Bare Knuckle Pickups Forum

Forum Ringside => Guitars, Amps and Effects => Topic started by: A Call For Repentance on September 07, 2011, 09:04:13 AM

Title: Could somebody please recommend me a good Guitar Luthier in the UK?
Post by: A Call For Repentance on September 07, 2011, 09:04:13 AM
Well I'm basically looking to have my own custom guitar made an wanted to know of any good guitar luthiers in the UK that can make me a guitar right down to the very last detail. Preferably someone i can throw ideas back and forth with over the next few months regarding what type of woods would be best, neck width/radius, etc.

Cheers :)
Title: Re: Could somebody please recommend me a good Guitar Luthier in the UK?
Post by: psy on September 07, 2011, 09:35:06 AM
Feline Guitars & WezV on this very forum both have turned out some amazing looking instruments.
Title: Re: Could somebody please recommend me a good Guitar Luthier in the UK?
Post by: A Call For Repentance on September 07, 2011, 11:15:27 AM
Do you know if they do custom guitars, right down to the customers very last detail?
Title: Re: Could somebody please recommend me a good Guitar Luthier in the UK?
Post by: Philly Q on September 07, 2011, 11:25:41 AM
They certainly do.

http://wezvenables.co.uk/index.html (http://wezvenables.co.uk/index.html)

http://www.felineguitars.com/ (http://www.felineguitars.com/)

Some more luthiers with connections (of one type or another) to this forum:

http://www.legraguitars.co.uk/ (http://www.legraguitars.co.uk/)

http://www.prguitars.co.uk/ (http://www.prguitars.co.uk/)

http://www.daemonessguitars.co.uk/gallery.php (http://www.daemonessguitars.co.uk/gallery.php)
Title: Re: Could somebody please recommend me a good Guitar Luthier in the UK?
Post by: A Call For Repentance on September 07, 2011, 11:31:48 AM
They certainly do.

http://wezvenables.co.uk/index.html (http://wezvenables.co.uk/index.html)

http://www.felineguitars.com/ (http://www.felineguitars.com/)

Some more luthiers with connections (of one type or another) to this forum:

http://www.legraguitars.co.uk/ (http://www.legraguitars.co.uk/)

http://www.prguitars.co.uk/ (http://www.prguitars.co.uk/)

http://www.daemonessguitars.co.uk/gallery.php (http://www.daemonessguitars.co.uk/gallery.php)

Thankyou very much. I was originally going to go with Legra, but they only do their own design of guitars now. Was also looking at Sims, but always better to look around first :)
Title: Re: Could somebody please recommend me a good Guitar Luthier in the UK?
Post by: A Call For Repentance on September 07, 2011, 12:15:45 PM
Just sent a quote into Daemons? Anybody have experience with these?
Title: Re: Could somebody please recommend me a good Guitar Luthier in the UK?
Post by: Philly Q on September 07, 2011, 12:30:23 PM
If he doesn't see this thread, try a PM to Nolly.  He has at least two Daemoness guitars:

http://bareknucklepickups.co.uk/forum/index.php?topic=22542.0 (http://bareknucklepickups.co.uk/forum/index.php?topic=22542.0)

http://bareknucklepickups.co.uk/forum/index.php?topic=21984.0 (http://bareknucklepickups.co.uk/forum/index.php?topic=21984.0)

http://bareknucklepickups.co.uk/forum/index.php?topic=22141.0 (http://bareknucklepickups.co.uk/forum/index.php?topic=22141.0)
Title: Re: Could somebody please recommend me a good Guitar Luthier in the UK?
Post by: nfe on September 07, 2011, 03:19:26 PM
Yeah Nolly has at least a six and seven. The necks were a little thin around the first few frets for me personally, but they were fantastic feeling instruments, for sure.
Title: Re: Could somebody please recommend me a good Guitar Luthier in the UK?
Post by: dave_mc on September 07, 2011, 04:24:02 PM
legra's very nice (though i didn't know they'd stopped doing complete customs).

I got a stormshadow recently and it's very nice too

i hear great things about feline, wez, daemoness and the like but haven't tried them

:)
Title: Re: Could somebody please recommend me a good Guitar Luthier in the UK?
Post by: Philly Q on September 07, 2011, 05:01:00 PM
I got a stormshadow recently and it's very nice too

C'mon now Dave, you know the rules, pics or it doesn't exist!  :P

I hadn't heard of Stormshadow until this very minute.
Title: Re: Could somebody please recommend me a good Guitar Luthier in the UK?
Post by: dave_mc on September 07, 2011, 06:49:36 PM
:lol:

I don't have any pics i've taken myself, but I have one which were taken by the stormshadow before i bought it

(http://i36.photobucket.com/albums/e28/dave_mc/StormshadowMeanie.jpg)

i'm getting a wee bit of buzz on a couple of the higher frets (though that might be my fault... you have to take the neck off to adjust the truss rod, and me being me and lazy i just figured i had it "close enough" :lol: ), but aside from that it's really nice.

They had a bunch of NOS models on ebay for decent prices and I couldn't resist.

EDIT: oh yeah, it's brighter than that in real life :lol: :D
Title: Re: Could somebody please recommend me a good Guitar Luthier in the UK?
Post by: nfe on September 07, 2011, 08:03:14 PM
That's a delightfully silly guitar.
Title: Re: Could somebody please recommend me a good Guitar Luthier in the UK?
Post by: ElectricTurkey4369 on September 07, 2011, 08:45:05 PM
I'm really GASing for a Siggery guitar right now. Too bad I'm in Canada  :(
Title: Re: Could somebody please recommend me a good Guitar Luthier in the UK?
Post by: Roobubba on September 07, 2011, 09:01:32 PM
WezV was absolutely fantastic when he made the Vociferator for me:
http://wezvenables.co.uk/Vociferator.html

Absolutely completely and utterly recommended - every last detail was discussed, and Wez is a top bloke!

(PS I now have an aftermath in there, but the black dog was a great pickup for this axe too!)

Roo
Title: Re: Could somebody please recommend me a good Guitar Luthier in the UK?
Post by: Roobubba on September 07, 2011, 09:02:03 PM
WezV was absolutely fantastic when he made the Vociferator for me:
http://wezvenables.co.uk/Vociferator.html

Absolutely completely and utterly recommended - every last detail was discussed, and Wez is a top bloke!

(PS I now have an aftermath in there, but the black dog was a great pickup for this axe too!)

Roo

PS I only play that guitar, and I have no wish to play another ever again :)
Title: Re: Could somebody please recommend me a good Guitar Luthier in the UK?
Post by: FELINEGUITARS on September 07, 2011, 10:34:18 PM
I'm really GASing for a Siggery guitar right now. Too bad I'm in Canada  :(

I have one for sale (one that I rebuilt and improved) - will get some pix tonight
Title: Re: Could somebody please recommend me a good Guitar Luthier in the UK?
Post by: WezV on September 07, 2011, 10:37:22 PM
Thanks for the recommendations peeps - and whilst i do love to do the full client involvement  thing it is very time consuming and i think i am going to have to give things like that a miss for a little while - focus on what i want to build at the speed i want to build it

 roo's started with us swapping sketches and notes and i think we did discuss every tiny detail along the way - right down to 4 or 5 different oil finish options at the end (it ended up with a different one on the front to the back to really make the most of the wood).  its a lot of fun collaborating that way and i think its important to make the person feel involved - but also very time consuming... and not profitable if the builder is doing it for their primary income.  

so whoever you go for  i would recommend doing some research about what you want, but also listening to how they want to do it.  good to discuss all the options, but its no fun if the client wants to discuss, but needs educating on every last detail
Title: Re: Could somebody please recommend me a good Guitar Luthier in the UK?
Post by: Philly Q on September 07, 2011, 11:12:33 PM
:lol:

I don't have any pics i've taken myself, but I have one which were taken by the stormshadow before i bought it

(http://i36.photobucket.com/albums/e28/dave_mc/StormshadowMeanie.jpg)

i'm getting a wee bit of buzz on a couple of the higher frets (though that might be my fault... you have to take the neck off to adjust the truss rod, and me being me and lazy i just figured i had it "close enough" :lol: ), but aside from that it's really nice.

They had a bunch of NOS models on ebay for decent prices and I couldn't resist.

EDIT: oh yeah, it's brighter than that in real life :lol: :D

Funky!  :D

Presumably based on Vai's "Green Meanie" just before he switched to Ibanez?
Title: Re: Could somebody please recommend me a good Guitar Luthier in the UK?
Post by: Afghan Dave on September 08, 2011, 09:33:09 AM
:lol:

I don't have any pics i've taken myself, but I have one which were taken by the stormshadow before i bought it

(http://i36.photobucket.com/albums/e28/dave_mc/StormshadowMeanie.jpg)

i'm getting a wee bit of buzz on a couple of the higher frets (though that might be my fault... you have to take the neck off to adjust the truss rod, and me being me and lazy i just figured i had it "close enough" :lol: ), but aside from that it's really nice.

They had a bunch of NOS models on ebay for decent prices and I couldn't resist.

EDIT: oh yeah, it's brighter than that in real life :lol: :D

Funky!  :D

Presumably based on Vai's "Green Meanie" just before he switched to Ibanez?

I bloody LOVE that!

It even has the cutout on the lower horn... I'd go for the white pickguard though!

(http://static.keebali.com/jemsite.com/jem/photos/vai_axes/v_p_10f.jpg)
Title: Re: Could somebody please recommend me a good Guitar Luthier in the UK?
Post by: ToneMonkey on September 08, 2011, 12:18:40 PM
Looks like a guitar that Willy Wonka's built  :lol:
Title: Re: Could somebody please recommend me a good Guitar Luthier in the UK?
Post by: dave_mc on September 08, 2011, 01:31:30 PM
^ :lol:

That's a delightfully silly guitar.

my thoughts exactly :lol:

Funky!  :D

Presumably based on Vai's "Green Meanie" just before he switched to Ibanez?

yeah i think so :) thanks :)

I bloody LOVE that!

It even has the cutout on the lower horn... I'd go for the white pickguard though!

(http://static.keebali.com/jemsite.com/jem/photos/vai_axes/v_p_10f.jpg)

thanks :)

Yeah, I think it's "based on" rather than a completely 100% accurate copy. as you say, the pickguard's the wrong colour, the volume knob etc.

I think i prefer the black 'guard, but white would be more authentic.

Just need to get a pink volume knob and switch tip whenever allparts gets them back into stock (they're always sold out of one or the other) :lol:

there's also some really nice birdseye on the neck and board which don't show up in that pic
Title: Re: Could somebody please recommend me a good Guitar Luthier in the UK?
Post by: plastercaster on September 08, 2011, 03:38:30 PM
Do you know if they do custom guitars, right down to the customers very last detail?
Hi,
Feline guitars made me this custom:
(http://i172.photobucket.com/albums/w11/fasterplastercaster/guitar/complete2.jpg)

http://bareknucklepickups.co.uk/forum/index.php?topic=23345.msg309439#msg309439

As you can see it is a true custom design, I also had choice of woods, fretboard radius, fret gauge, hardware, electronics and the rest!

Most importantly it is beautifully made, sounds the absolute business and plays like nothing on earth.

Jon comes with my unqualified recommendation.

In fact I'm going to enjoy his handiwork right now!

Enjoy your custom guitar hunt  :)
Title: Re: Could somebody please recommend me a good Guitar Luthier in the UK?
Post by: ToneMonkey on September 08, 2011, 03:47:10 PM
If you're not 100% sure exactly what you want, I would have a read through of Make Your Own Electric Guitar by Melvin Hisc--k. Not only is it an interesting read (for guitar geeks like us lot anyway), but it'll take you through the design process step by step.

What sort of questions have you got? There's more knowledge on these boards than there are necks under PhillyQ's bed, so post a few of them here if you want. I'm sure we'll all chip in.
Title: Re: Could somebody please recommend me a good Guitar Luthier in the UK?
Post by: PRguitars on September 08, 2011, 03:57:39 PM
if your talking about custom made? these are guitars I've made for people in the past.

http://www.prguitars.co.uk/aprguitars%20gallery.html   

e-mail me your spec and I'll see what I can do  :D

www.prguitars.co.uk

Cheers

Paul
Title: Re: Could somebody please recommend me a good Guitar Luthier in the UK?
Post by: ToneMonkey on September 08, 2011, 03:59:11 PM
I've not got first hand experiance with PR's guitars (not that I can play the bloody things anyway), but there's a lot of love for his work on these boards.

Title: Re: Could somebody please recommend me a good Guitar Luthier in the UK?
Post by: PRguitars on September 08, 2011, 04:08:50 PM
I've not got first hand experiance with PR's guitars (not that I can play the bloody things anyway), but there's a lot of love for his work on these boards.


Thanks mate  :D

Well I did get best British guitar maker and Guitarist choice by the Guitarist mag lol  :D and got the highest score of any guitar maker by Guitar Buyer mag too.  :D
 
Title: Re: Could somebody please recommend me a good Guitar Luthier in the UK?
Post by: Philly Q on September 08, 2011, 04:46:31 PM
There's more knowledge on these boards than there are necks under PhillyQ's bed

Not quite.....  :P
Title: Re: Could somebody please recommend me a good Guitar Luthier in the UK?
Post by: FELINEGUITARS on September 08, 2011, 04:54:36 PM
I'm really GASing for a Siggery guitar right now. Too bad I'm in Canada  :(

I have one for sale (one that I rebuilt and improved) - will get some pix tonight

Here she is
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v662/felineguitars/EBAY/siggery%20strat/siggerystrat4.jpg)

Here she is in Seconds Out: http://bareknucklepickups.co.uk/forum/index.php?topic=25529.msg334992#msg334992 (http://bareknucklepickups.co.uk/forum/index.php?topic=25529.msg334992#msg334992)
Title: Re: Could somebody please recommend me a good Guitar Luthier in the UK?
Post by: PRguitars on September 08, 2011, 05:03:45 PM
I'm really GASing for a Siggery guitar right now. Too bad I'm in Canada  :(

I have one for sale (one that I rebuilt and improved) - will get some pix tonight

Here she is
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v662/felineguitars/EBAY/siggery%20strat/siggerystrat4.jpg)

Here she is in Seconds Out: http://bareknucklepickups.co.uk/forum/index.php?topic=25529.msg334992#msg334992 (http://bareknucklepickups.co.uk/forum/index.php?topic=25529.msg334992#msg334992)

Nice  :D
Title: Re: Could somebody please recommend me a good Guitar Luthier in the UK?
Post by: ToneMonkey on September 08, 2011, 06:13:58 PM
Not my thing, but still very very sexy
Title: Re: Could somebody please recommend me a good Guitar Luthier in the UK?
Post by: AndyR on September 08, 2011, 06:57:52 PM
There's more knowledge on these boards than there are necks under PhillyQ's bed

:lol:

Someone will have this as their sig before long...


On the luthiers front - another personal recommendation from me for Jonathan at Feline Guitars. No custom guitars for me as yet, but all the work he's done for me has been excellent.
Title: Re: Could somebody please recommend me a good Guitar Luthier in the UK?
Post by: Matt77 on September 08, 2011, 07:03:02 PM
I've played several of Wez's, Feline's and PRGuitars' instruments.
All are top notch.
I'm sure you would be happy with any of them as long as you know what you want.

I can't see my Feline leaving the fold any time soon except when it goes home to Croydon for a refret.
Title: Re: Could somebody please recommend me a good Guitar Luthier in the UK?
Post by: FELINEGUITARS on September 08, 2011, 08:31:06 PM
There's more knowledge on these boards than there are necks under PhillyQ's bed

:lol:

Someone will have this as their sig before long...


My God that's better than my old quote calling Twinfan the Noah of guitars - because at one time he had two of every guitar he owned.
I used to be convinced that was why he was called Twinfan - till he told me it had to do with Motorbikes
Title: Re: Could somebody please recommend me a good Guitar Luthier in the UK?
Post by: Philly Q on September 09, 2011, 01:37:06 AM
 :oops:


Changing the subject.... that Feline-modded Siggery looks alright for a Superstrat...
Title: Re: Could somebody please recommend me a good Guitar Luthier in the UK?
Post by: Afghan Dave on September 09, 2011, 04:48:21 AM
There's more knowledge on these boards than there are necks under PhillyQ's bed

:lol:

Someone will have this as their sig before long...


DONE!  :P
Title: Re: Could somebody please recommend me a good Guitar Luthier in the UK?
Post by: Philly Q on September 09, 2011, 08:21:31 AM
 :lol:
Title: Re: Could somebody please recommend me a good Guitar Luthier in the UK?
Post by: kingoflight on September 09, 2011, 08:49:05 PM
http://www.crimsonguitars.com/ (http://www.crimsonguitars.com/)

check out the mans diary, should give you enough info to see if he's the right man for you.

Title: Re: Could somebody please recommend me a good Guitar Luthier in the UK?
Post by: Dr. Stein on September 09, 2011, 09:12:15 PM
My God that's better than my old quote calling Twinfan the Noah of guitars - because at one time he had two of every guitar he owned.
I used to be convinced that was why he was called Twinfan - till he told me it had to do with Motorbikes

I'd always just assumed that at some point in the distant past he use to use fender twins. You learn something new every day!
Title: Re: Could somebody please recommend me a good Guitar Luthier in the UK?
Post by: Kiichi on September 09, 2011, 10:27:36 PM
He could have just really been into twins too....I mean I could get behind that!