I have always been surrounded by music and carpentry. Our house growing up was full of furniture, toys and art made by my grandfathers. Some of my earliest memories are in the workshop making our own toys. I use tools every day that have been in my family for well over eighty years.

I began playing guitar as a teenager and quickly realised I wasn’t going to make a living on stage but was fascinated by how instruments worked. I worked in guitar shops repairing instruments and spent weekends with a local luthier watching and learning about guitars. 

After finishing with a First Class Degree in Musical Instruments at London Metropolitan University - formerly the London College of Furnituremaking - I began touring as a guitar tech. First with friends’ bands and, later, much bigger artists and some household names. I’ve worked for Queen, Mumford and Sons, Royal Blood, Bloc Party, Ben Howard, and many others.

All of my tools, timber and half-finished instruments lay dormant for several years while I toured the world with bands. I spent a lot of time with some wonderful guitars, learning what musicians really need and really want; and learning that the two are not always the same!

When touring became impossible in 2020, I took the opportunity to make the most of my enforced sabbatical and develop a line of lap steel instruments with the support of an Arts Council grant.

From my workshop in Manchester, England my instruments are handmade by me. Wherever possible, I source parts from UK manufacturers and suppliers. There are so many excellent small businesses - making pickups and hardware, supplying responsibly-sourced timber and building quality flight cases - which I want to support.

See what’s currently for sale here, and read more about the models I offer here.