In 2004 I was riding in Healesville when I passed a small sign on the road which announced an open day for guitar makers so did a u turn and braved the long dirt track to the studio on my Hyabusa. That was the first time I had met Chris and although the day was not for new comers, he welcomed me and showed me some of the guitars that were in progress, and a finished classical which looked amazing and sounded awesome. I was hooked and signed up on the spot.
Over the next 2 years I made a classical guitar out of rosewood and cedar with millennium bracing and a mahogany neck, and an acoustic guitar out of sassafras and spruce, with a Queensland maple neck. Both guitars look and sound great and are still going strong. My daughter (Madeleine Mei) won’t play anything else on stage, and the acoustic sounds amazing on her CD with no effects or equalizing.
When I started the first course, Chris had just moved the entire guitar school to Montsalvat so I missed out on the ride to lovely Healesville, but the artist colony had it’s attractions too. Our studio was on the top of the old woodworkers shop in the attic and Chris had built benches against two of the four walls (one wall was about 2 feet high as the roof sloped down on that side). The room could take three students at a squeeze but the lack of room never seemed to be a problem, and Chris despite dividing himself into many parts for us, was always ready with a cup of coffee when he saw our need! The drum sander, drop saw and drill press were all down stairs and the tap for wetting the sides in the garden which was also the men’s room...
Lunch break at 1pm was kept religiously and was a good time to talk about our experiences and share our knowledge of the guitar and other things in our lives.
That year was divided into Saturdays. The rest of the week was just in the way and all I could think of was how my guitar was going to look the following week. Chris never took a holiday so long weekends were there for us to enjoy extra time with him.
The first guitar was completed and it was better than I ever could have dreamed it would be. I signed on for another year!
Since that time I have been making guitars in my own home. At first in the carport in Ringwood which posed many problems, one of which Chris mentions in his video and whenever I watch this segment it’s as if he is talking to me! On one of my first guitars I glued the back on in the morning before work (around 5am) and by the time I got home in the evening it was in about 3 pieces! The back had split into two, and the sides had pulled clean off the top. I then bought a hygrometer and found that the humidity varied from around 90% in the morning to 35% in the afternoon.
We have moved house 7 times in the last ten years and so I have left several studios behind me, each one better than the previous one. We now live on the Redcliffe Peninsula Queensland and I occupy the lower half of the house. I still have problems with humidity in the summer but with air-conditioning and dehumidifiers, and religiously checking my hygrometer during the day, I have not had any disasters (yet).
My main interest these days is in classical guitars, and I have regressed to methods used by Torres 200 years ago. Consequently all my guitars are made in the Spanish method using a Solera, although I have gone back to the dovetail several times, especially for a Fleta classical as that was the method he used.
I am also interested in Bass guitars as I am a bass player, but also because of the freedom of expression it allows me. It’s a lot of fun experimenting with design concepts and wood combinations, and I feel like a sculptor when carving the instrument. It’s also a challenge to fit the bass to a customer and since there are no rules, can be designed from the ground up. Whenever I am making a custom guitar (bass or acoustic) I take the time to draw up a complete set of plans illustrating the shape, size, pickup positions and machine head fitting to a headstock and from all angles. This prevents mistakes happening later in the construction when alterations can be difficult or even impossible.
At the moment we are in Nepal, and each year we spend 5-6 months here working in an orphanage amongst other things. I have set up a studio in one of the buildings and have started teaching a Tibetan orphan to make guitars. It’s been a slow process, but it is happening and we are committed to make it succeed as there are no guitar makers here, and it is an opportunity for this boy to make a living out of it. Our first 3 guitars were made from local plywood and they turned out surprisingly well. We are now resawing rosewood for the backs and sides and a local pine for the tops. These we’ll put aside to dry for next years work.
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