Jim Cairnes will not be forgotten- his work will out live us all.
Our warmest thoughts and sympathies are with the Cairnes family after we just heard today the sad news that Jim has now left us for the great gig in the sky.
I was called a few weeks ago by a member of the Cairnes family to finish Jim’s last guitar. Unfortunately he’d become too ill to work and was worrying (as I would) about it. As ill as he was he still didn’t want to let down his customer. In this game your customers often become your friends.
I met Jim at the Penrith guitar show. I love going to these small shows. My favourite part is talking to all the other guitar makers about how they do this or that, comparing guitars and methods and generally chin wagging about the state of the art. We all have one thing in common- a desire for creating beautiful guitars. I never saw any of his work until now but, from the instrument I have here in front of me, it is obvious that he was a man that loved wood and his craft.
So it is a true honour to be given the task of finishing this, his last guitar. The colour and base-coats were sprayed last week. We applied the headstock decal bearing his name yesterday, and the last of the build coats will be done today. The guitar is in good hands, we are determined to make sure it is completed to the highest order just as Jim would have done.
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