Q & A #2 with Pete Turner Guitars January 2017

As promised, another Q&A with Pete of Pete Turner Guitars!

In this interview, we'll go into some in-depth detail about that special, photo-friendly, fan worship-worthy, gold-plated Marrakech resonator he's come to call the "Runes", and what he thought when he heard JJ play it live for the first time.  

​Other highlights include learning how he collaborates with an artist to design a custom guitar, the surprise gift he brought along for Rubin, and songs he'd like to hear Kaleo cover.  We'll also get some input from his wife, Heidi, along with an envy-inducing story about how their daughter, Helen, got to hang out with the band.
When you are creating a guitar, what information do you ask for or need from a client?
First of all, left or right-handed?! Usually customers have liked a particular resonator they have seen on the web-site and want one 'like that'.  And I will establish if they would like a pickup fitted (for attaching to amps), and what kind of music they like to play. I aspire to build custom guitars and not bespoke, which implies building to order, and so I like to interpret a customer's initial thoughts on colour and usage and go from there.

​How long does it take from start to finish once a customer places an order for a custom-made instrument?
Hmmmm,  it depends on what else I may be working on and the complexity of the build, availability of woods etc but on the whole around 3 months plus.
Do you always prefer to hand deliver them?
Or can you ship an instrument to anywhere in the world? 

It's a real kick for me to actually hand 'my baby' over to the new owner, see their reaction and hear it played , so I try to arrange a collection from home or go to them whenever I can. But the majority of my customers to date have been overseas and so I have to despatch the guitars by courier. I'm pleased to accept orders from anywhere but then I have to ensure that there are no Customs restrictions. The States, for example, have strict controls on what woods can be imported, even if old stock.

​
How do you envision the first drafts of an instrument? For example, do you draw them out? Or build a small-scale model? Use computer imaging?

​Strictly a low-tech process! Sometimes it is prompted by finding a particularly beautiful piece of wood, or it might be as a result of conceiving a customer order. When it comes to engraving I'll sketch the design or otherwise provide the content for the engraver to produce a CAD template.
Walk us through the general process of creating a custom guitar.
I quite literally lay out the pieces of wood I am considering for the back, top and sides, not forgetting the neck, and try them together in different combinations – I end up with something just like a mood board that an interior designer creates. My overall aim is to give the guitar a vintage vibe.

​It's pretty much the same for resonators or acoustics –  I make the back and top separately and fit to the moulded sides – then have fun inserting the binding!
Many coats of hard wax oil and much polishing later I'll insert the frets and fit the cover plate etc, machineheads and strings chosen to complement the instrument and then off it goes to Andy Warnock to set it up. It's a stroke of luck that Andy lives close by – he's a very experienced guitar tech with many well-known musicians as customers.
Pete gave JJ a brand new, custom-built resonator back in November of 2016. Although we haven't seen it out in public much since then, here's a little more info and detail about it now so that we can doubly appreciate it more when it DOES start making an appearance
​How did the design for this resonator happen?

Well, that was a straight-forward process that was actually quite complex! When Triple 8 Management contacted me to say how much the band loved the resonator they had acquired in London, they initially said that JJ would like a gold-plated and engraved model just like one featured on my website. This was made from bog oak and the customer – who builds metal-bodied electrics – himself made the cover plate and arranged for the gold-plating and engraving. To be honest, I wasn't that keen on duplicating an instrument. My USP is that every guitar is different, but more than anything I wanted to create a showstopper for Kaleo, something unique that would always be associated with them.

So in July, Heidi and I met everyone at Dingwalls, London, before the gig; I'd taken along a couple of completed instruments to show JJ and get a feel of the wood colours and neck shape he liked. We had a real good chat about it and agreed to carry forward the gold element, and he was trusting enough to otherwise say, I'll leave it up to you!
How were the materials chosen for this guitar?
And what is the significance of the Icelandic runes on the cover plate ring and hand rest?
In designing the resonator my over-arching desire was to reflect Kaleo's Icelandic heritage, and for the design to fit in the PTG 'family'.  

​First the woods: I looked through my seasoned stock for what appealed to me in looks and likely acoustic output.

​I finally chose figured Bubinga sapwood for the top as the whorls reminded me of a topographical map of mountains...
​​...and Macassar ebony for the fingerboard as it invoked for me images of cooled lava flows, both images associated with Iceland.​
As for the engraving, Heidi and I conducted a lot of research into Icelandic heraldry and national symbolism, and the evolution of various Scandinavian runes. So what you can see on the coverplate ring is the Icelandic runic alphabet from over a 1000 years ago, with the same alphabet spelling 'kaleo' on the hand rest. ​
On the tailpiece is what is known as the 'Icelandic compass'. It is a Norse protection symbol called Vegvísir, which has a deep meaning.  The Icelandic word literally means 'guidepost' or 'direction sign', and it is speculated that each stave symbolises different charms of protection. 

I've seen in photos that Davið  has a variation of this as a tattoo.
As you know, the Marrakech has a distinctive cover plate pattern that I didn't feel would work with the engraving and so I sketched out a few designs with the same empathy, had them drawn up on CAD, and then chose my favourite.

The guitar was finished with gold-plated machine heads and gold-coloured stainless steel frets, and has one of my hand-wound pickups fitted.
How did you meet up to give the resonator to JJ? Was it before or after the KOKO show?
I promised to have the resonator ready for Kaleo's return to London on 23 November. My daughter Helen and I arrived at Koko early during the sound check and I formally presented it to JJ then – he was pretty pleased with it and Rubin, Davið and Danny crowded round too and all said it was an insane looking guitar!

And just to make the fans jealous, Helen had a good time chatting and hanging out with the guys before and after the gig, and watched the performance from the side stage. They are all just so grounded and modest, yet really come alive on stage. 

Kaleo posted a picture of you with JJ with the new resonator, and Rubin with an acoustic -- did you make that guitar as well? 

You mean this photo? (that's Helen on the right). 

Yes, I made this acoustic too. It so happened that I'd just had it refinished and I thought I'd like to show my appreciation of all that Rubin brings to Kaleo with his versatility and sheer individuality on electric and acoustic guitars. I showed it to him, he liked it and I just said "it's yours".  So it was a surprise gift.

Tell us more about Rubin's guitar. We only know that he totally shreds on the guitar, but we don't know much about any of his instruments -- tell us more about this one!
Rubin usually plays a Gibson acoustic and electric guitars. This acoustic I named 'Era' because at the 12th fret I inlaid a piece of amber with an inclusion of an insect – it's from the Eocene period so it is around 30 million years old. And the body is fashioned from Cuban mahogany with a bear-claw spruce top. 
Rubin wanted to play it on stage that night but didn't have the right size bung – I hope he'll be using it in future on tour and in the studio – it has great volume and tonacity. Old stock Cuban mahogany is my favourite tone wood. 
​(sorry Davið I don't know how to make drums, but I could probably make a mean bass for Daniel!)
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