The Building of a Lindsay Wilson Guitar
This is a really beautiful guitar that was recently completed by Howard Robinson of Lindsay Wilson Guitars. The guitar features a reclaimed cuban mahogany body, umbuya pommel scratch plate, tiger stripe maple neck, two way truss rod, ebony fingerboard, medium jumbo frets, classic Les paul electronic, chrome hardware, Schaller Hannes bridge, Schaller locking tuners and Fender LSR roller nut. The inlay is called “Macaw in the dark” and is made of reconstituted stone, Abalone, Black lip Oyster, MOP, and Perspex. Turned out to be one classy guitar!
Sketch of Lindsay Wilson Guitar
Reclaimed Cuban Mahogany Guitar Body
Lindsay Wilson Guitar Taking Shape
Planning Out The Inla
Inlay Work For Lindsay Wilson Guitar
Lindsay Wilson Guitars Inlay
Finishing Process on the Reclaimed Cuban Mahogany
Lindsay Wilson Guitars Headstock
Lindsay Wilson Guitars Completed Inlay
Lindsay Wilson Guitars
Lindsay Wilson Guitars
Inlay In Completed Lindsay Wilson Guitar
Lindsay Wilson Guitars
New Guitar From Lindsay Wilson Guitars
I received some new pictures from Howard Robinson showing the latest guitar to roll out of Lindsay Wilson Guitars. This is a beautiful guitar with one really nice fretboard inlay. Howard is building some truly beautiful guitars and his inlay work is just incredible. Don’t take my word for it….check out the pictures for yourself!
Lindsay Wilson Guitars
Lindsay Wilson Guitars
Fretboard Inlay on Lindsay Wilson Guitar
Lindsay Wilson Guitar Fretboard Inlay
Inlay on Lindsay Wilson Guitar
Fretboard Inlay
Lindsay Wilson Electric Guitar
Back of Lindsay Wilson Guitar
A Couple of Bass Guitars From Lindsay Wilson Guitars
I don’t usually post bass guitars since BGR focuses on boutique guitars, but I received some pictures from Howard Robinson of Lindsay Wilson Guitars and thought why not. He recently completed a couple of bass guitars and both of them are very nice and feature Howard’s beautiful inlay work!
Interview With Howard Robinson of Lindsay Wilson Guitars
Interview by Ron of Boutique Guitar Resource
Boutique Guitar Resource: Tell us about your history and what got you interested in building guitars?
Howard Robinson: The first music I remember was Elvis played on a maroon and creme dansette record player, which belonged to my dad. He played Robin Hood and William Tell TV scores on it, but my elder sister sneaked the Elvis in!! I bought Brian Fenn and the Fenn Men , Gerry and the Pacemakers, etc. My first guitar was a Rossetti 7 acoustic. All my mates got them so we formed a band with all the different colors available which were white, red and sunburst. Early influences were the Beatles ,Beach Boys etc. I wasn’t happy with the Rossetti so it very quickly became a Rossetti 7 Bass. I have no idea how or where I got the parts, but it changed colors so many times it was actually heavier by the time the band split up! I played it through one of those curved, cloth fronted radios. That guitar changed into an SG inspired solid body then into a double neck which finally ended up as two cricket bat basses.
In college I was Social Secretary and got a list every month from this band agency of available bands and their prices. It didn’t seem particularly special at the time but I booked E.L.P, The Who, Spooky Tooth, Chicken Shack, and Hendrix of course! I left college and went from London to Devon as a roadie with Edgar Broughton whose anti-government stance was much bigger than their talent. We did several free tours. Most of the band were in prison a lot of the time for doing free music without permission!!!! Anyway they went back to London, and I stayed in Devon. Three years in a small design company followed by three years on the building sites as a carpenter followed by three years as a furniture restorer. Then out of that I formed the kitchen company that would pay my way for the next thirty years. Strangely enough, during this time I had little or no interest in guitars. Then one day I was visiting a client’s house and spotted an acoustic guitar. It had a big hole in the side of it so the client let me have it and I was off again. I formed a new band and before you know it I’m changing my squire strats into my own and thats really when I started seriously making guitars again. It was strange, because about two or three years before the end of my design company I was beginning to feel stale and really got into making guitars. I even thought this could be good way to make a living. As it happened I was forced to do it, but I see that as a good thing. I have carried on freelance with furniture and it pays even better. It has allowed the guitar side to gather at it’s own pace and I think it will take time. This means I can focus on one guitar at a time and not get into the trap of trying to make too many. I want each one to be really special for me and the client. I hope to spend the rest of my life trying to fine tune my instruments and learn as much as i can. This is where I am now.
Boutique Guitar Resource: Are you a self taught luthier or did you have some formal education?
Howard Robinson: As you can see, only the cabinet making side of me which I learned in school. My woodwork master was an apprentice to one of the last great English cabinet makers, Edward Barnsley, who made furniture for the Queen. But no Luthierial training, just common sense, rip one apart see what makes it tick ,then make one, then re-make it, cause it wasn’t quite as easy as you thought, then again and so on, and so on.
Lindsay Wilson Guitars
Boutique Guitar Resource: Do you keep up with the work of other luthiers and if so what other guitar builders do you admire?
Howard Robinson: Not in any great way. It frightens me when I see the amount of amazing Luthiers out there and it puts me off. My main inspiration is Grit Laskin and Larry Robinson. I am in contact quite regularly with the ‘Metal Guru’ Anthony Goulding of Goulding Guitars. We pat each other on the back every now and again when we are down!! He is a really nice bloke.
Boutique Guitar Resource: What are some of your favorite woods to use when building a guitar? Do some wood combinations sound better to your ears than others?
Howard Robinson: Mahogany off course. It’s the great cabinet makers wood. The older the better, not yer african or bastard Mahogany but Cuban, Honduras and Brazilian. I have an amazing source of hurricane damaged Cuban Mahogany. I love English Pitch Pine and Elm. I love experimenting to get the surprise of different sounding woods, its part of the thrill. To be honest, I don’t know exactly what my guitars are going to sound like. I know they are going to be good ,but they are always a surprise, which is great!
Boutique Guitar Resource: Do you have some particular woods you prefer to use for fretboards and necks?
Howard Robinson: I use birds eye and standard Maple for the necks and only Ebony for the finger boards as it really the best colour format for inlaying.
Boutique Guitar Resource: What do you look for when picking wood for a guitar?
Howard Robinson: Really interesting grain, shake free, which is bloody difficult in reclaimed timbers!! One piece where possible. I don’t go over it with a little sounding hammer.
Boutique Guitar Resource: You do some amazing inlay work. What got you interested in the inlay process and how do you come up with the designs for your inlays?
Howard Robinson: It wasn’t that long ago, but to be honest I am not really sure. I just thought bloody dots! How boring, not a chance, and I decided to give it a try. I bought a book on inlay by Larry Robinson and off I went. I was particularly taken with Grit Laskins idea of using the neck as a sort of narrow window through which you could see part of what is going on outside. I don’t take it quite so literal and not all of his images are to my liking, but boy is he the best!!!!!!
Lindsay Wilson Guitar Inlay
Boutique Guitar Resource: What type of materials do you use in your inlays and how long does one of your larger inlays take to complete?
Howard Robinson: Now this is where Larry Robinson comes into his own. Although I would have tried anything without his influence, he basically says if it’s hard enough and you can glue it in place, and it looks good, use it! If I could get porridge to set I would probably give it a go!! Here are some of the materials I use: mother of pearl, abalone, oyster, bamboo, end grain woods, oak, briar, aluminum, perspex, brass, bone, ivory, reconstituted stones, buttons etc. A large inlay can take about two weeks of nine to five, and then some.
Lindsay Wilson Guitar Inlay
Boutique Guitar Resource: What part of the building process do you enjoy most?
Howard Robinson: Apart from that first finished plug in and plunk, sanding the inlay off. This is where all the colors and patterns finally show their true worth, and I know experienced inlay artists can tell exactly what their work is going to look like. It’s a total bloody surprise to me most of the time. More often than not ending up better because a bit of ripple abalone has changed colour, pattern, and direction completely and looks great!
Boutique Guitar Resource: What type of finish do you use on your guitars?
Howard Robinson: Now here is a thorny subject. I really dont like 120 coats of plastic. The thicker the finish the farther away the bloody wood seems to go!!! I remember looking at a Rolls Royce Dashboard and the bloke said “that’s burr walnut”. I said, “Is it by golly?” “Well you could have fooled me.” I like wood to be wood and able to take the grime and dents and knocks. I would be quite happy to supply a no finish guitar. That way you can polish with wax or sand out a dent if you like. Just like a piece of furniture it gets better with age and builds up a patina of use. Having said all that, most people can’t get their heads around that and I usually use a polyurethane or cellulose finish. Just enough to protect it and not enough to make it disappear. Obviously painted finishes are just that, but again I tend to have a low build satin finish. I get my spraying done by a friend who is a specialist.
Lindsay Wilson Guitars
Boutique Guitar Resource: What type of pickups do you offer in your guitars?
Howard Robinson: I really only use single coils and try to use the purist, so Bareknuckle and Lollar are the order of the day. I would like to try Kinman. I am not into humbuckers. What I want to achieve is the very starting point of pure top quality single coils and solid wood. After that you can add whatever effects you like. Theres nothing like that clean jangle of a ‘G’ major with the extra finger, holding down a ‘D’ on the ‘B’ string. And the funny thing is I used to want it to sound like a Fender Strat, but it doesn’t. It sounds like mine!!!
Boutique Guitar Resource: What is the neck radius on your guitars?
Howard Robinson: 15″ barrel radius on my bass and a conical radius of 9.5″ to 12.5″ for six strings.
Boutique Guitar Resource: When a customer orders a guitar, what is the typical wait time before the guitar is completed?
Howard Robinson: This can vary, but usually two months minimum, depending on level of orders.
Boutique Guitar Resource: What do you see in the future for Lindsay Wilson Guitars and do you have any new guitar models in the works that you would like to share with us?
Howard Robinson: As I said I want to do about six guitars a year max and for my customers to say they are just beautiful. That means a lot to me. Not cool or funky, but beautiful. I want them to sound great and to be beautiful. I found a template that I did years and years ago that was influenced by a ricky and I am thinking I may well have a Mark 2 in the cards. Who knows?
I want to thank Howard Robinson of Lindsay Wilson Guitars for taking the time to answer these questions. You can visit Lindsay Wilson Guitars at:
Lindsay Wilson Guitars
Boutique Guitar Resource is an authorized dealer for Lindsay Wilson Guitars. If you are interested in having a custom guitar built by Lindsay Wilson Guitars, please use the contact form to get in touch with me.
Progress Pictures From The Shop Of Lindsay Wilson Guitars
This post is going to focus on various progress pictures from the shop of Lindsay Wilson Guitars. It will also give a little insight into his amazing inlay work.
Lindsay Wilson Headstock
Lindsay Wilson Stainless Steel Nut Installed
Lindsay Wilson Electric Guitar Body
Lindsay Wilson Unfinished Guitar Body
Lindsay Wilson Guitar Back
Lindsay Wilson Electric Guitar Body
Lindsay Wilson Guitar Coming Together
Linday Wilson Inlay Drawing
Inlay Materials For Inlay
Lindsay Wilson Inlay Progress Picture
Guitar Inlay Coming Together
Lindsay Wilson Guitar Inlay