Best of British - The Builders Who Are Flying The Flag For The UK (Updated for Dec 2024)
Published on 27 December 2024
We are proud to be serving Britain's need for guitar gear. Our stores span from the cold, wet expanses of Scotland to the cold, wet expanses of South England. We may moan about our weather, but we are genuinely proud to be a British company. So, we thought it was high time we shout out to some of the brands currently building in the UK. There has been a recent resurgence in UK made musical equipment, and this list touches on some of our highlights.
The Brands at a Glance
PJD Guitars
Founded by Leigh Dovey in 2010, PJD guitars have fast become an essential brand to watch. The company started life in a very traditional British manner—just one man in his shed. Over a decade on, the team has expanded to 12 members. Leigh is proud of how much the guitar manufacturing process has been kept in-house at their facility just outside of York. Only two crucial components are outsourced, the pickups and the hardware. He opted for two British pickup manufacturers to fill the role of filling the holes. Bareknuckle and Cream T pickups are guaranteed to give you a premium output from an exceptionally crafted instrument. The role of hardware goes to Gotoh. Gotoh is a familiar name to those accustomed to high spec instruments.
PJD implements an array of building techniques across their entire range, designed to elevate the performance and reliability of their instruments. For example, every single guitar features a bolt-on neck. However, this is not your bog-standard bolt-on neck. Instead, brass inserts have been incorporated into the neck of the guitar, which is connected via bolts through the body. This slightly unusual technique means, unlike wood screws, they should never wear out. On top of that, every neck uses quarter-sawn maple, roasted for enhanced stability.
Atkin Guitars
Founded in Canterbury, England, in 1995, Atkin is a UK brand that has withstood the tests of time. Its origin can be traced down to one man, Alistar Atkin. Alistar started production as a one-man band, but the team has since expanded to a small expert team of seven members. Much of an Atkin guitar is handcrafted, but modern technology has been incorporated where there is a clear advantage to the guitar's construction. Alistar and the team roughly put out around 350 guitars a year which is remarkable when you think this number is not far from what some companies offer as a limited run these days. The process may be slow, but this time commitment sets guitars like these apart.
Atkin have prided themselves on the ageing process of their aged acoustic range of instruments. Unlike the ageing rockstar, acoustic guitars always sound better with a few years under their belt. Whilst the masses have been spreading themselves in layers of anti-ageing creams trying to fight the inevitable; guitar builders have been doing the opposite. Now, utilising modern techniques, Atkin unlocked the secrets of ageing. Torified tops and bracing unlocks a rich world of harmonics via a complex breakdown at a biological level. These guitars play like they have been used for years, one of their biggest appeals to many players.
Laney
Founded in 1967, Laney was propelled into world stardom by Birmingham legends Black Sabbath. When the world heard Tony Iommi's monster guitar tone crashing through the soundscape of a thundery night on Sabbath's debut album, inspired guitarists came in droves seeking the amplifiers that stood behind him.
Laney is a quintessential part of British amp manufacturing, and now more of their production is moving back to the UK. Laney has been making hand-constructed amplifiers in the UK in the form of their Black Country Customs boutique range, but now one of their production line models is being moved back to their Midlands facility. That line is the famed blue boxed Lionheart range.
The Lionheart range came to fruition in 2007 when it was first introduced to celebrate Laney's 40th anniversary. Sharing the same name as the Medieval king of England, Richard the Lionheart, it only makes sense that English circuitry courses through its DNA. With a pedigree entrenched deep in the heart of British rock music, it is fitting that this renowned brand are bringing the Lionheart production line back to the UK. If you are looking for an amplifier that will produce a comprehensive array of sounds in a smart, well-constructed package, then the Lionheart range is a must-try.
Origin Effects
Another homegrown company is Origin Effects. The electronics wizard behind this extravagant collection of compressors, distortions, and modulation boxes is founder Simon Keats. Origin has taken the concept of high-end studio-grade outboard gear and compacted them into a circuit that can fit into a guitarist friendly interface. Big names such as Tony Iommi, David Gilmore, Joey Landreth, Ed O'Brien, and more have now used these pedals in their rigs. Such a highly esteemed collection of players is impressive, but this is made even more so given that the company has only been in operation since 2012.
Every Origin pedal is hand-built and tested in Buckingham, England. With a growing team and an already expansive collection of users, Origin is a UK company with wide-reaching arms. This company should undoubtedly be on your list of brands to watch.
Marshall
Marshall are the daddies of the guitar amplifier world. Even if Fender came before them - and in fact the earliest Marshalls were attempts to copy the Fender Bassman amp - Marshall are easily the world’s most famous guitar amp brand.
You know what they look like because you’ve seen them on stages everywhere for your whole life. You know what they sound like because literally every genre of music that requires any degree of crunchy-to-screaming guitars will have used a Marshall. They are just deeply woven into the fabric of modern music, from pop to metal, and they are justifiably iconic.
Hailing from Milton Keynes, Jim Marshall was the mastermind, building amps to cater to British musicians who found the American imports of the day to be prohibitively expensive. Jim collaborated directly with artists to produce the gear we all recognise today, such as the ‘stack’: did you know that it was a request by Pete Townshend to get more stage volume that prompted that most famous of stage objects?
Marshall have been directly copied by a multitude of companies since, and remain in the game making both new amp designs and reissues of classics.
Orange
Orange are one of brands with a rich British heritage. Their story starts back in the 60s, as you can no doubt tell from their very cool retro logo and styling. Orange are a notable brand for delivering a genuinely distinctive and recognisable sound, particularly from their more heavily distorted amp styles such as the Rockerverb series. There’s a grit and dimension to the signature Orange sound that is quite unlike any other high gain amp sound, and that’s what has put them on the map, as much as their funky looks.
Always popular, the last few decades have seen them re-emerge from classic brand status to modern day heavyweight, with many of the world’s top players bringing those distinctive orange boxes on tour with them across the world. Today, Orange offer amps at every price point, every power point and every physical size. Theirs is a comprehensive catalogue of goodies, so every player’s need can be met with one of their amps. And yes, you can have certain models in black or white tolex covering too, it doesn’t have to be orange-coloured! But why would you not want such a gorgeous looking amp, particularly when they sound so great?
Exciting Time For British Builders
We are currently in the midst of a revival of British manufacturing. This is an exciting time for builders and guitar fanatics across the nation. Thankfully we are not short of homegrown boffins to help push forward advancements in the guitar world, and we can not wait to see what comes next.
There are plenty of common themes that run through the histories of these UK builders. It is interesting how many of them started life as a one-man driven passion project that oftentimes grew out of a shed. The tenacity, drive, and relentlessness the founders of these companies share is passed onto their products. You can tell this gear is built close to home.
