SORTED - Best UK Electric Guitar Maker?

thermionic

Mark D Phillips.

Sassafras

Bravewood.
But I don't think he takes on custom jobs. It's luck of the draw with him.

markr76

Another vote for Patrick Hames Eggle. Not played a bad guitar from him yet. I have a 96 model of his and will be getting one of his Oz models as my next guitar. 
As well as a superb luthier. He’s a lovely chap also. 

rlw

Whitecat said:

Josh Parkin - https://www.joshparkinguitars.co.uk

He only just relocated to the UK at the end of last year, has spent most of his luthiery career in Japan... their loss is our gain. His work is very, very good.

He's got a Tele up on Reverb at the moment so you can see the kind of work he does, but obviously you can go full custom.

caution suggested on this one.

Fifty9

rlw said:

Whitecat said:

Josh Parkin - https://www.joshparkinguitars.co.uk

He only just relocated to the UK at the end of last year, has spent most of his luthiery career in Japan... their loss is our gain. His work is very, very good.

He's got a Tele up on Reverb at the moment so you can see the kind of work he does, but obviously you can go full custom.

caution suggested on this one.

Care to expand on that?

ennspek

markr76 said:

Another vote for Patrick Hames Eggle. Not played a bad guitar from him yet. I have a 96 model of his and will be getting one of his Oz models as my next guitar. 
As well as a superb luthier. He’s a lovely chap also. 

He is a diamond!

Schnozz

H J Williams' 'Sage'...

https://williamsguitars.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2019/02/Sage-hollowbody-ziricote-1.jpg

thegummy

TTony said:

Castro said:

Who do you consider to be the best electric guitar/Telecaster builder in the UK right now? 

Trouble with a Q like that is that most people are going to recommend the person who built their bespoke guitar.  Obviously, they think that their builder is the best (unless they had a particularly bad experience of course!).

Great point.

That's the problem with asking things like that on forums in general; some responders may be in the business and/or have extensively tried out many options of whatever the poster is enquiring about and give a true favourite. Many people, however, will just recommend the one they went with and were satisfied with or possibly warn against a particular one they had a problem with. It's still useful to know but won't necessarily tell you which is the best. The best won't necessarily be the one most reccomended (likewise, the one most warned against isn't necessarily the worst; e.g. option A gets twice as many negative comments as option B but option A has sold 10 times as many units).

On the actual topic - I've heard it said (I think it was in an interview with a known player) that a bespoke guitar might not be as good an option as you think it is. You come up with what you think would make the ideal guitar but even if the luthier builds it perfectly to your exact specs, there's a chance you might not bond with it the way you think you would but you're stuck with it. Whereas looking for an already-made guitar, you don't have to buy it til you find one that you do bond with.

Neil

thegummy said:

TTony said:

Castro said:

Who do you consider to be the best electric guitar/Telecaster builder in the UK right now? 

Trouble with a Q like that is that most people are going to recommend the person who built their bespoke guitar.  Obviously, they think that their builder is the best (unless they had a particularly bad experience of course!).

Great point.

That's the problem with asking things like that on forums in general; some responders may be in the business and/or have extensively tried out many options of whatever the poster is enquiring about and give a true favourite. Many people, however, will just recommend the one they went with and were satisfied with or possibly warn against a particular one they had a problem with. It's still useful to know but won't necessarily tell you which is the best. The best won't necessarily be the one most reccomended (likewise, the one most warned against isn't necessarily the worst; e.g. option A gets twice as many negative comments as option B but option A has sold 10 times as many units).

On the actual topic - I've heard it said (I think it was in an interview with a known player) that a bespoke guitar might not be as good an option as you think it is. You come up with what you think would make the ideal guitar but even if the luthier builds it perfectly to your exact specs, there's a chance you might not bond with it the way you think you would but you're stuck with it. Whereas looking for an already-made guitar, you don't have to buy it til you find one that you do bond with.

I've often thought this myself.

Although a custom built guitar is a tempting option, when it's built it may well be superbly finished but if you don't bond with it you're stuck with it. 

Personally I would rather have fun trying out lots of ready made Thinline Teles until I found one perfect for me. It may even be somewhat different to your preconceived idea for your custom build. 

prlgmnr

rlw said:

Whitecat said:

Josh Parkin - https://www.joshparkinguitars.co.uk

He only just relocated to the UK at the end of last year, has spent most of his luthiery career in Japan... their loss is our gain. His work is very, very good.

He's got a Tele up on Reverb at the moment so you can see the kind of work he does, but obviously you can go full custom.

caution suggested on this one.

Why's that?

Roland

ennspek said:

No such thing as "best" really. Personally I would go to Mr Eggle but that's no slight on others.

It’s worth taking a few minutes to define what you mean by “best”. Is it innovative design, quality of build or finish, reliable build time, willingness to customise a standard design, etc? Different builders have different strengths.

Whitecat

rlw said:

Whitecat said:

Josh Parkin - https://www.joshparkinguitars.co.uk

He only just relocated to the UK at the end of last year, has spent most of his luthiery career in Japan... their loss is our gain. His work is very, very good.

He's got a Tele up on Reverb at the moment so you can see the kind of work he does, but obviously you can go full custom.

caution suggested on this one.

Would like to hear more as well. I am a happy customer...

ToneControl

https://www.prohaszkaguitars.com/ ;

Professionally trained and qualified to make classical instruments and bows, been building Lowden and Avalons for nearly 20 years, also builds electrics
As far as I can tell, can build anything

richardhomer

Why a custom build? There are almost endless Tele variants available - though admittedly thin line options are more restricted. If you want a perfectly made guitar, that is Tele-like and light I seek out a Tom Anderson - they do hollow-body versions which are usually very light. 

I once ordered a custom-built Suhr - having waited almost a year for it I got a heavier-than-expected, dead sounding guitar. I would never buy a guitar I can’t play first again.

rlw

prlgmnr said:

rlw said:

Whitecat said:

Josh Parkin - https://www.joshparkinguitars.co.uk

He only just relocated to the UK at the end of last year, has spent most of his luthiery career in Japan... their loss is our gain. His work is very, very good.

He's got a Tele up on Reverb at the moment so you can see the kind of work he does, but obviously you can go full custom.

caution suggested on this one.

Why's that?

I was not at all impressed by his workshop which I considered to be a filthy mess.  Sawdust, offcuts, dirt dust and other shit covering every surface. And that’s a big space too so impressively dirty.  Not the sign of a tidy worker in my mind.
He did a setup on a guitar for me which was just wrong.  Intonation out, slipping strings, needed tuning after about a minute’s playing.  So bad I didn’t even consider going back to complain as I could do better myself.
i shan’t be going back.

thegummy

rlw said:

prlgmnr said:

rlw said:

Whitecat said:

Josh Parkin - https://www.joshparkinguitars.co.uk

He only just relocated to the UK at the end of last year, has spent most of his luthiery career in Japan... their loss is our gain. His work is very, very good.

He's got a Tele up on Reverb at the moment so you can see the kind of work he does, but obviously you can go full custom.

caution suggested on this one.

Why's that?

I was not at all impressed by his workshop which I considered to be a filthy mess.  Sawdust, offcuts, dirt dust and other shit covering every surface. And that’s a big space too so impressively dirty.  Not the sign of a tidy worker in my mind.
He did a setup on a guitar for me which was just wrong.  Intonation out, slipping strings, needed tuning after about a minute’s playing.  So bad I didn’t even consider going back to complain as I could do better myself.
i shan’t be going back.

I've had a very badly done set up before (not from the same person).

Considering how much they charge for so little, it's especially sickening when it isn't done properly.

Whitecat

rlw said:

prlgmnr said:

rlw said:

Whitecat said:

Josh Parkin - https://www.joshparkinguitars.co.uk

He only just relocated to the UK at the end of last year, has spent most of his luthiery career in Japan... their loss is our gain. His work is very, very good.

He's got a Tele up on Reverb at the moment so you can see the kind of work he does, but obviously you can go full custom.

caution suggested on this one.

Why's that?

I was not at all impressed by his workshop which I considered to be a filthy mess.  Sawdust, offcuts, dirt dust and other shit covering every surface. And that’s a big space too so impressively dirty.  Not the sign of a tidy worker in my mind.
He did a setup on a guitar for me which was just wrong.  Intonation out, slipping strings, needed tuning after about a minute’s playing.  So bad I didn’t even consider going back to complain as I could do better myself.
i shan’t be going back.

Shame about that... I guess everyone has off days...

The guitar I bought from him is pretty much flawless though... a really lovely and unique piece of work. Would definitely get another from him...

Castro

Thank you all for your contributions so far, they are each very useful.

rlw

Whitecat said:

rlw said:

prlgmnr said:

rlw said:

Whitecat said:

Josh Parkin - https://www.joshparkinguitars.co.uk

He only just relocated to the UK at the end of last year, has spent most of his luthiery career in Japan... their loss is our gain. His work is very, very good.

He's got a Tele up on Reverb at the moment so you can see the kind of work he does, but obviously you can go full custom.

caution suggested on this one.

Why's that?

I was not at all impressed by his workshop which I considered to be a filthy mess.  Sawdust, offcuts, dirt dust and other shit covering every surface. And that’s a big space too so impressively dirty.  Not the sign of a tidy worker in my mind.
He did a setup on a guitar for me which was just wrong.  Intonation out, slipping strings, needed tuning after about a minute’s playing.  So bad I didn’t even consider going back to complain as I could do better myself.
i shan’t be going back.

Shame about that... I guess everyone has off days...

The guitar I bought from him is pretty much flawless though... a really lovely and unique piece of work. Would definitely get another from him...

I liked his guitars and was just urging a little caution before committing.

brooom

Another option you have is @flyfisher12 (Anthony Ryder).

I've had Anthony build me a nice LP recently, after reading about the one he built for Chris at @RiftAmps.

I'm sure if you contact Anthony, he'd be able to take you up on the challenge of building a customized Thinline tele.

He's an experienced builder and a patient guy, who will try to accommodate your requests.