Koa is my favourite wood
Koa is beautiful. It is full of rich colours, and the figure that can be found in it is as good as I’ve seen in any wood.
I built this bass in 2005. The koa top has a subtle flame and a rich, brown colour.
Koa (acacia koa) is a hardwood native to Hawai’i, and [...]
Repairing a Zither
by Jim · Leave a Comment
Just a quick one about a very unusual instrument that came by the Jim Fleeting Guitars workshop, for repair.
This is a zither. It is a folk instrument, played with hammers, and is a precursor to the piano. Other zithers include, amongst others, the hammer dulcimer.
My job was to clean it, replace the missing strings, and [...]
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.