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For those that are interested
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How do you get to be a luthier? Well, just about
every instrument maker I know has gone a different route. Everyone of them
however share a few common experiences. A love of music, a passion for musical
instruments, an incurable desire to know what makes a good one and perhaps
above all a determination to succeed at their chosen profession
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In my case. A life long interest in playing the guitar and
many years working as a Cabinet Maker. Little was I to know when I first
picked up the guitar at the age of twelve it was to become a life long
obsession. The Idea of making instruments hit me shortly after and just about
everything I did after pushed me in that direction.
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Back in those days there were not many
opportunities to train as an instrument maker so cabinet making seemed to be the
obvious choice. After a good few years working "on the bench" and
building instruments at home I took the plunge and returned to full time
education and completed a degree in Musical Instrument Technology at The London
Guildhall University. While doing so I developed an interest in early fretted
instruments which is why you'll find Lutes and Viola de Gamba among the
instruments detailed here. Once the extravagance of returning to education had
been completed I set up shop and have never looked back. That was ten years ago.
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The Passion for Instruments of all kinds has in
fact grown since. Not a day goes by when you wont find me obsessing over some
small detail of instrument construction or waxing lyrical about the benefits
of one timber over another in certain applications. Put simply I now
couldn't do anything else for a living and be happy. Not that that its an easy
living, but with a fantastic wife and a determination to continue down this path
things couldn't be better.
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Having just turned forty this year, I continue to
play guitar, banjo and mandolin in swing , jump jive, bluegrass bands. In
fact there ain't much I wont play when given the chance. Hey, its all music
after all, and what a sad place the world would be without it.
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Other passions that I can't seem to shake
include, weekly attempts to improve my cricket, West Ham United Football Club
and an ever growing collection of Bonsai. In truth however, for me life is all
about "Moving Air".
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