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Meet the exhibitors for 2010

to see the 2009 exhibitors click here

Gerard Gilet

 The festival is very pleased to have some great makers making the trip from interstate this year.
 Gerard Gilet is one of the most established makers in Australia.
He has been making guitars since 1976. He works with three fellow luthiers building custom acoustic and classical guitars.
 Gilet guitars is located in Sydney where they have a fully equipped workshop

All Gilet guitars are made from magnificent and proven tone woods, some traditional, some Australian and some exotic. The guitars are sold world wide and have been purchased by international stars such as Sting and local musicians and, of course, people who just love guitars and want something special.

www.giletguitars.com.au
Chris Melville

 The festival is very happy that Chris is also planning to come down from Queensland.

from his web page...

"I have now been building and repairing guitars full time for over 18 years, and have pretty much seen, played and repaired most of what is available. My desire has always been to improve the sound, playability and long term reliability of my guitars by gaining as much understanding as possible. This understanding is found by critically assessing and carefully listening to all the different guitars which come into my workshop for one reason or another as well as attending guitar shows when possible to meet, talk and compare notes etc with what other builders are doing."

www.melvilleguitars.com

 
 

Stu Forbes
Cloud Nine Guitars

Stu Forbes was born in Scotland and travelled extensively before settling in Port Douglas, North Queensland.  Playing guitar since 16 years of age, Stu began repairing guitars as a hobby then 10 years ago studied guitar making and became full time instrument maker. 
Each instrument built by Stu at Cloud Nine is a "One Off"  and now are played worldwide.  His goal is to always create customers dream guitars as individual as their playing style............
Combinations of timbers, bindings, inlays and shape make the possibilities
endless - and unique! No two guitars made at Cloud Nine are the same..

www.cloudnineguitars.com.au 

 
Ian Noyce has been building stringed instruments in Australia since 1975 and
has developed an extensive catalogue comprising acoustics, electrics,
basses, mandolins, lap steels and resonators. Based in Ballarat, Victoria,
Ian has always been more interested in the future of the guitar than it's
past. He has consistently sought to produce a "best of all possible worlds"
instrument that has "top end in the low strings and low end in the high
strings - get this and you've got everything!"

After 30 years of manufacturing musical instruments Ian has refined his
designs utilising carefully selected timbers and hardware combined with
state of the art assembly and quality assurance. The result is a
distinctively Australian instrument range that is bold in design with
astonishing dynamic range and responsiveness

www.noyceguitars.com

 
David Churchill

David Churchill is one of Australia's leading steel string flat top guitar makers, established over 30 years.

All guitars are hand built by David Churchill, using only aged timbers and specializing in cedar tops with Indian rosewood back and sides.


Used and played by some of Australia's finest musicians such as Jeff Lang, Darren Jack, David Ross Macdonald (Waifs), Hat Fitz, Adam Hole, Matt Fagan, Ray Beadle, Don Neander, Shannon Bourne.

Tim Kill 
is based in Cockatoo in the foothills of the Dandenong mountains in Victoria, Australia. There he hand crafts a diverse range of custom stringed instrument for both the professional and amateur musician .... 
Tim specialises in one off custom designs .He works closely with customers to conceive and create a unique instrument  ideally suited to there physically, ascetically and musically needs.
Using both tradition and modern inspired techniques that reflect his own personal experiences
Tim creates an lyrical and responsive instrument that embodies the highest level
of artistry and craftsmanship.
Barry Kerr has been building  archtop and flatop steel string guitars for more than 20 yrs now. Using both traditional and native woods Barry focuses on just a handful of instruments each year. A high point was in 2003 as an exhibitor at the Healdsburg Guitar Festival, California USA.  A steady flow of Barry's favourite - OM models are now sold into the United States but occasionally there are instruments available locally.       www.woodtoneguitars.com.au 
20" Archtop- Designed by Peter Foster. Built by Barry Kerr of Woodtone Guitars.
          Model- 42nd St.     Woods: Master Adirondack Spruce carved top. Solid carved Brazilian Rosewood Back, Sides and Fittings. Acacia Binding

Click on picture to enlarge

David Worthy

David Worthy is based in Melbourne Australia and has been building instruments consistently since 1996. His guitars have largely found favour amongst fingerstyle players. Worthy Guitar owners include Angela Toohey, Rod Vervest and Billy Thorpe.
Phil Carson Crickmore

Phil put together a small workshop in 1980 in Warrandyte Victoria and started to build his first
guitars and under the mentorship of Master Violin and Cello maker
Warren Fordam, Carson Crickmore was introduced to the world of stringed instrument making, at his workshops in Monsalvat Eltham Victoria.Over the next few years Carson Crickmore continued to build a small
number of guitars and continued his professional development.
In 1984 Carson Crickmore was accepted in to the State Craft Centre in
North Melbourne Victoria and for the next two years Carson Crickmore
produced a large number of individually designed hand built guitars
which were sold through his workshops and through retail.
Matheas Guitars

www.matheasguitars.com.au 

Jim Matheas

As a luthier I place great importance in making the most responsive guitars for musicians.

  My instruments are light weight with a clear and balanced tone, long sustain, accurate intonation and are finally setup to suit the individuals playing style.

  There is a delicate balance in achieving this.

  My guitars qualities have been shaped by the invaluable expertise gained through repairing existing instruments and the fine tuning of musicians sound.

  I have been operating from my workshop in Fitzroy, Melbourne since 1995 and everyday love to work creating beautiful sounding guitars.

  There will be two sample Matheas acoustic guitars on exhibition and a good opportunity to hear the qualities in tone that are possible.

  D style acoustic with Cutaway

Made from master grade Brazilian rosewood back and sides
Master grade Sitka spruce soundboard
Mahogany Neck
Ebony Fretboard

Jumbo Style Acoustic

Back and sides are made from over 100 year old recycled African mahogany
Sitka spruce
Mahogany neck
Ebony fretboard

 

James Kieth,  

 

 One of the countries great classical makers of many years Standing .

 James is based in Sunbury and makes exceptionally fine instruments in the traditional  style

Contact James
Peter Daffy

Peter Daffy has been building fine acoustic instruments since 1992. A one-time apprentice and co-worker of the renowned mandolin builder Steve Gilchrist, Peter works with the finest craftsmanship to build instruments that not only have remarkable clarity and tonal balance, projection and sustain, but are beautifully crafted and finished.

As a well established bluegrass guitarist and vocalist, Peter knows what a musician is looking for in a top quality instrument, and builds accordingly to the most exacting standards. He has spent years of research developing his range.

 

contact Peter                  www.daffyguitars.com 

Sachar Amos

  Contact Sachar
Sachar Amos is a maker and restorer of stringed musical instruments.  Sachar began his career in 1994 in the violin making workshop of John D Ferwerda and later studied stringed instrument making with Paul Doyle in Galway, Ireland.
Since returning to Australia in 1999, Sachar has worked with some of Melbournes finest stringed instrument makers and has established a professional workshop from his home in The Basin.
Dan Robinson

 Dan makes beautiful small bodied guitars from Blackwood and King Billy pine. He's also known for his gorgeous small upright basses. Contact Dan 

 
Jack Spira

 Trained in London in the late 1980's, Jack Spira has been working in Australia since 1991 and in the Melbourne area since 1999.

 Due to the customised nature of his work, he makes a wide variety of instruments, many of them one off pieces.

 They are predominantly flat topped steel string guitars, octave mandolins and the occasional mandolin.

www.jackspiraguitars.com