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The Original Red Special, Guyton Red Special for sale and imminent Badger 'making of' video.

9/5/2016

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A mini restoration of the original Red Special.

During April I was called to Brian's home in Surrey, to survey wear and tear of the original Red Special and how I planned to carry out the repairs. Once there, it was decided that the guitar as a whole should undergo a 'mini' restoration. The only real problem with this was the time frame of 3 weeks.
The work involved filling all the cracks in the body, then flatting down and re-polishing. Repairing damage to the end and edge, and touching in of the fingerboard. Also, at the last minute, replacing one of the pearl dots that had become paper thin, and was hanging by the skin of it's teeth.
Various parts, including the tremolo and bridge assembly were removed, serviced, cleaned and lubricated before refitting. The last job was renewal of the zero fret. The last time this was done was around 10 years ago, and it has played many tours since.
Some time ago, cracks in the body had begun to let in dirt and moisture and whilst on tour, emergency measures in the shape of duct tape were used. Once the guitar had been disassembled, I had to carefully score with a scalpel, every crack on the front, rear and edges of the body. This was done so the ultra thin viscosity Cyanoacrylate glue would run through the cracks using capillary action. Once sealed the glue could then be built up to the surface ready for flatting down and polishing. The back of the guitar was in by far the worst condition, and ate up hours of painstaking work. The edge of the body had also taken quite a bashing when Brian holds his guitar aloft and the end of the show. The strap mounted booster and radio pack basically used to knock into the body causing the damage.
The fingerboard had also taken a fair bit of abuse, with large grooves worn into the end of the fingerboard between the last fret and the neck pickup. I repaired this firstly with black stain to the bare oak, then built a 'dam' around the damage with tape and filling this with epoxy resin. Once this had hardened it was filed and sanded to profile and sprayed to match the rest of the fingerboard.
While the repairs in the neck and body were curing, we cleaned the parts with brushes, wire wool, oil and wet and dry paper. While I was putting the finishing touched to the fingerboard ready for reassembly, one of the dots makers showed signs of cracking, when touching this with the point of a scalpel it literally fell apart, and in parts was only the thickness of a sheet of paper. Emergency phone calls to Pete and Brian followed, and it was decided to replace the old dot, with a 1.5mm thick new one.
During this time, Will and I filmed and photographed the entire process. I'm currently ploughing through what seems like hours of footage to try and make a short documentary of the mini restoration.

With a MASSIVE sense of relief, the Red Special went back to Brian last week, and is currently in rehearsals for forthcoming Queen & Adam Lambert shows.

The video may be some time, but until then, here are a few photos...

Due to time and workload, I will be unable to answer any questions at the moment, but there may be a FAQ section added later, if there is demand.

Guyton Red Special (RSR-18) is for sale.

Guyton RSR-18 is now up for sale through Guyton guitars. It was built 6 years ago and is the guitar that was featured in the Haynes book 'Build your own electric guitar' by Paul Balmer. It features heavily in the book alongside the genuine article. A copy of the book will also be included in the sale. There are also various pictures of Brian examining the guitar, these will be presented on a memory stick and supplied with the guitar. The leather-bound photo album has been signed by Brian and contains all documentation.
The pickups have been custom built by Adrian Turner using original 1960's Trisonic covers and magnets.
The guitar is in good overall condition. It has been played with a sixpence and shows the evidence on the pick guard and the end of the fingerboard. The guitar is in it's original white Calton case, again, signed by Brian. It will be given a full service and setup prior to sale. The scuffing to the pick guard and the fingerboard damage can be made new, but this has been left for the moment, as some people prefer the more authentic used look. Additional work and shipping will be price on application.

SOLD

Part 2 of the Badger 'making of' series.

We're nearly there with this one. Work has been so busy, that editing has had to take a back seat. But, it's nearly done, I just need to put final touches to sound then it'll be up!

​Part 3 is being filmed now!
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Time lapse fretting of a 'badger' neck

3/4/2016

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I recently filmed the below clip for part 2 of the 'Badger' guitar build video. For those who are interested, I used Digislider's 2 axis camera slider to fire the camera and provide the panning. In total I took over 1200 photos that were then combined in Apple's excellent Final Cut Pro X. The full 'Part 2' video will be up soon...
Behind the scenes...
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Pete Malandrone, Jamie Humphries and Guitar Interactive

15/3/2016

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Guitar Interactive (www.iguitarmag.com) have just launched their latest issue (No.40) with a host of special features on Brian May and his guitars. As well as an in depth 2 part video interview with Brian himself, there is also an equally in depth 2 part video on Brian's touring guitars. Guyton guitars feature quite heavily in part 2.
Most of the work has been carried out by WWRY guitarist, Jamie Humphries, and he's done a sterling job, particularly with the relaxed interview with Brian. Don't forget, check out issue 40 of Guitar interactive on www.iguitarmag.com

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See the video below for an excerpt of the main guitar rundown...
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The Hectorz, The Darkness and Social media.

14/3/2016

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I've been meaning to update the blog for months now, but time has been scarce, and I have been especially busy with repairs as well as guitar building. As well as this entry, I shall be updating again tomorrow with another BM related post. Another 'Badger building of' video should be uploaded soon as well.

The Hectorz
Swiss band, The Hectorz, using one of the ten Guyton Brian May 'green' special guitars. Great to see one being used for something other than Queen covers. Thanks to Chris the guitarist for permission to use this video.

https://www.facebook.com/the.hectorz.britrock/

The Darkness
I recently had the pleasure of working on another guitar for local band, The Darkness. The Guitar in question is a Gibson 3 pickup Les Paul that was originally built for Jimmy Page. Dan has now acquired the guitar and it was brought in by his guitar tech Ian for a replacement nut and a complete electrical overhaul. Beautiful thing!
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​Social media

I have updated the social media icons on the homepage. We now have Youtube and Instagram links to join the others. Please follow, like and subscribe. Content is a little thin on the ground at the moment, but I will be uploading some more content to the Youtube channel very shortly.


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Red Specials, badgers and new ideas...

26/10/2015

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First of all to anyone who bothers to read my measly blog.....apologies for the lack of content. Work has been fiercely busy and I have been flat out with some new ideas.

It'll be the end of an era very shortly when the last two Red Specials leave the workshop. It's been many years since I started making the 50 guitars. I've learnt a lot of things. How to do certain things properly and also how NOT to do certain things. I've met and made friends with many interesting people. I've been asked more than once if I would ever tackle this again, and my answer is always YES..... but I would do it differently. Before anyone asks, I won't be making another run of Red Specials. They've run their course.
In the meantime, Will and I have been beavering away building the run of 5 Guyton BM 'Badger' guitars. We have had many great positive comments on the guitar thanks to Pete and Brian's glowing endorsements. Many of you will have seen the Brian May rig rundown video, but here it is again to refresh memories....
Great to see the Guyton green prototype there too!

Today I uploaded the first in a series of 'making of' videos featuring the 'Badger' guitar. I have always enjoyed shooting stills and video, but was unable to get my head around video editing software......until I rediscovered iMovie. Great software, no glitches or freezing, just works smoothly every time and is a breeze to use for an editing idiot like me. ;-)
Many thanks for all the kind comments regarding the video, and all the sharing done on social media. It's something I'm going to get more and more into as the months go by.

Please view the video below...
OK, new ideas! I've been working hard on something very special for the last 3 years. I can't say too much at the moment, but there has never been anything built quite like these guitars. They are going to be spectacular and a presentation will soon be making it's way to one of the biggest names on the planet! News will be very scarce for a while, but I will update as and when I can. VERY exciting!!
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Guyton Red Special No.34 is available.

13/2/2015

2 Comments

 
Guyton Red Special No.34 has just become available. Delivery will be towards the end of March (subject to case deliveries)

Anyone who is interested should use the contact page for pricing and further details.

This guitar is now SOLD!
2 Comments

The Peoples Millions voting day!

25/11/2014

1 Comment

 
Ok, it's voting day for the Peoples Millions. We're after as many votes and shares as possible. It's a great cause and they have worked tirelessly to get to the final six. It all rests now on getting as many votes as possible. The Unity centre will be broadcast on Anglia TV from 6pm tonight.

Phone numbers are as follows...

If calling from a landline - 09015 228211
If calling from a mobile - 6228211

Choose - Option 1. Voting is from 9am till midnight.

I believe you can vote as many as 10 times per phone line.

Back to guitars next week. ;-)
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The Unity centre and the People's millions.

23/11/2014

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On Tuesday the 25th November, my wife's charity, The Unity centre will be up for voting on the Peoples millions award.

The Unity centre is a charity set up by my wife three years ago to help adults with mild to moderate learning difficulties.

Here's the link to their website

They have recently earned their way onto the televised vote to be broadcast at 6:30pm on Anglia television.

Here is the link to The Peoples millions....I know it can be a hassle, but if as many as possible of you could support and share on Facebook & Twitter it would help enormously.

On Tuesday morning I will be re-posting the above link, together with a promotional video of the Unity centre once the voting number has been released. Voting will be from 9am till midnight on Tuesday 25th. Alternatively, the voting number will be printed in Tuesday's edition of the Daily Mirror, but remember, voting opens at 9am.


Any of your votes would be massively appreciated


Thanks to you all in advance.


Andrew and Jac Guyton


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Mr Bean, Dulcimers, Mark Chapman and the Death Valley Screamers!

5/11/2014

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So much has happened in the last few weeks, as well as binding, veneering and sanding Red Specials, we have had a host of repair work with some really interesting people through the workshop.


Here's a video of Mr. Bean and his mate Roy, both customers of Guyton guitars. I had just fitted an excellent L.R.Baggs under saddle pickup to the Gibson acoustic.

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We also had a Dulcimer in the workshop for the first time. We had to basically lower the action so the owner was a little more comfortable whilst fretting with his fingers rather than striking it. It's a lovely thing that really inspires you to create. I may have to make one one day. ;-)


Mark Chapman from 'A' recently swung by to pick up his latest Guyton guitar. This guitar is Mark's simplest and possibly best Guyton guitar to date. It has a plain Canadian maple neck fretted with Jumbo stainless steel frets and an Idigbo body finished in Nitrocellulose lacquer and fitted with Bare Knuckle Irish Tour single coil pickups. Unlike his previous Guyton guitars, Mark's latest has a tone control that works on the neck pickup only. Below are a couple of pictures of the guitar having it's nut  'seen to' and Mark play testing the finished article. Also a short video clip.
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My good friend, and world class guitar player Ian Jacobs, had some good news last week. He's successfully auditioned as lead guitarist in the band 'The Death Valley screamers'. Check out their Youtube videos featuring the Orange County chopper boys. Apparently, they are very big in the Ukraine! Anyway, Ian brought in his Guyton guitar for a fret dress and a change of pickup (neck P90 to Gemini mini humbucker) ready for rehearsals this week. Best of luck Jakey boy!!
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Deep into Red Special world

13/10/2014

1 Comment

 
The last week or so has seen some very intensive work on the Guyton Red Specials. We have been sanding, routing, staining, spraying, and MORE sanding!!
We are currently working on the very last batch of RS's. In some ways I will miss them, but it'll be good to move onto something new. Next year sees the limited run of five arch topped BM guitars, after that will see some VERY exciting developments. Watch this space...

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This guitar was picked up today (see below). It's a limited edition Gibson Les Paul Florentine in 'Grape sparkle'. We had the job of re-finishing the top of the guitar. The pictures don't really do it any justice as it looked absolutely amazing!


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    Andrew Guyton, luthier, car nut and part time photographer.

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