The early years  1978 - 1985 in Wiesbaden
 
Born 1960 I got the first infection of the guitar virus when my parents brought me to a flamenco concert when I was eight years old.
I remember there was just one man on stage with his flamenco guitar and no PA or anything - he blew me away.
Then "The Monkees" came on the TV, I didn´t miss one episode and I knew - I wanted to play in a band.
Begging for a guitar I finally got a classical one at X-mas 1971 plus lessons for a year.
Around that time nearby my Dads carpentry a record shop closed down and I managed to rescue many big
boxes full with brandnew records. It took me weeks to listen trough the lot (lots of crap) and I discovered bands I never knew
existed. Led Zeppelin, Yes, King Crimson, Zappa, Stooges etc. - Uhh,  it was like paradise.
I got bored with the classical stuff and urgently needed an electric guitar. After school I often helped my Dad in the workshop
doing lots of sanding, staining and spraying to earn a bit of money.
In 1973 I bought my first electric, an Ibanez LesPaul and started playing with friends. Since then the guitar has ruled my life completely.
In 1974 I formed the band "FLICKWERK"  with my mate and drummer Akki which lasted about 6 years.
 
I finished school in 1977 and started a 3-year apprenticeship as a luthier at a company called HOPF.
They were one of the old established guitar-companys like Framus or Hofner. At that time the factory had about 80 employees
and produced everything stringed from low cost to high class masterpieces. The job was often hard and sweaty and I wanted to quit
a few times - but after all I´m very thankful for this training, I went trough every step of guitarmaking from cutting the big
logs to the final adjustments.
Meanwhile I was much more interested  in guitarplaying than making them and did put most of my effort into music.
Until 1980 I only made a few guitars for myself and friends, apart from all the guitars I made at HOPF.
But the word spread that my guitars are a bit special. So in 1980 after my examination as a guitarmaker
my instruments got ordered more and more.
 
Between 1980 and 85 I made a lot of guitars and basses, repairs, plus restored and frenchpolished antiques.
At night most of the time I played gigs, did a few studio jobs and tried out many bands. I had quite a few
U.S. customers owing to the american Airforce base in Wiesbaden where I lived.
In 1983 I shared a booth with pickup guru Bill Lawrence at the Frankfurt Music Fair,
thanks Bill, I learned a lot from you.
 

The London years 1985 -1988
 
Of coarse I didn´t become a rockstar right away, so I took on a nice job as an antique furniture restorer
at Dome antiques in Islington, north London. A couple of months later I changed to Keith Skeel antiques,
one of the most exclusive antique warehouses in the U.K., working on high class barock, renaissance and east Asien
antiques. Meanwhile I had a bench set up in my flat doing guitar repairs as well and, most important,
checking the "MelodyMaker" adds for bands. I tried out many and finally ended up with the Bollock Brothers,
going on a big europe tour right away. That was the end of the antique job. They weren´t exactly my taste in music
but it was good fun and payed for my living for about 3 years. Occasionally I helped out as an sound engenier
in recording studios.
 

the Hamburg years 1989-2001
 
While still playing with the Bollox in 1988 I moved to Hamburg for family reasons.
On tour we always played soccer to keep fit. One day it happened: I broke my left wrist
tying to catch an "english granade" as a goalkeeper. And it happened on the first day of a
3 week tour in austria. In the hospital I requested a special plaster so the fingers would stick out
and I was able to continue the tour.
I shouldn´t have played on because after a few weeks when they took of the plaster
I couldn´t play guitar at all.
This was it with my career as a guitarist and the reason that I opened up the
"Altona Rehearsal Studios" in Hamburg as an alternative to my job as a guitarist.
I got the idea from London: renting out fully equipped rehearsal rooms on hourly bases.
As far as I know we were the first rehearsal studio of that kind in Germany at that time.
It was pretty successful, Hamburg was a music capital with lots of musicians, record companys
and recording studios. Having an integrated 8-track studio we supplied the perfect environment
for pre-production and tour preparing. Clients included Udo Lindenberg, Einstürzende Neubauten,
Lenny Wolf (Kingdom Come) to name a few. Nearly every Hamburg musician at that time popped into
Altona Rehearsal Studios sooner or later. It was a great time but also a very, very busy one.
Meanwhile my hand had recovered and I got back into playing guitar again.
Here are 2 more bollox videos to watch, 1993 here and 1999 here
 
1992
 
I had one room in the studio set up as a workshop for repairing equipment and guitars.
The guitar business grew rapidly and in 1991 I decided to sell the studio and moved one floor up
to set up a new guitar workshop. This shop soon got knocked down and I had to move another 3 times
with the workshop in Hamburg. One of them burnt down, another one flooded.
That was my last workshop in Hamburg, an old bunker from WW2, half under ground.
Business was going well, especially with the United States and then the Scorpions
and I was able to buy an old farmhouse in the countryside.
And that´s where I am now.