SMITH OF THE STAR: Ace of bass makes guitars of note...
DOWN a lazy lane in deepest Derbyshire, rock legends are being created. Some flash, others cool but all unique and hand-made.
Jon Shuker's bass guitars are among the most sought after in the music world and responsible for producing some of rock's hookiest bass lines.
But their origin is hardly what you'd call rock and roll.
Just off the A6187 in the Hope Valley, former Midland Bank worker John Shuker makes 3,000 bass guitars from the world's rarest – and sustainable – hardwoods to the exact specifications of his A-list clients.
READ MORE: Stranglers legend says Shuker basses are 'peaches'
Jean Jacques Burnel of the Stranglers and Simon Rix of the Kaiser Chiefs are two devoted fans of the man from Doncaster who came to Sheffield University to do an electronics degree and stayed.
Until the wilds of Hope – and a Derbyshire lass – called him away.
"I used to have a place in Little London Road near the river at Heeley but we got flooded out in 2007 and my girlfriend Lydia is from Bamford and it seemed a good idea to move out here," said former Midland Bank computer man Jon.
"It's saved me an hour a day getting to work and it's not bad out here."
Not bad indeed.
Surrounded by the glorious hills and greenery of the Peak District, his business is in an idyllic setting.
But step into the industrial unit and you could be anywhere from Neepsend to Canklow.
It's just the goods that are different. Jon now makes between 40 and 50 guitars a year at 800 to 3,000 each with a full waiting list of six months.
And what instruments they are.
From dull, shapeless lumps of wood Jon produces objects of beauty and style.
The guitars reflect the deep, subtle tones of alder, quilted maple, African blackwood and rosewood as they hang, polished and lacquered to album-cover perfection, among shafts of sunlight in the showroom at his works.
But Jon Shuker doesn't play one himself.
"A friend of mine taught me to play but I was more interested in the practical side of guitars when I was 18," said 39-year-old Jon.
"After university, I went to work for Midland Bank for three years on their computers and made a couple of guitars in my bedsit off Ecclesall Road.
"It was a typical office job, and the most exciting thing there was the canteen, but around that time I started to make guitars in my spare time.
"Then I went on a training course and got a loan from the Prince's Trust. I learned how to look after the business, keep the books and build the business.
"I worked from home for a while and around this time I was working as a self-employed electrician, on domestic and industrial re-wiring.
"I did that to keep me going until I had built up a reputation. I ended up making a couple of guitars for a bassist called Jeremy Meek who wanted a guitar to play with Frank White in Sheffield during a break from touring with Joan Armatrading.
"It was the internet that really helped the business take off. I did my own website and people are now able to talk about what they like and where they can get it from and word spread."
So how did he make the leap to The Stranglers and Kaiser Chiefs?
"Someone threw a pint of beer at Stranglers guitarist Baz Warns onstage and the glass smashed.
"In a touch of rock and roll rebellion Baz smashed his guitar on the floor a couple of times and broke the neck.
"He took it to a couple of places who told him it was scrap then a mate of his from Sheffield told him to bring it to me.
"I mended it for him and he told the story to JJ Burnel and JJ asked me to make him a bass. He liked it and he ordered another one."
With internet exposure and big-name endorsement of his beautiful instruments, the big-time beckons for Jon.
"I suppose I'm at the cross roads now and I need to start either producing more guitars or put up the prices and concentrate on quality. I'm not yet sure which way to go.
"I don't want to devalue the brand by going mass market, Making high quality bass guitars is what I started doing and that's what I want to continue to do.
"If I did expand it would just turn into a management job and that's not what I wanted to do.
"We make a comfortable, average living and I've never had to borrow any money from the bank.
"But it's not the sort of job that's going to make you a millionaire.
" I'm leaving that to the people who play the guitars.
"I just like making them."
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Friday 25 May 2012
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