John, on the DeVille
In my mind I envisaged the bastard offspring of a 335 and a Jaguar… and here it is.
Hopton, Suffolk · by appointment
Relic electric guitars, built one at a time in shed heaven at the bottom of a garden in Suffolk.
Soundings
Take those two guitars, leave them somewhere, don't touch them for ten years, then come back to them. The poly finish will look exactly the same as it did ten years ago. The nitro won't.
The Guitars · made to order
Three to start from. Pick one and start making it yours.
John, on the Thickline
My signature guitar… The Thickline. A hollow bodied Tele, a whopping 60mm deep.
Tone Control · ready to play
What would that sound like?
Guitars that started out as a question of sound we just had to build to find out. Each a Tone Control one of one, tuned up, ready to play.
one in stock · £2,350
EchoJohn, on Echo
A fantasy Strat, '62 and all in blue, made to look like it's been round the block.
one in stock · £2,235
The 107John, on The 107
Built for tone, not decoration… but it looks damn good regardless.
one in stock · £2,375
The Lost ModelJohn, on The Lost Model
Every so often a lost idea returns…
one in stock · £2,235
The RunawayJohn, on The Runaway
A beast of a T-type. Named the Runaway because with this beast… you ain't runnin' nowhere.
Commission
We make a handful of exceptional guitars each year. We’d love to make yours.
We usually kick things off with a few questions about how you play, and you can start on them right here. Have fun. We’ll read every answer and write back with a few ideas, and one of them may well end up as your dream guitar.
Question 1 of 11
What makes you forget your day and just play?
John
I like rat rods. I like busted-down homemade choppers. I’m almost turned off by the new and shiny. Which is probably why I build what I build.
On film
Three conversations in a Hackney studio. This is the first.
Dalston Sessions · DeVille
Dalston Sessions Vol. 1
Andrea from Soul String interviews John. Part one examines guitar No 100.
Hear
Same player, same room, same amp. Every time.
A Vox AC4TV with a Celestion Greenback, at one watt, and the same hands on every take, so what you’re hearing is the guitar.
Echo · clean0:49
The 107 · clean0:14
The Lost Model · clean0:34
The Runaway · clean0:26
DeVille · clean1:08
The Rebel · clean0:35
The Kid · clean0:40
Fine for comparing guitars on most speakers.
Soundings
Thirty years of opinions, arrived at by doing it wrong first.
- Why I finish a guitar in nitroWhat nitrocellulose is, how it differs from poly, why it fades and checks, whether it changes the sound, how to look after it, and why, with a Blind John's guitar, all four coats are nitro.
- How I relic a StratocasterWhat year, what sound, and what the Strat's been through. The questions, where the wear goes, the paint, and why it takes longer.
- Every overdrive pedal is an ampThe Maestro and Satisfaction, an AC30 at the point of destruction, and working back from the amp to what feeds it.
The shed · Hopton, Suffolk
Come and play one.
Bury St Edmunds, Thetford and Diss make the triangle; the shed sits in the middle of it. By appointment, Tuesday to Saturday. Nobody has yet come down and left without saying yes to a guitar.