My passion for making classical guitars stemmed from my interest in working with wood and playing the guitar. My Cornish grandfather was a wheelwright and made almost anything which was needed from wood such as carts, wheelbarrows, gates and furniture. As well as the table I’m using now, I have a few of his tools, passed onto me by my dad, which I love using. I sadly never met him for he lost a leg in WWI and died fairly young. I use his name Purnell (my middle name) for my guitars as a tribute to him.
My grandfather passed on his interest in making things to my dad who is a toy maker. It was in my dads workshop where I leant how to make things with wood and how things should look. I spent what would be my apprenticeship with him making toys and automata.
Playing the guitar was something I’d always done. At 16 I started learning classical guitar and this began my fascination with this particular instrument. It was natural for me to learn how to make them, being the combination of my interests in life. I believed it was something I could be good at.
After attending the London Guildhall University, where I became a Bachelor of Science, studying Musical Instrument Tech, I set up a workshop, first in Laxfield and then in Reydon, Suffolk and have been making guitars ever since.
Mike Williams, David Gallant and Me
Purnell Guitars 