Roger Williams Guitars

 Fine guitars, handmade in England

Classical Guitar

Flamenco Guitar

My classical guitars are designed and built in the "Granada school" of the Spanish tradition, following the principles established by the early master Antonio de Torres.   They have also been heavily influenced by the world-class maker Kevin Aram whose encouragement and criticism has helped me enormously.  On a recent visit to Granada, Antonio Marin gave freely of his knowledge, which helped in my understanding of the distinctive quality of these vibrant guitars.  The guitar pictured above was made for Raymond Burley.

My Flamenco guitars are built in the style of Manuel Reyes and influenced somewhat by Marcel Barbero (who taught Manuel).  They are available as a traditional Blanca in Spruce and Spanish Cypress or as a Negra in Spruce and Indian Rosewood. The design of this guitar-table is very flexible and can be adapted to produce sounds of very different qualities from the brittle Flamenco to the vibrant warmth of Salsa-Jazz.  The guitar featured was made for a post-graduate student at the Royal Academy of Music, London.

Acoustic Guitar

Baroque Guitar

The steel-string acoustic guitar is designed for the professional or keen-amateur musician and can be optimised for either acoustic or amplified performance as required.  The guitar pictured was made for Gordon Giltrap and sound samples can be heard here.   The guitar can also be seen on Gordon's website.

This somewhat unusual guitar was made at the request of  Raymond Burley and has an amazingly realistic sound, although it is built in the manner of a Classical guitar with a Cedar neck, raised Ebony fingerboard, with metal frets and a bridge with bone saddle - nothing at all like a 'true' Baroque guitar.  It is however a very practical alternative for the classical player who does not wish to change his technique dramatically.  Ray will be recording and performing with it very soon.

Gordon Giltrap' s new Requinto guitar

Designed as both a development and refinement of Gordon's famous "car-boot guitar" on which he has recorded such hits as "Appalachian Dreaming".  Named a 'Requinto' after its smaller, high-pitched classical namesake, It can be tuned to any of several high open tunings, or with light strings to a concert tuning.  Gordon's chosen materials were a Cedar table with a very beautifully figured, swirl-grain, South American Mahogany for the back and sides.  The rosette is Burr Walnut with Pearl inlay.  More pictures and Gordon's comments can be found here.

Philosophy

There is no magic formula to making a fine handmade guitar.  A skilled maker thinks deeply about the design, understands the complex interactions between components and has a feel for light, yet strong structures.  He can readily sense a materials characteristics and above all has a sensitive, musical ear.  I seek to build a guitar that is intensely musical with a balanced and quick response, which at the same time is very playable.  I want volume and projection but not at the expense of clarity, balance, sustain or dynamic range.  I strive to produce a sound that is well balanced with rich harmonics and the minimum of colouration and distortion.  The tone of all my guitars is full in the low and mid frequencies, and bright with excellent sustain in the upper region of the fingerboard.  The sound is focused and the string balance excellent.  I make strenuous efforts to obtain the best possible intonation using both an in intonated bridge-saddle and nut.  One of my repair specialities is to correct an otherwise poorly-intonated instrument.

Design

Each of my guitars is meticulously designed paying particular attention to the layout of the strings, neck angle and internal structure and bracing. The type of music to be played and the owners playing style greatly influence such elements as materials and structure, bracing and plate thickness, scale length and action.

Materials

I buy my tone-woods internationally, from specialist suppliers and store them in humidity controlled conditions until properly seasoned.  I select the best quality quarter-sawn wood for the soundboard while for the back and side woods you can opt either for the 'classical combination' for the type of guitar you want or choose from a wide range of other exotic tone-woods to give your instrument that distinctive look and distinctive sound.

Construction

I build all my guitars individually, sometimes making two or three sets of components, but I only assemble and tune one at a time, this enables me to focus entirely on the feel and sound of that one instrument, something a production shop can never do.  I normally build my guitars in the "Spanish method", that is with a one piece neck and "Spanish-heel", face down, on an open work-board or exterior mould.  The neck is reinforced or laminated if necessary, and when combined with the integral "Spanish heel" ensures maximum energy transfer from the string to the sound-box.

Front, back and sides are planed, sanded and scraped to precise thickness from the highest quality tone-woods.  Bracing is hand-split from billets of high-grade Sitka and Alpine spruce on the table and  Cedar or Mahogany on the back, and is shaped and tuned for optimum strength and sound.

This produces an instrument that is "as light as possible and as strong as it needs to be"!

Decoration

Purfling (the decorative bands found round the sound-hole and bindings) is inlaid from real woods of contrasting colours.  A striking rosette of line and mosaic inlay, burr-veneer marquetry or shell can also be inlaid.  Bindings round the edges of the body are cut from beautifully figured wood and are not only decorative, but considerably stiffen and strengthen the structure of the instrument enhancing the sound and tonal response.

I do not believe in over decoration;  elegance and simplicity can be visually striking when properly executed, although various forms of additional inlay and marquetry are available if requested.

Finish

My instruments are normally shellac French-polished and the  finished surfaces are hand polished to produce an elegant antique gloss which is extremely tactile and visually beautiful.  The finishing process takes about six weeks to complete including preparation, application, drying and polishing.  In total each instrument will spend about four months in my studio until completion.

For that final distinctive and personal touch, each of my guitars is individually signed and named with a Spanish female name that somehow befits the sound and tonality with which the instrument has been gifted.

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Roger Williams Guitars, Lichfield, England. Tel/Fax: 44(0)1543 262543