The Internally laminated neck design I use combines the strength and rigidity of a laminated neck with the feel and appearance of a one-piece neck. I use some carbon fibre in the lamination. The three-sided glueing surface also adds rigidity and reinforces the weakest part of the neck - the area underneath the truss rod at the headstock.

Having seen many problem necks on vintage guitars, it is my aim to produce a neck that will remain stable for decades and can be easily adjusted when travellig between areas of varying humidity.

The Pickup...

As well as offering slimline floating pickups and in-built pickups, I can also supply this slightly unusual floating pickup. Essentially, It is a regular humbucker with some alterations to the casing and bobbins.

The idea was to produce a pickup which would give full output when played through an amp, yet leave the soundboard undisturbed. This is ideal for a player who wants a 'regular' electric sound when playing a full-bodied archtop. (Slimmer pickups with lower output are also available for a more acoustic or 'lightly amplified' sound.)

The pickup is currently neck-mounted with a small bracket. In order to maintain the correct neck angle, the thickness of the pickup casing needed to be reduced by 1 millimeter. Therefore the normal moulded-plastic bobbins are replaced with slightly smaller hand-made ones. The centre 'block' is made from ebony or rosewood and the top and bottom retainers from carbon fibre. The new bobbins are 1mm smaller in height and have the same winding capacity as the plastic ones.

After the bobbins are made and the bracket attached to the pickup cover, the lot is sent to the UK, where the pickup is hand-wound by Aaron Armstrong (Kent Armstrond & Son)

Design

Before any building is carried out, the design process for each instrument involves hundreds of hours spent refining ideas and problem-solving.

Often the design of a new instruments starts with a few hundred sketches. Small doodles like this one can me found on almost every envelope lying around my home...


After considering the general dimensions, I draw on my Mac with vector software which generates perfect curves and tangents. I often use the sketches as tracing templates.



Lately I have been creating 3-D models for the purpose of milling parts with a computer-controlled router. For the new 15" model, I modelled the top and manage to reproduce it with great accuracy on the machine. This is great for eliminating flat spots and controlling the direction/slope of the arch. Of course, the final thicknessing is done on the inside by hand/ear - the traditional way. This is what gives the guitar it's voice. Each piece of wood is different and time must be spent 'working the wood' and getting to know how it flexes.




This prototype of the 15" also has an ususual locking lever system built into the body which allows you to separate the centre block from the top in seconds allowing it to free-float for a more resonant acoustic sound. This is not an option I offer but it served as an interesting reference point for understanding the tonal effects of reducing vibrations in the top.