Best guitar builders for pickup fitting in London/South East England

virgult

Hi all,

Sorry I haven't introduced myself in the appropriate thread, I'm pleased to meet you all! I play acoustic in a variety of styles, jazz, percussive, folk and some ventures into classical too. I'm based in London and gig regularly in the south-east.

I have a relatively new Lowden F25C that needs quite some TLC from the best luthier in the world. In addition to the usual setup, I'd like to fit a Highlander IP-2 pickup in there too; it sounds marvellous but apparently it's a total pain to install, especially on split-saddle instruments, more so than other piezos.

Please, suggest builders and repair shops in the area you had very good experiences with! I know plenty of people who would do a terrific job but they're all based in Bristol, Wales or Scotland... evidently the south-east prices guitar builders out like many other folks too. Atkin is the only name I can think of. Any other candidates? I'm not trying to cheap out on anything, I would really like a first-time-perfect job this time around.

Thanks very much to everyone!

artiebear

Wish I could help, the only guys I know and would trust are at the wrong end of the country, all split saddle installations are a buggar due to the dreaded hot E/B and a drowned out G, snake pick ups even more so due to the threading through the channels. On the plus side they can be done and sound great when done right. I have a Highlander in my Sobell done by the man himself and a Headway split saddle by HJ Williams, which are both perfectly balanced. 
Hope you get sorted with someone who understands the correct routing of the slot to get it right.

Epsilon

Kenji Okumura is good and is an authorised Lowden technician. Not necessarily the quickest turnaround time but you can rely on him to do a good and thorough job. Based in Battersea.

FunkyGibbon

I have used Julian at the Sevenoaks Guitar Centre. He’s excellent and has worked on all 4 of my Martins, an Ovation Adamas, made a new biscuit bridge for my bro in laws handmade boutique resonator uke and rescued a friend’s 40 year old round-backed mandolin. 

Hope you find a suitable person close by. 

GoldenEraGuitars

Well... the best man for the job is Ernie Mcmillen but he’s based over here. 

I’d suggest Montys.

Kebabkid

Speak to Charlie Chandler at CCGX. If he can't do it, which I'd be surprised at, he may recommend someone

virgult

Thank you all! I'll be writing to them and see what they come up with. Someone had already recommended Kenji Okumura, but I'd forgotten! Good thing it's popped up again.