I was born in Lincoln, England in 1957 and began playing guitar at the age of fourteen. I later studied architecture, and left college with a degree and a sense of structure and form. A stint as a joiner reinforced my interest in working with wood, originally absorbed as a child in the environment of the family joinery business. Meanwhile constant activity as a musician deepened my understanding of the guitar from a player's perspective.

I began building guitars in 1990 at an evening class under the tutelage of Roy Courtnall, learning traditional Spanish methods. Having set up a workshop, I soon began exploring my own ideas and have experimented with and refined various concepts over the years, always listening to feedback from the most demanding players.

During my time as a guitar maker I have illustrated a book on guitar making,   'Making Master Guitars' by Roy Courtnall (Robert Hale 1993). This has become something of a standard textbook in the field and was a real stepping-stone in my own research and building methods.

I am still active as a musician and am involved in various collaborative projects.