Alastair McNeill
Alastair McNeill was born in 1946 and began playing the guitar at the age of fourteen.
After initially trying different styles of music he was especially drawn to the classical guitar and was influenced by the great players of the day, in particular Andres Segovia and Julian Bream.
Before commencing his career as a luthier, he had worked professionally as a cabinetmaker. This combination of woodworking skills and the love of the guitar naturally gave him the desire to make a guitar for himself.
He built his first instrument in 1974, using maple for the back and sides and spruce for the soundboard. For the methods of construction he worked from available books and a full sized drawing of a Torres guitar. The result was encouraging, the experience had proved challenging and enjoyable, increasing his interest and giving him the desire to build a better guitar and explore further the art of guitar making.
More guitars were to follow, and soon his instruments were of such quality that he was able to sell them to leading Guitar Centres in the UK. Orders were to follow from Europe, the USA, and as far a field as Australia and Japan.
The majority of his instruments have been based on the well established methods of construction used and developed by Antonio Torres and other great makers mainly of the Spanish school of guitar making.
He is currently making guitars based on a particularly fine Santos Hernandez instrument, constructed in 1925. Inspiration has also been found from the 1937 Herman Hauser guitar used by Segovia for several years and now housed in the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York.
Amongst Alastair`s professional clients is the International Concert Artist John Mills who says:
Alastair McNeill is a long-established maker whose guitars are of the highest quality, characterised by excellent projection, clarity of sound, superb balance, combined with ease of playability, and a beautiful finish. . . . . . . The work of a dedicated luthier and artist.
John Mills
Alastair McNeill lives in Wiltshire with his wife Elizabeth. They have three grown up children.
For further information please contact Alastair via email:
