For Luthiers and budding guitar fiddlers, it may seem that there are not that many places to get supplies from in the UK - lets change that with this page - UK, Europe and Overseas.
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Stop using eBay and Amazon - go straight to the source.
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I have used all of those in yellow and had positive interactions, and those in blue I haven't used yet! This is a growing list - do send me your prefered suppliers!
Luthier Resources
UK Luthier Resources
Not only a luthier school, but also produces many essential Luthier Supplies - dyes, tints and tools in house.
An excellent supplier of timber for all types of luthiery - highly recommended to call them to discuss what you need - very ver knowledgable.
An excellent online store for tonewoods - I've purchased a number of pieces from them
Like Crimson - it's in the middle of nowhere - Yeovil! But it does have not only a great selection of tools, and occasional sales, it also has a large selection of timber available to take away.
Another online supplier of timber for the luthier
The UK manufacturer of extremely high quality bridges and parts - yes, they are more expensive than most, but the quality is second to none.
One of the original UK suppliers of guitar parts, a huge range of stock and fast too
Lots of great things come from Hull (Mick Ronson?) - here's another one
Probably the largest UK guitar and amplifier spares in the UK
Guitar bridges, tuners, parts and most importantly - pickups - I'm not sure if it is their own brand but see below for Iron Gear Pickups
Trev Wilkinson is one of my heroes in UK guitar making - and he should be yours too - go and look up videos of him talking about his products - tuners, pickups, bridges - all excellent, all at a very competitive price, but more importantly developed to overcome known issues with old generation products.
Unfortunately, many people think of Wilkinson products as inferior as they are cheaper than big name brands - they couldn't be more wrong. The edge tremelo is just brilliant and the strat pickups I have are way superior to stock Fender ones!
UK designed, and particularly cost effective pickups. Yes, I love Seymour Duncan pickups (I can't believe there is anything better than the '59 humbucker in the neck position), but these are at least a third of the price and just as good - excellent demo's on the site so you can really compare the available tones - I wish all manufacturers did this - as simply and as easily.
The first supplier I ever used - has a great selection of tools and more importantly Nitro celulose paints in a can!
I came across these chaps via eBay, UK based and supply lots of things - from strings to guitar parts - fairly priced too!
CH Music
I came across these chaps via eBay, as well - UK based and supply lots of things - very affordable
I discovered that they stock the rather cool Incra Protractor here in the UK - next day delivery!
Not used personally - but they have an online store of some great timbers - not just for guitars
Not used personally - but they do stock a lot of interesting suppliers - including Grainger
European Luthier Resources
A more affordable source of some luthier tools
Wonderfully huge German stockists - they have everything at a very fair price... until Brexit hits, I expect