About
As a gigging guitarist myself, I know just what a difference it makes to play an instrument that is set up well, but it wasn’t always this way;
As a teenager in 1992, I finally got my first guitar and was immediately hooked, but was almost equally frustrated. It would regularly break strings (cheap saddles…), go out of tune and so on. Being the curious type, I would take it all apart, read reference books from the library (remember those?) learn how it all worked and rebuild it with small changes. I did this many, many times over the first couple of years and as my interest grew, so did my skill set and my desire to know more.
I began to work on friends’ and band members’ guitars and would often get feedback along the lines of ‘it’s the best it’s ever been’, or ‘it’s never played this well’ and I realised that perhaps I had a bit of a flair for it.
I’ve now worked on a huge number of guitars, everything from basic setups on modern instruments to full recommissions on vintage guitars and I take a great deal of pride in my work and attention to detail.
I class myself very much as a skilled guitar tech, rather than a luthier per-se, though I have made a number of guitars in the past. I will always be honest about what I think needs doing and also if it’s a job that is not in my remit, so drop me an email here or via the Contact Askem Guitar Works page and let’s get your guitar playing beautifully.
You can also follow and message me on Instagram and Facebook
Will be heading back, without doubt, when I need his skills again.
First class service.
Ben responded quickly to my enquiry and, when I dropped the guitar off at his workshop, spent a fair bit of time discussing what the issues were and potential fixes (which helped put my mind at rest...like I said, I'm very attached to this guitar!). He got the guitar on the bench that evening and gave me details of what he'd found, his proposed solutions, and any costs associated with those. After I gave the go ahead the work was done promptly and now the guitar plays beautifully.
There was excellent communication throughout and a quality service; I won't be taking my guitars anywhere else from now on.