Construction 

There must be a thousand ways to make a guitar. I am very much a devotee of the solid topped, fan braced guitar. This deceptively simple system is capable of a whole world of tonal variation through careful distribution of stiffness and mass, control of neck angle (and thus bridge height), and to a lesser extent, the doming. The exact layout of the braces is, I believe, less important. It is the visible feature of a greater system. It can certainly make a difference, just less of one than the other factors. For what it's worth, I use an assymetric fan, not too different in layout to that used by many before me. Perhaps more importantly, I use zero neck angle combined with a deep arching across the lower bout. This gives me a string height above the soundboard of 11mm, and I use a fairly light bridge. My tops and bracing are fairly light, I feel that the deep arching is what has allowed this.

I employ a mixture of old world and modern woodworking techniques. I use hot hide glue for almost everything. It has many benefits for both the developing luthier and the professional, and allows a few trick that other glues do not. Those still developing their skills will find hide glue's lack of gap filling properties forces their joinery to improve. For the professional many jobs are faster and simpler using hide glue, once you have the skills. It is reversible, and cleans up more easily than anything else.

I join my top and back plates with hide glue using a rubbed joint. The two pieces are literally rubbed back and forth until the glue "grabs", held still for a minute (just for luck) , and then released. By the time I have planed the joint for the next top the last one is ready to lean against the wall. On a good day I can do five or six tops, or four back joints, in an hour. It is also the method that gives the strongest and least visible joint. It's superfast and jig free, but be prepared to do a stack of test pieces before you get the knack.

All of my braces are split to size rather than being sawn. This process, much like splitting kindling, allows the long fibres of the spruce to lie paralell to the length of the brace, making it far stronger. It is also good craft, as the only waste is wood that was never suitable for braces anyway! To glue the fans, the soundboard is pressed face down into the Solera (a hollowed workboard) and the fans are sprung into place and glued with hot hide glue, again using a rubbed joint. When the glue dries the fans hold the soundboard to the inverse shape of the solera

I cut my rosette channels by hand. I find the edges are cleaner than with a router. My rosettes are istalled using the "dummy line" method described by Eugene Clarke in his excellent American Lutherie articles. In brief, the entire rosette is installed in one go, with waxed veneer lines taking the place of the central mosaic. Once the glue dries, the waxed lines are removed, leaving a channel for the tiles. . My personal preference is to keep the mosaic small, compared to the outer elements. Sometimes I am persuaded otherwise. Occasionally I replace the central mosaic with solid wood with interesting grain or figure.

The sustainability of my timber supply is very important to me. Sustainably harvested timbers are available, but not much gets cut into guitar sets. I have set up to do my own high precision resawing, allowing me to buy FSC (Forest Stewardship Council) acreditied wood in plank or billet form and cut it to my specification with very little waste. I am happy to say that I have good, and growing, stock of sustainable timber. This is now coming on stream as it becomes sufficiently seasoned. I do not use Brazilian Rosewood, or anything from Madagascar. Please don't ask.

All of my guitars are French Polished, by hand, in the traditional way. It is time consuming and labour intensive but it is beautiful, kinder to the environment than spraying and the tonal qualities are second to none. Also, having had numerous bad experiences in repairing instruments with synthetic finishes, in particular the catalyzed lacquers, I am convinced that French polish is the best option for longevity