" If you're a guitarist - you've dreamt of the perfect guitar for you - this is the easiest, best value and incredibly enjoyable way of getting it"

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Building Your Own...

So like all of us, there is a picture in your head of the best guitar ever. But it isn't in any guitar shop, and having it made for you is just beyond the reach of even your credit card - but there is a way.

This is how it starts - with a visit to the woodroom - your choice of woods for the body, neck and fingerboard. If you want a bookmatched cap we have a wide range in stock but are also happy to get what you want in if we can. (see Materials and Finishes).

With the Bailey system, experience and attention to detail,  you don't need special skills, and we guarantee you will make a guitar that you will be proud of, that plays well, and that will impress. You'll do it amazingly quickly too - from 5 days for a bolt on neck or fast track set-neck, 8 days for a thru neck, and all of them from blocks of wood - no kits. Sound impossible? 

Well, the two violin guitars in the photo at the bottom of this page were made in 8 days, one of them by a woman who had never previously used any wood working or power tool. As to the quality - one of those players owns two PRS guitars and plays the one he made with us in preference to either of them. 

You can see and hear the results by clicking on the relevant page of this web-site. Just about everything possible has been made - pointy rock guitars, the usual popular shapes of well known models, violin shapes, teardrops - you imagine it, and you can make it. Glued necks, bolt ons and even through necks. Humbuckers, single coils, P90s - wired in every combination imaginable - give you access to a huge range of sounds, which you chose. If it can be bought - you can have it - from Wilkinson pickups to Bareknuckle...and anything in between,from stop tail to Floyd Rose. Coil tapped if you want, the possibilities are endless.

Neck joint glued and clamped, and the ebony is now on the headstock. (see the GPO on the Gallery Page to see how this one turned out). The ebony fingerboard has been glued on and shaped, and dot markers added..

And there's more - you can choose the body wood you want - or even bring your own piece, as long as it's suitable as a tone wood, and is in good condition (we would need to discuss this before you come and see the wood to confirm - ideally it should be in our wood room for at least 2 weeks before starting work). And then you can choose, if you want, from a range of caps - maple flame and quilt, and beyond that delve into exotic woods, depending what is available. You will get something spectacular, and which will turn heads wherever you play.

Snakewood - wood doesn't come much more exotic than this.....you can see the "fake" binding on the body, made by leaving the edge of the maple cap it's natural colour.

And then you can choose your finish - Liberon oil is included in the course price.   OR for an extra charge you can opt for a satin finish (Mark sprays and it dries overnight). If you leave your guitar for us for about 6- week, then there is the full gloss nitro-cellulose finish option (natural, stained, full colour sunburst etc etc) all entirely up to you. And the control knobs, and the headstock shape, and the wiring, and the type of frets, the number of frets - just about everything is entirely your choice. If it's physically possible you can have it - you are only limited by time and your own budget..

We'll talk through your ideas, and make sure everything you need is available, and that the design makes good guitar sense. Then you could be clutching your dream guitar in just a few weeks......

Have a look around this site, and see what has been done. Use the design form to work out approximate cost. You can consider some of the options by using our Virtual Guitar Design system. If you want a hand-built, quality guitar made exactly to your specification, and you want to experience the build from start to finish...this really is the only way to do it. Ask any of our customers, who will all tell you that the moment you play the first chord on your masterpiece, the earth moves....

"I just could not, and cannot, believe the quality of the guitar - looks, sound, playability, everything"

"Better than sex"

"My local guitar shop would have bought it from me"

We have featured in articles in the Financial Times, and also in Guitarist magazine, who sent one of their staff on the course which received great reviews. 

LEFT - The two "violins" - based on a picture from a guitar book that was 3" by 2".  RIGHT - A small selection pictured at a re-union of our guitar makers

You can make a guitar just as wonderful as any of these. Dream the dream - then get in touch !