Authentically aged, ‘relic’ electric guitars. Built in Britain using the highest quality components with handmade pickups and finished in genuine nitrocellulose lacquer.

All of the guitars are built and set-up by me, Dave Walsh and offer a unique chance to own an instrument that looks, feels and sounds like the classic bolt-on neck guitars from the 1950s up to the 1970s – but at a fraction of the cost of the real thing.

I work from a small one man workshop and everything from sourcing or hand-making unfinished premium alder/swamp ash bodies and solid maple necks (from the UK, U.S. and Japan) to finish and final assembly and professional set-up is handled by me alone. But I don’t simply slap them together and claim them as my own. The bodies are fine sanded and the shape modified (if required) to accurately match the model that it is being used for. They are then grain filled before receiving a coat of sanding sealer. More sanding and then thin nitrocellulose coats are applied before it is hung to dry.

The necks are also supplied raw and unfinished or handmade so I take the opportunity to shape the back of the neck and if required, re-radius the fingerboard. I then install high quality Jescar or Dunlop fretwire and clay dot markers (on rosewood fingerboards) before finishing in a paper thin vintage tint nitrocellulose lacquer which is aged to suit the model or customers requirements.

I use Gotoh and Kluson hardware which is aged to match the chosen wear level for the body and neck. Scratchplates are Bakelite or standard plastic and also aged to taste. I use my own Eternal Guitar pickups exclusively which are built to offer superior tone using the best parts available – they come with period correct cloth hook-up wire and the covers are also aged to taste.

A little bit about me…

I’ve been playing and modifying guitars since I bought my first cheap electric guitar back in the late ‘80s. I was fortunate to secure first a job in Denmark Street, London and eventually an apprenticeship as a Luthier under Graham Noden in his murky basement workshop. After five years of dusty work I was recommended for a job on Guitar Magazine where I wrote a Guitar Doctor column and contributed regular product and music reviews. A long stint at the Guitar Institute in West London followed before itchy feet and the need for a change of scenery led me to buy into a retail music shop in south London, where I also ran my own busy repair workshop.

Eventually I sold up and relocated to the frankly, much nicer south coast and began writing once again on a freelance basis for the re-titled Guitar & Bass Magazine while doing repairs in a small home-based workshop. I had always been a fan of ‘Relic’ guitars and had built a few one-off instruments for customers which were very popular, so in 2010 I began ‘Eternal Guitars’ with the aim of providing a top quality instrument that looked the part, sounded great and that was put together by a professional luthier (that’s me, by the way) and set-up to play to perfection.

Over the years I’ve repaired and set-up guitars for thousands of players both high profile artists and beginners alike – they all receive the same standard of service and the benefit of over 20 years experience in the guitar industry.

At the moment, Eternal Guitars takes up most of my time so repairs are by appointment only – however, if you do book your instrument in for a service then I offer a fast turnaround and will always give accurate quotes and timescales of when the work will be completed.

Please feel free to contact me with any enquiry that you may have or even if you just need a little bit of advice – I’ll do my best to get back to you as soon as possible.

Cheers,

Dave

dave@eternal-guitars.com

Each guitar that we make is unique but there are also standard models that I build from time to time and you can see some of these on our dealers websites. If you would like a particular one-off build - either a slightly modified version or in a particular colour then we build from scratch. Typically the turn around time is six weeks and once the spec. and price are agreed a 50% deposit is payable with the balance paid upon completion of the instrument.

A full menu of repair services and prices is also listed on our website.