss rod and are adjusted through the soundhole.

Neck Joint

I use a hardware based neck joint. This has become much more common in recent times and is used by many high end manufacturers including Taylor Guitars and Bourgeois Guitars. Essentially my necks are bolted on using two bolts through the neck block and into threaded inserts in the heel of the neck. The advantage of this system is that the neck is easily removed for adjustments and altering the neck angle is very easy. I do not claim any superiority over the more usual dovetailed neck joint. I simply prefer the bolt-on method. It fits with my style of working and I like it.

TEA LEAVES

I really believe that making a good guitar is actually not difficult. Making a great guitar however takes a lot of experience, skill and patience. I'm not deluding myself. I know I still have a lot to learn (and perhaps will never stop learning). There are a few short cuts that can help such as following tried and tested methods and learning from others with more experience. I have had first hand benefit of advice from two very good Luthiers - Alan Marshall of Northworthy Guitars and David Oddy - and I have also had the benefit of the wealth of knowledge and expertise on the Musical Instrument Makers Forum. In fact I spent so much time there that I got invited to join the staff and now help to run it.

An important step in building a guitar is tuning the top. Builders have all sorts of methods involving tapping and listening to the sound, flexing the top between the fingers, scratching it, singing at it to feel the response and many more ways. Coming from a scientific background I became interested in one particular method for helping to predetermine the quality and consistency of the sound of a guitar top using soundwaves and Chladni (or glitter) patterns. If one excites a guitar top with a soundwave it will resonate. If the top is sprinkled with glitter (I use tea-leaves), the excitation causes the tea-leaves to move and bounce. When a resonant frequency is hit, the leaves form a pattern on the soundboard. Al Carruth has researched this in detail and believes that although working with the free plate before it is glued to the guitar, he can achieve a good sound from the finished instrument by aiming for a particular pattern within a range of set frequencies. Following his work I have determined which pattern and range of frequencies produces the sound I'm looking for and so one step in the building of my guitars involves predicting the sound with tea-leaves! I have yet to invest in a crystal ball. All I know is that since using this method I am getting a more consistent sound between instruments.