Meet the makers - Gary Nava

You’ve probably “met” Gary before on the Forum but, as he’s kindly agreed to participate in our “Meet the Makers” interview series, I hope you’ll soon know a lot more about his work and his instruments. Gary works solo producing high quality guitars, mandolins and other one-off stringed instruments to order, in his workshop on the Cambridgeshire-Norfolk borders.

Gary: When I was about 14/15 years old, I built my first guitar, a solid body, and whilst I was at school I repaired, customised and built a number of electrics. At 18, I was lucky enough to get a place on the Modern Fretted Instrument course at the London College of Furniture (now London Metropolitan University) and it was there that I made my first acoustic instruments in 1976! I was quite surprised that we all had to start by making a classical guitar. At that point in my life, I very much doubt that I heard any classical guitar music; my intention was to build solid bodies! My first decent steel string (made in 1977) was a parlour guitar based on a 1916 Martin/Ditson, which I still have and play 36 years later.

The LCF course was 3 years long and when I left I worked at the London Guitar Gallery, building and repairing guitars. The guitar gallery was a great concept, just like an art gallery; a luthier could exhibit an instrument and if it sold the gallery took a commission. Remember these were pre-internet days so getting players to see your work wasn’t easy.

Then in the 80s relatively cheap synthesizers came along and you could play music with one finger; no one wanted guitars! To cut a long story short, I got an engineering degree and a teaching qualification and taught Design Technology for a number of years. And in the background I continued to build for fun and also I must have helped about 25 students to build their own instruments.

About 10 years ago I started to build more seriously again, got more and more commissions, so we decided to move from London and here I am in the Norfolk Fens building guitars and mandolins.


Keith: An interesting and varied journey! Has your current guitar building style/method been influenced by any other builders and/or your engineering and design experience?

Gary: As a craftsman, over the years, you gradually build up a body of empirical knowledge about your instruments. Studying for an engineering degree, put a lot of what I had previously learnt as a craftsman into context- understanding, in depth, the theory behind forces, materials, energy etc. etc. It’s certainly informed the design of my instruments and enhanced the understanding of how they actually work- which, of course, is the first step in being able to improve them! All of my instruments constantly evolve by small degrees.

Apart from the aesthetics of design; designing is essentially a problem solving activity and having taught this process countless times, I’m pretty good at solving practical problems and working out how to achieve what I’m after!

In 2006 we had a bit of a busman’s holiday in the USA and visited various luthiers. We were lucky enough to meet Jeff Traugott who is an exceptional luthier- looking at how clean his work is and realising how fastidious he is about every detail, certainly made me raise my game. I also have a great deal of respect for what Andy Manson does; again he is an exceptional craftsman, but he also has a good eye and designs some very good looking instruments; he does his own thing and doesn’t follow the crowd which is I think is admirable. Apart from that, I prefer to look at the work of guys like Panormo and Lacote for inspiration.


Keith: Ah yes, the 19th Century look! That reminds me of the fascinating video diary you made chronicling the design and building of a European type steel strung parlour guitar

This demonstrated very well your meticulous approach in structural and aesthetic matters. From either/both of these perspectives are there any particular woods with which you especially enjoy working?

Gary: Glad that you enjoyed the videos on the parlour guitar; combined they have had about 40,000 views! As a result of these videos and my blog, I regularly get “How do you do that?” emails from aspiring builders.

Isn’t wood a fantastic material? When you think of a decent guitar, it’s a wonderful juxtaposition of woods from far flung places, all chosen for their own specific properties, that come together to make this magic box that we all love.

The parlour guitar, in the video, had Claro walnut back and sides. I do enjoy working with walnut and have made quite a few instruments from both Claro and English walnut. It’s a joy to work with; bends easily, looks great once finished and also sounds good- who could want more! Fortunately, I’ve got a good stock of both species, including a very nice small set of Claro that I want to use for a mandolin for myself! I find that you get good tonal separation with walnut, that coupled with a cedar top (as on the parlour guitar) and you’ve got a great combination for fingerpicking.

I’ve always liked Indian rosewood too and it would be my default choice for any guitar; again it behaves itself when you’re working with it, it’s very stable and produces a great sounding guitar. I think that it isn’t as popular as it once was; I feel that this is the result of some of the big manufactures offering alternative tonewoods which are readily available in large quantities to suit their production, rather than rosewood being inferior in any way.

As far as soundboards are concerned, I’ve used a variety of spruces and pines and also western red cedar and redwood; I must admit that I don’t have a particular favourite. I tend to base my choice on the stiffness of the individual piece of wood and what it sounds like when tapped. Also the style of the client’s playing is going to have a bearing- for example, I said that cedar makes a great finger style guitar, but I find that it loses its clarity when strummed or played hard and therefore would not suit everyone.

That said, I have been using Adirondack on some of my mandolins and I’m quite taken by its stiffness.
I’ve got enough Brazilian mahogany for guitar necks to see me out and again it would be my default choice for a guitar. I really love highly figured maple, be it bird’s eye or flamed, for necks, the way it shimmers in the changing light is quite lovely! But it’s a bit too dense for an acoustic guitar (makes it neck heavy) so that’s for mandolins only.

I’ve also used cocobolo on at least 5 mandolins; it’s a wonderful looking wood and gives a very full rich tone, but working wise, it’s not for the faint hearted! It’s one of my favourite woods once the instrument is completed!

Keith: As you’ve mentioned mandolins, your mandolin range seems to be growing Gary, with several different designs on offer, including a solid bodied electric mandolin and some larger mandolin family instruments in a very original body shape. Was each new model inspired by a commission request, or did you have specific ideas you wanted to develop? Do you have any plans for making carved top mandolins in the future?

Gary: I made my first mandolin in 2006 at the request of a client who already had two of my guitars- it was a flat-top based on the Gibson A shape, I made a couple of these, but didn’t like the neck/body juncture; I thought it a bit clumpy and also restrictive to playing the higher frets, so I decided to design my own shape. That shape turned out to be my twin-point design, which has proved to be my most commissioned instrument and most of them seem to go to Ireland or Scotland, so I guess Celtic players like them!

The design was inspired partially by 1920s Lyon & Healey mandolins and partially by a visit we made to the Sir John Soane's Museum. He was the architect who designed the Bank of England and the museum is based in his house. The house is absolutely stunning with fantastic craftsmanship and details everywhere; something kind of clicked within me and I felt that I wanted my mandolin to look at home in a wonderful place such as this. Essentially, my objective was to create an instrument that evoked the craftsmanship and quality of a by-gone era, yet have modern twists such as carbon fibre in the neck. By its nature the twin-point takes a long-time to build- I spend ages getting details such as the mitred purfling on the points spot-on.

Based on the theory that time is money, in 2011 I introduced my “Standard” mandolin. Times are tough for everyone these days so I decided to design another mandolin that was simpler to construct and hence quicker build.

The time saved in construction is passed straight on to the player as a greatly reduced price. There are many players who understand benefits of luthier built instruments, but in these austere times, simply can’t afford to commission one. The standard mandolin has the same high build quality as any of my others instruments but is just aesthetically simpler and it’s the fancy stuff that eats the time. For example, binding the sound hole rather than making an abalone rosette saves me about six hours. However, it’s not just a case of leaving bits off; the whole mandolin was designed to have a clean, modern look in complete contrast to the twin-point. I’m really proud of the Standards that I’ve built, I don’t think that you’d find better at two or three times the price. I stumbled across this on-line review, of one them, by its owner -

You mentioned larger members of the mandolin family- you’re referring here to my model 2 and it’s the shape that I built the forum’s very own Andrew’s mandocello to. Again, I designed the shape from scratch for larger multi-course instruments and again I wanted a shape that stood out, yet somehow looked like it had some history to it. The problem with anything bigger than a mandolin is that there is always a debate about the scale length- the longer the scale the better, but the stretch becomes too much for the player. Good design is about the best compromise!

The solid body mandolin was really my reaction to seeing bands using poorly amplified acoustic mandolins! Using a piezo under-saddle transducer on a solid body gives a very good approximation of an acoustic sound without any hassle, feedback etc. and you have a much more robust instrument for life on-the-road.



You’ll notice that there is a family resemblance between the model 2 and the solid body, which isn’t a coincidence. I do want to start building carved top mandolins and will use the same shape as the emando- building the solid body gave me the opportunity to envisage the shape in three dimensions. There are so many good carved top mandolins that are based on the Gibson A or F style, that there is no point in me building one more.

I’ve built a couple of carved top guitars and sometimes it makes a pleasant change to get hold of a large lump of wood and carve it compared to the 2 to 3mm thick wood that usually gets handled. I guess this why I don’t mind building solid bodies too, there’s something satisfying about their sculptural form.


Keith: Obviously, when specifying and building an instrument, you have to take into account your client’s playing style, sound preferences and the use to which the instrument will be put. Do most customers have a good idea of what they want from the finished instrument in terms of sound? Do many have an idea of how this might be achieved, or do you often need to guide customers through how different wood choices etc might affect the end product? Does your own playing experience (ie what you hear and feel when using an instrument) have a bearing on that? Do you play for your own pleasure as well as it being a part of your luthiery skill set?

Gary: It sounds a bit clichéd to say everyone’s different but that’s the reality. Some clients will have done masses of research, have strong views on tonewoods, depth of body, whether or not the spruce that the soundboard is made from grew on the south side of the mountain etc. and others simply want a good quality handmade instrument. For most players, ordering a guitar or mandolin is a once in a lifetime experience and I try to make the whole experience from inception to completion as special as I can. I would estimate that, on average I can spend about an extra ten per cent of the build time communicating with the client; sending photos during construction, discussing various options etc. For example, I’ve just started work on one of my Phil Hare Signature guitars and the first thing that I did was send photos of three different rosewood backs for the client to choose from.

In general, most want a good all round instrument, that will suit a variety of styles, that will be comfortable to play, that they will enjoy for many years and that’s what I try give them. I’m more than happy to listen to the ideas that a client has about an instrument and will be willing to incorporate them as long as I feel that the integrity of the instrument isn’t compromised. Although my, Phil Hare Signature guitars and Standard mandolins have a set specification, I consider myself a custom builder rather than someone who turns out the same thing regardless.

(my views on custom made blog.custommade.com/2010/07/what-custom-made-means-to-me/ )

The sound of an instrument is so subjective; clients sometimes use adjectives, such as warm or bright and this can help with the choice of tonewood. I would say that my instruments have plenty of volume, sustain, good tonal separation, are well balanced up and down the fret board as well as across and are rich in overtones; if the “Nava sound” was a colour, then differing tonewoods would alter its shade.

By the time most potential clients get to me, they will have read my blog, studied the website, watched my videos, maybe picked up various piece of information from forums and will know my ethos, building style/techniques and will know whether or not they want to work with me.

Fortunately, the collaboration with Phil Hare has meant that there are loads of brilliant videos on YouTube of him playing his “Nava” which gives any client a pretty good idea of what my guitars can sound like.

There are also plenty of videos of me demonstrating my instruments- not as expertly as Phil or Brendan, but enough to give potential clients a pretty good idea of what my instruments sound like.

Although I’m not an accomplished musician, I play both guitar and mandolin for pleasure. I play enough to able to assess and evaluate my work and ensure mechanical details such as strings spacing, action and intonation are as good as they physically can be. I knew early on that I had very good practical skills and limited musical ability, so making instruments was always going to be my raison d'être.

Keith: You make quite a variety of instruments Gary, but are there any other instruments or different styles of your existing range that you really want to find the time to tackle?

Gary: Over the years I’ve made pretty much one of everything, some like a resonator for my own interest and others like a 7 string ergonomic solid body (with an extra wide neck for a classical guitarist) as a result of a commission. And I’m very glad of all of the experience, you can’t help but grow as a luthier- it’s like that Honda advert, “Everything we do goes into everything we do.”

As far as guitars go, I’m very happy with my current range, there will always be the odd tweak; I’m a great believer in “the aggregation of marginal gains” but nothing new, as such, on the horizon. In fact, I have cut back on my range; I’m no longer offering classical guitars as there are many fine classical guitar specialists out there. I’ve also sold off some of my external moulds, allowing me to rationalise the range of guitars that I offer. That said, I can still offer three different 14 fret neck shapes and two 12 fret neck shapes. Here is an example of my 00 model -

As a result of this rationalisation, I’ve started a “Nava” archive so that those who are interested can see what I’ve done in the past.

As I said earlier I want to develop a carved top mandolin. So many carved tops are based on Lloyd Loar’s 1920’s design, which I fully understand- many violin makers will copy Stradivari’s design-why change a winning formula? But I think it’s good to be able to offer an alternative for those players who want a different voice, so that’s the first on the to-do list! And also I’ve wanted to build an octave mandolin for a while now. Although you might like to romanticize about the life of a luthier, we still have to eat and to a large extent you have to go with the flow and build what people actually want rather than what you want! The ideal scenario is to receive a commission for an instrument that you have not built before, but always wanted to; the client has to trust your reputation and be your patron. This is what happened with my first mandolin and Andrew’s mandocello that we mentioned earlier.


Keith: I was lucky enough to be able to try Andrew’s lovely mandocello a year or two ago. An octave mandolin would nicely bridge the size gap between that and your mandolins. I did once notice somewhere on your website a baritone ukulele, and I seem to remember a video you made with it too. So, once the mandolin family is complete, might we be seeing other sizes and types of uke emerging from your workshop at some future date? Hopefully you might be asked to make one or more even sooner.....

Gary: I’ve made a couple of baritone ukes; the first one was a commission for Morgan Nicholls, an amazingly talented musician who is widely known for his work with Muse. At the same time I made a matching classical guitar for Muse’s guitar player; Matt Bellamy.

Those two were really exotic African Blackwood and Sinker Redwood, Pink Ivory bindings and fossilised walrus tusk nuts and saddles! Morgan was really interested in every aspect of the construction and had a lot of input into the design.

I’ve got a third baritone that’s on the back burner at the moment that I really must get around to completing and that could be the last uke that I make. Although the baritone uke is great instrument and I enjoy making them, I find that for me, they are just not economically viable anymore. When I build one, I construct it in pretty much the same way as I do a classical guitar and therefore it takes almost the same time to build. Here's a baritone uke under construction -



It’s a shame, as there is a great deal of interest- the video has had about 18,000 views and I often get enthusiastic emails from players wanting one, but the truth is that no one really wants to pay much more than 500 quid for a uke and I can’t match that!. So unless someone wants something really special, there’s little point.

Keith: You’ve been very generous with your time in responding to all these questions Gary, and we should maybe draw to a close shortly. So we’ll finish with a question about, er, finishing! Whatever instrument you make Gary, it does need something applied to the bare wood. What are your views on different kinds of finish; which do you prefer to use, and why?

Gary: Ever since Strad used his “magic recipe” on his violins, finishing has been one of the most contentious issues for luthiers.
Thinking back, over the years I’ve used acid-catalysed melamine, two-pack polyurethane, nitro-cellulose, water-based acrylic lacquers to name but a few! All of them have their pros and cons. The problem is that we have this relatively fragile object, made from ridiculously thin and fragile wood that needs to move/vibrate and it is in constant contact with sweaty hands, belt buckles, stray thumb-picks etc. yet we expect it to be kept in pristine condition.

There seems to be a growing number of luthiers, and I’m one of them, who have gone back to the traditional method of French polishing with shellac. For the majority of my clients the thing that is of paramount importance to them is the tone and I firmly believe that the thickness of a finish (as well as its type) will have an effect on the tone and that French polish has the minimal detrimental effect of all finishes. Also from an environmental point of view it is one of the more “natural” products; some of the solvents that can be used are quite unpleasant! For the luthiers’ health and safety shellac is one of the least harmful. It’s reversible; so that it can be repaired; new polish will readily bond with the old (unlike some synthetic lacquers). Visually, shellac greatly enhances the appearance, it “pops the grain” as wood finishers like to say- water-based acrylic can give a cold bluish hue to some tonewoods. Another great advantage for the luthier is that once perfected, you can get fantastic results without the need for specialised equipment and facilities; I am one those guys who likes to be able work on every aspect of the build himself rather than sub-contracting to other specialists.

The downside is that because the layer of finish is so thin and that the soundboard itself is so soft, it can depending on playing styles, be marked by plectrums, finger nails and thumb picks. Mandolin players don’t seem to have an issue nor do classical players; one problem is those fingerpickers who rest their little finger on the soundboard- it gradually digs into the soundboard! I do, if asked apply a very thin clear plastic pick-guard which lessens potential damage- it too may dampen the soundboard a little but as I said earlier, “Good design is about the best compromise.”

I spend a long time choosing a good soundboard, tap to listen to the tone it produces, thickness it and brace it carefully to an accuracy of 0.1mm, do I then want to cover it in a heavy duty lacquer, which is so tough and thick that it can withstand the constant impact of flaying thumb-picks? Personally, I think not.

Well Keith, thanks for some good questions and for showing such interest in my work. It’s been fun and I hope that fellow members find my ramblings of interest too. Cheers!



Keith: I’ve certainly enjoyed putting enjoyed putting this interview together Gary; I'm glad you have enjoyed it too. Thanks very much indeed for such detailed and comprehensive replies which give a superb insight into your work.

I have no doubt that Forum members will take great pleasure in reading this article - I will start a new thread for people to comment, and to ask further questions if they have any.

So, thanks again Gary, and it only remains to hope we'll continue to "see" you around on the Forum and to wish you all the best for the future with your instrument making!

May 2013