Welcome to my website
My father was a carpenter. No-one could have known my father and not seen his regard for craftsmanship skills and striving for perfection. But, as a grammar school boy, I was expected to be something 'better' so I took a BSc. Botany degree at London University in 1968 and went, through a post-graduate year, into biology teaching in 1969.
Increasingly, through the years, woodwork became a very useful hobby ~ sometimes a paying hobby ~ and led me into writing about woodwork. I submitted articles to magazines and found this rewarding and lucrative. Writing about my projects had the effect of urging me on to always be pushing myself and trying something new.
So,
over a number of years I have had experience of many aspects of woodworking...
then I tried guitarmaking...
That was over ten years ago now ~ I found it! ~ I don’t need to
move on.
Recuperation from illness allowed me some time to concentrate on building my first classical guitar as a piece of therapy. I was surprised at how well it worked out; so I made two more and entered them into a competition. The chief judge was a well known instrument maker so I wasn’t expecting much more than constructive criticism. What I got was a silver medal and a gold medal and a great deal of congratulations.
On this evidence of some talent I gave up teaching and became a full time Luthier at the end of 1994. I suppose I might tell you of the master builders I have studied under but the fact is that I am completely self taught. Never mind that, I am hidebound by no masters prejudices, the instruments speak for me.
Please Note:
Apart from my (all too) rare holidays, I always reply promptly to all e-mail enquiries. So, if you do not receive a prompt reply, please 'phone me (on the number below) as I have reason to suspect that some of my messages have been going astray in this cyberspace thingy!
Guitarist Profile ~ Colin Chettle
Recently, I constructed a guitar to order for a customer who, in addition to other requirements, needed a left-handed guitar. This customer, Colin, visited me on a number of occasions during the construction of the guitar and documented the progress in pictures. I felt that it would be rather special to hear exactly what it feels like to witness a guitar being made especially for you. Therefore, I asked Colin to write an article to accompany the pictures and the result is now available by following this link:< Celia's Story >.
Guitarist Profile ~ Matthew Sear
“My Rik Middleton guitar is my main guitar and has been since I was introduced to the Middleton range in 2002. The ease of play is superb and the guitar helps me attain the kind of expression I need when performing. The subtlety of tone is rich and warm and the dynamic range extremely responsive. I am proud to be associated with Rik Middleton guitars.”
Also, next year promises to have an exciting start for Matthew ...
'Moods from the Latin Quarter' will be released under the 'Pixie Tricks' label in February 2006 and will be stocked at the Spanish Guitar Centre and selected music retailers. You can visit Matthew’s website at http://www.matthewsear.com where you can hear clips and keep track of his forthcoming concerts.
For existing owners
If you take a look at the MENU bar on the left, you will see that at the 'fifth fret' position there is a section called 'adjustments'. This deals with some of the issues you may encounter while playing one of my guitars in your own personal style. Whilst this may help you on its own, it is important to me that all owners of my guitars feel they can contact me to discuss these and any other issues or comments. The contact information is at the bottom of this page.
Over to you ...
For better than a quarter century, I was a secondary school biology teacher, so I spoke to some 150 people a day, shouted at some of them and had intellectual conversations with others. Now, I work alone in my own workshop. It's a bit like being a hermit. So, not surprisingly, I'm pleased when people get in touch.
Imagine my delight at getting e-mails out of the blue, like the unsolicited testimonials at the end of the 'my approach' page. So please feel free to e-mail me with your thoughts on my guitars, guitars in general, music, art, politics, religion ~ the Cosmos!
Also, if you own one of my guitars, you might like to register your address and serial number with me as a security back-up.
How to contact me
Please e-mail me from
here
or telephone me direct on: +44 (0)24 76613718