In Wollongong, my converted one-and-a-half-car garage serves as my workshop. It houses my chisels, planes, knives, bandsaw, timber, and workbench — and is the reason my wife has to park on the street.

In my workshop I dedicate my time to building classical guitars in keeping with the Spanish tradition — constructed on a solera, assembled with hot hide glue, and finished with French polish. I utilise traditional timbers, including European spruce, rosewood, ebony, and maple, while also incorporating Australian native timbers such as Australian red cedar and Queensland maple.

During each stage of the process, I work purposefully towards achieving what I hear as the “Spanish sound”, that is, an intimate and resonant response, deep basses and lyrical and rounded trebles . My approach is inspired by the Granada tradition, favouring European spruce, a delicately graduated soundboard, and a finely voiced fan bracing design that encourages less restricted, more natural movement of the plates.

Every process and component of the guitar is completed by hand and each instrument is finished with a French polish. Each guitar is the result of a slow and deliberate building process, and as a result my output is typically at three guitars each year, reflecting the time, care and intention behind each instruments making.