I have been interested in guitars all my life, having made my first wooden guitar in the 60's before I left school, but my fascination with resonator guitars began in November 2000 after watching Canadian, Ken Hamm, picking the blues on his 30's National like I've never heard it played before. At that time resonator guitars were not readily available in the UK so, as a qualified sheet metal worker who has been restoring classic cars for many years, I decided to make one. Taking the neck off a Harmony Sovereign and the front off an old broken Framus 12 string I glued on a front piece made from a Land Rover Discovery bonnet, fitted a cone and coverplate and my first guitar was born on Christmas day 2000 - wow. The result was so unbelievable and the positive feedback from musicians so encouraging I immediately began to make my first complete aluminium bodied guitar.
 
That was it! I became totally hooked on producing these resonating monsters. With nothing to guide me but the picture off an old Sam Mitchell record sleeve, I used my own ideas to develop the design, both inside and out, and progressively the Gadgie Resonator Guitars have evolved to become what they are today.
 
Initially all the guitars were round necks, but my wife, Sue, was interested in learning to play lap-style so, to her wishes in so far as the colour and sound holes were concerned, I made a square necked lap-style guitar, all aluminium, totally hollow to the tip of the head. The musicality, sustain and volume from this was, I was told, exceptional, so I began to concentrate on this style also.
 
All my guitars are precision built and really need to be heard to be believed. No matter what style of music you are interested in, I have, or can make, a guitar to suit you, whether you like the action low for standard tuning or perhaps a little higher for slide playing, for any style of lap playing from Hawaiian to Blues, whatever you want, I can fabricate a guitar for you. If a customised guitar is your choice I can accommodate your design, nothing is impossible as long as it is not impracticable.

Bolton - late summer 2005. Sue relaxing with her guitar at the end of Sally Van Meter's brilliant workshop organised by Bill Dalton, who also provided the picture. Thanks a lot Bill.
 
During the initial construction of this guitar Sue produced one of her ear rings saying she would like the sound holes to look like this. Quite a challenge as all the holes are drilled and filed but the result was quite pleasing. The guitar is very popular with women and children because of the salamander sound holes and the vibrant colour.