Latest Blog Posts
Guitar Repair: Martin 000 Eric Clapton
This is a bit of a self-indulgent post, but I was so pleased that I needed to tell someone. I had taken in a Martin Eric Clapton signature model (picture posed by model, left), and the lacquer was separating all along the back of the neck. Because it was a nitrocellulose lacquer finish, I was able to repair this, and have no evidence marks where I had thinned and added laquer to the original finish. The... [Read more...]
How I Defret a Six String Bass
What’s better than a six string bass? That’s right: a six string fretless bass. The reason why I am a bass player and a luthier goes all the way back to when I was 13. My parents had just got Sky, and I was flicking through to MTV. The channel was showing a European festival, possibly Rock Am Ring; the first thing I saw was Les Claypool, eight finger-tapping a solo in “Tommy... [Read more...]
Custom Guitars: Rosettes
I’ve been thinking about rosettes quite a lot recently. The rosette is the decorative circle around the soundhole. They come in many guises. Martin Guitar Soundhole Rosette This is a Martin rosette. It’s an example of what you may find on many guitars, with a few rings surrounding the soundhole. Spanish guitar rosettes tend to be more elaborate, with beautiful marquetry patterns. You... [Read more...]
United Breaks Guitars
With more than two million views of his YouTube video, it would seem that musician Dave Carroll has finally persuaded United Airlines to listen to his complaint. They have arranged a meeting with him. I guess it’s because he has the sequel to this song in production, and a third in the planning stage. The serious point of this is that since September 2001, most airlines won’t allow... [Read more...]
Banjo Repair: A Five-String With A Past
This one is from the 1920s. The frets were a bit of a mess, and there was a great big hole in the skin. It was brought in by a customer whose father played it professionally in a banjo group from 1926 until the outbreak of the Second World War in 1939. I replaced the skin with a goat skin vellum. This is a difficult procedure, which involves wetting the skin and trimming it to size. Once I’d... [Read more...]
About Me
Hello. My name is Jim Fleeting. At my workshop in Ripon, North Yorkshire, I create custom guitars and basses for customers around the UK and Europe. The Guardian describes me as one of the UK’s leading luthiers, which is nice of them. I built the UK’s first nine string bass and popped up in Guitarist and Guitar & Bass magazine, after winning an award from the Queen Elizabeth Scholarship Trust. I also head Jim Fleeting Guitars’ thriving repair shop.