The Richmond Magazine

Covering Richmond Upon Thames and surrounding areas

	Stringing along

Millions of people play the guitar, but few have the ability to make one. Tanya Reed meets the local luthier putting Twickenham on the music map

In a small studio in his Twickenham garden, Gary Nava is changing lives. A grand claim, perhaps, for a ‘luthier’, or ‘one who makes or repairs stringed instruments’. But this is a guitar man who is striking a healing note. When a local marathon runner was left paralysed from a car crash, it was one of Gary’s custom-built acoustic guitars that kept him sane.

“I knew as I was making it that it would prove a lifeline,” recalls Gary. “An inspiration to replace the running.”

The former athlete has just passed his grade four exam in guitar.

“A personally made guitar is a great de-stresser,” continues the master craftsman. “People appreciate it, as they can grow with the instrument. They also want to get back to something that can last a lifetime – they don’t want to replace it in a year.”

And the list of satisfied clients is long. Gary supplies London’s Spanish Guitar Centre and receives orders from students at the Royal Academy of Music, as well as everyone from social workers to priests.

Requests come from as far afield as Dubai, often via the web. The latest commission is for a quality left-handed guitar as a 50th birthday treat for the buyer.

To get an idea of the work involved, consider the figures. Four million guitars a year are sold in the UK. If just 4,000 of these were made by hand, all the luthiers in Britain couldn’t cope with the demand. In fact, their combined annual sales total a mere 1,000 – 0.025% of the market.

“I’m like a Savile Row tailor,” says Gary. “Clients come to my workshop, choose the wood and ornamentation that they want and specify the dimensions they prefer. Most are amazed at the choice and, hopefully, end up with the guitar of their dreams.”

Neck shape, weight, the spacing of the strings to suit the player’s hands – many clients have fingers like bunches of bananas – can all make a huge difference to performance, whether the player is before an audience or strumming alone at home.

Nor can the work be rushed. At any one time Gary has four guitars on the go – all at different stages, some varnished, some waiting to dry. Most are made from a variety of exotic hardwoods, including rosewood, walnut and ebony, imported from all over the world. The internal structure of Gary’s classical guitars is based on the design developed by the Spanish luthier Torres in the 1800s.

“I like to build them over time, as it improves the quality of the wood. The main thing is the humidity during the process – I’m very fussy about humidity control. If the wood isn’t dry enough, it starts twisting and moving. It’s similar to keeping fine wines, really.”

A lover of guitars from childhood, Gary developed his craft as an antidote to frustrated ambition.

“I realised early on that I could never be a good musician. I was never going to be Clapton,” he recalls with just a hint of regret. “I grew up in Chelsea and made my first guitar at 14, as I couldn’t afford to buy one. Then I made another for ‘A’ level.

“My dad would bring home offcuts of wood from doors for me to work on. My favourite is still a 30-year-old guitar made from a Cuban mahogany wardrobe door – very rare nowadays. My mum would go mad, as I was continually spray-painting guitars in my bedroom.”

A three-year course studying modern fretted instruments at London College of Furniture followed in the late 1970s, then a stint at the London Guitar Gallery, developing ideas and techniques. Here Gary learnt repairs until he was totally confident about the outcome, whether working with acoustic or electric guitars, mandocellos or mandolins.

Today, he tracks the changing face of the craft through regular trips abroad. In California, he has rubbed shoulders with 60s veterans who made guitars for such Woodstock luminaries as Fleetwood Mac, Van Morrison and The Grateful Dead. A real dose of nostalgia – many modern stars would rather endorse guitars from major manufacturers than have their instruments custom-made.

“All luthiers are just anoraks really,” reflects Gary. “The subject always returns to humidity and keeping the door shut to prevent warping. Many of my holidays are spent expanding my knowledge of guitars, from the Stradivari Museum in Italy to the Gibson guitar factory in Montana. Last year I visited some classical guitar makers in Granada. That was a revelation.”

One thing common to luthiers worldwide is a sense of responsibility towards the environment.

“Everyone is aware of what woods they are using and the need to buy through reputable dealers. Brazilian rosewood, for instance, is endangered and needs specific certificates. Indian rosewood, grown around tea plantations to shelter the tea, is very good. Generally though, really high quality wood – very tight grain from very old trees – is hard to find.”

Now Gary has signed up for the Music from the woods of England project, in which guitar makers are urged to craft steel-string guitars from indigenous woods grown in the UK. The instruments will form part of a travelling exhibition, finally to be given to the nation as a permanent collection in 2010.

“Indigenous woods are those which grew in the British Isles before the last Ice Age,” explains Gary. “As there are only 30 or so left, naturalised species of 1,000 years old are also allowed in the project.

“The guitar I’m making has English walnut for the back and sides, and a unique feature of a walnut soundboard. The neck will be from rippled ash and the guitar’s internal construction is Scots pine.

“As a craftsman, you’re constantly evaluating what you do. It’s an ongoing, Zenlike process. A guitar is often seen as an odd thing to make. People accept that you can craft a chair, but how do you bend the sides on a guitar?

“After coming to the workshop though, visitors truly appreciate the process. They understand that having a guitar tailor-made can really enhance the joy of playing it.”

Sounds as if Gary has struck a chord.

For more information visit: http://www.navaguitars.co.uk

Printed: March 2008, Written by: Tanya Reed

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