So a little about myself.
Well the music and guitar bits anyway.
I have been around music and musicians for a long while now. From my eldest brother Gary to Mark and Dave who I used to work with back in my motorcycle days. Yup, that's me below.
When I started playing bass myself a few years back, I wasn't only interested in how to play, and the music theory behind it. I was also interested in how they work. A throw back to my days modifying and racing bikes.
About Me
So, just like I did with bikes, or anything I was interested in actually, I read all I could find. I took my basses apart to find out how they worked. And I talked to my friend Mark who also has the same technical side to him.
Well one thing led to another and before I knew it, the parts where ordered and the wood was in hand to build by first guitar, the Femme Fatale.
It was quite the undertaking for me. I was used to working aluminum from the bikes.
And what I know of metal working boils down to this...
Metal's easy to take off but it's a bitch to put back on. But you can do it.
This lead me to be precise in how I work. It certainly helped as the thing I know of wood is you can't put it back on at all!
You have to wait for a whole bloody tree to grow! lol
So the Femme took me some time, trying to get everything perfect. That never happens on your first build. People liked it though, and even despite the flaws I felt were there people were interested in it.
So I then built Maitresses, to correct those 'flaws'.
And then M.I. 5 to perfect everything.
By this time I was getting serious offers for what I had built already.
While flattering, I felt I wasn't ready yet. There was still so much to learn. So much to try.
So then came Courtesan. My first set neck, bound fret board, laminate neck and first hollow body. My friends were amazed.
Then Maitre-Chanteur. First neck through.
Then Enchanteresse and the most amount of inlay work I have done on a single guitar to date.
Through every build I learned more, and perfected what I already knew.
While there's still more to learn, it was after Enchanteresse that I felt I was ready to offer my services to the musician looking for something unique. Something personal. But not unique for it's own sake.
I have always said that no matter how pretty my designs may be, they're fire wood if they don't sound right and play right.
Thankfully I haven't had to have a barn fire yet! :)
J
