Essential,

 

Based in South Manchester UK, specialising in restorations of mandolins and mandolin family instruments as well as guitars, mainly from period of late 19th - early 20th century. Providing service for private repairs or full restorations. Instruments listed for sale are always fully playable set up to high standard where possible.

 

 

A little about me,

 

My jurney with musical instruments began with innocent riffs of Metallica in early teenage years but this didn't keep me interested for very long and having discovered old blues fingerpicking journey grew more exciting and absorbing. Seeking imrovement in playing got me into a music school where I was able to fine polish skills further by immersing into demanding world of classical music. Gaining better understading and developing new techniques eventually laded me in a Latin guitar world as well as Flamenco which later became main musical style. At this point I felt more ready to add some of my own to the universe of music and began to compse music in Blues, Classical and Flamenco style.

 

Still... something was missing... a craving for something different... perhaps other string instrument? Yes, a Mandolin.

 

So I bought my first mandolin which was an antique Stridente bowl-back and of course it was unplayable. But a high action did not turn me away from it, that deep sound of round back instrument was something new and exciting so I had to find a way to make it more playable. It was time refresh rather rusty repair skills gained many years ago.

 

And that's how journey changed it's tracks in a different direction. Having restored one instrument after another and getting to understand them better I realised that sole repair is not always sufficient and some modifications are often required to bring an old instrument to a playable state of todays requirements.

 

Although I always seek new ways of tackling problems, trying new ideas and exploring areas to improve, my restoration approach is always the same, focusing on playability aspects to make instruments easy and comfortable to play while ensuring it's singing potential is maximised. Aesthetically I always try to retain original, antique state and where this is not possible due to extensive damage, recreate original appearance.

 

Being also able play restored instruments allowed me to create a gallery of mandolins and their relatives which consist not only of photos but also recordings done on these very instruments which I hope you are enjoying.

 

To date, I have restored over 130 instruments and gained invaluable experiance which I am hoping will help me with achieving a future goal that is to “create an instrument that would bring something fresh and revitalize desire to play”.