b'a successful design.The same goes for productionquoted by other makers, and some of my ideas methods, if you cant work out your own ways ofacknowledged. working, and your designs are not your own either,A number of other makers have visited me tothen what exactly are you doing? Other peoplediscover how we build guitars at Fylde. Usually have done most of the work for you. Obviouslydiscussions are open and friendly, but there was there are some builders I admire, and I even shareone occasion when I feel I was tricked and taken ideas sometimes, but mostly I want to use my ownadvantage of and it has affected my attitude ever ideas and develop them as far as I can.I have mostsince.It is nice to offer bits of advice to beginners, respect for other makers who think the same way. but there are limits. Its not simply self-protection: This is where my dislike of the word LuthierI think that working things out for yourself, and started. I think it was taken up in America bymaking mistakes, is important, it is the best way of individual makers who began to cooperate in ordergetting real understanding. to acquire and share knowledge. The know-howIt is now possible to buy component parts made by of guitar making was not written down, it existedcomputer controlled machines in other parts of the mostly in the father to son relationships of familyworld and shipped to you in sets. Other companies firms, and the apprenticeships and fixed toolingcan do the finishing, all the tools and materials of the bigger guitar manufacturers who hadcan be acquired over the Internet, and all the accumulated the knowledge over generations. information you need is in countless books, videos The idea of free sharing sounds lovely, but when Iand chat rooms. That isnt guitar making, its hardly started I didnt have anyone to go to, and I didntmore than building a kit, but there are some well see anyone else making guitars for at least twentyknown makers who use all those services. As with years. My knowledge has been gained by hardother things, its selling the customer short. work without any help,and the years have brought experience, some of it at a very high price.At Fylde we do the whole process, raw timber to More than forty years after I started selling myfinished guitar in this workshop. The designs, tools guitars, I am beginning to see my own wordsand techniques are as much as possible my own. Skills shared: Eddie Green Eddie was a friend first, and then one of the first people to join Fylde. His previous employment was as a stress engineer at British Aerospace, and he was always willing to run little guitar calculations through big computers. He is writing a massive book about the mechanics of guitar structure, and expects it to be finished in about 12 months.Eddie was one part of the Great Egg Race team with myself and our deeplySkills shared: Ray Mercermissed friend Tony, and our three familiesRays band Dedikation had several top shared godparent duties in variousten hits in New Zealand before he came directions. Eddies wife Ann was myto England, where he played guitar in the secretary during my snooker years,Rocky Horror Show, with Gary Glitter in and they have run several successfulthe lead role. folk clubs, where I met a lot of my early customers.Back in New Zealand, Ray Ahipene-Eddie has always played and repairedMercer, to use his Maori name,various instruments in his spare time, andcampaigned for clean water, the Little now that he is retired, he can do it all day blue penguins, and NZ Abalone. He became a Wellington City councillor and stood for election as mayor. He drives a thirsty 1935 Dodge Coupe, which he rebuilt himself, but he plants a lot of trees to compensate for its carbon footprint.102'