Flame Guitars. Custom Guitars by David Kennett

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Flame_GuitarsFlame_Guitars Frets: 79
in Made in the UK tFB Trader
Hello everyone,

Been meaning to join this excellent forum for a while now. Finally got round to it!. Firstly, let me introduce myself. My name is David Kennett and I am based in Sutton, South London. I have been building guitars for more than 30 years now, both acoustic and electric, but for a number of years I have just concentrated on electrics. My main activity is servicing and repair of guitars and I build a few guitars each year. You can find me at flameguitars.co.uk My website will give you an overview of the services I offer and the guitars I make. I have exhibited a number of time at The Guitar Show, Birmingham. To give you a flavour of my work here is my stand at this years show:


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The guitar on the far right of the picture I finished just before the show. With a through neck an an oiled finish this was something a bit different for me. Lots of interest in that guitar at the show and it sold on the Sunday! So will definitely be making more of these. Really pleased how this guitar turned out. With Bare Knuckle Nailbomb pickups you get the sound you would expect from high output pickups. But these pickups split as well as any humbuckers I have fitted, and so you get great single coil sounds, making this a really versatile guitar. By no means a one-dimensional shredder! Here are a couple of close ups:

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The spec for this guitar is as follows:

Flamed ash top on English ash and maple body
Maple through neck with carved heel. (with wenge sandwiched between through neck and wings)
Cocobolo fretboard bound with tulipwood. Compound radius, 12-16"
Earvana compensated nut
Gotoh 510 tuners
Hipshot bridge
Bare Knuckle Nailbomb pickups, both with coil split via push-pull pots
Oil finish

Price:  £2,300 (sold)

You can see more pictures of this and my other models on my website flameguitars.co.uk and my Facebook page.

I'll post some more pictures of my other models in due course.

Cheers all.


Flame Guitars. Custom electric guitars, servicing & repairs by David Kennett
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Comments

  • earwighoneyearwighoney Frets: 3489
    @Flame_Guitars welcome to the forum David, 

    Some nice looking guitars there.

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  • axisusaxisus Frets: 28280
    Nice looking guitars, good to see a different shape as well.
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  • sgosdensgosden Frets: 1993

    mhmmm woody :)


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  • Flame_GuitarsFlame_Guitars Frets: 79
    tFB Trader
    Ever wondered where guitar builders in the UK get their wood from? There are now a number of sources but for 30 years (that makes me feel very old!) I have been tripping down to Dave Dyke Luthier Supplies in Sussex. I'd be surprised if anyone knows tonewoods as well as Dave and his stock is extensive. I'd describe his place wonderful chaos. Dave claims he know exactly what he has in stock and I believe him. Here are a few pictures of the inside of his shop. This is a fraction of his stock.


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    Today I spent a very happy few hours at Luthier Supplies replenishing my stock. Sometimes I know what I am looking for before I go, but often I search through the stock until I find something that grabs my attention and says "build a guitar with this".

    Today I bought these 3 rather gorgeous body facings. 

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    This is quilted maple with brown colouring. The picture doesn't do justice to the intensity of the quilting. At an angle it looks like a hologram.

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    Flame ash. Bought a couple of very similar pieces. I built a guitar last year using flame ash from the same tree. That guitar sold at the Birmingham Guitar Show. So time to make some more guitars using this wonderful wood. You can see pictures of that guitar on my website and Facebook page.

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    Black walnut. This will look quite stunning when lacquered. This tree came from Kew Gardens and was apparently planted by Queen Victoria. Last year I bought a piece from this same tree and am currently using it to build a guitar for a long standing customer.

    So, anybody like to commission me to make them a guitar using any of these body facings? Happy to discuss.

    Hope you enjoyed these photos.

    David


    Flame Guitars. Custom electric guitars, servicing & repairs by David Kennett
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  • Flame_GuitarsFlame_Guitars Frets: 79
    tFB Trader
    This is the Flame F3. I have one of these available and in stock; price £2,200. Alternatively you can commission a Flame F3 with your own choice of tonewoods and pickups. Full details of the this model can be found on my website www.flameguitars.co.uk but here are some pictures and a summary of the specification.

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    This semi-hollow korina body coupled with a slightly short 628mm/24.75” scale length creates a guitar that is light in weight, has a rich, warm sound but still has enough top end to cut through the mix. A set of Seymour Duncan moderate output Alnico II Pro pickups are fitted to this guitar; a great combination for a semi-hollow guitar. The model shown has an imbuya top-wood


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    BODY

    • Korina, semi-hollow body with a choice of book-matched tops
    • Hipshot, string through body, bridge

    NECK

    • Scale length: 628mm/24.75”
    • Bolt-in neck (on my website you can see pictures and a description of my "bolt-in" neck)
    • Maple neck
    • 22 frets
    • Two-way truss rod
    • Ebony fretboard
    • Neck thickness: 21.5mm at 1st fret, 22.5mm at 12th fret
    • Nut width:  43mm
    • Compound radius fretboard: 10” at 1st fret, 12” at 12th fret
    • Fretwire: 2.65mm wide, 1.1mm high
    • Gotoh tuners
    • Earvana nut

    PICKUPS

    Seymour Duncan Alnico II Pro pickups for bridge and neck with following switching options:

    • 3-way switching
    • Series wiring
    • Parallel wiring
    If you have any questions about this guitar or any other Flame Guitars please feel free to contact me. If you would like to try out one of my guitars I keep a few to take to shows and for customers to play. I am based in Sutton, South London.

    David


    Flame Guitars. Custom electric guitars, servicing & repairs by David Kennett
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  • DrBobDrBob Frets: 2998
    Wait, what ? There's a guitar builder in Sutton ? And on St James Rd Ferrchrissakes, how did I not know this ? I only moved out 18 months ago Gah !

    Must be something very musical about St James Rd, used to hang out & get guitar lessons with Dick from Bad Influence when he lived on St James Rd AND I also had a few lessons from Adrian Clarke when he lived on St James Rd too !
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  • JookyChapJookyChap Frets: 4234
    @DrBob said:
    Wait, what ? There's a guitar builder in Sutton ? And on St James Rd Ferrchrissakes, how did I not know this ? I only moved out 18 months ago Gah !

    Must be something very musical about St James Rd, used to hang out & get guitar lessons with Dick from Bad Influence when he lived on St James Rd AND I also had a few lessons from Adrian Clarke when he lived on St James Rd too !
    Crazy thing is that the property prices in Sutton have more than doubled in the last year too ;)

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  • DrBobDrBob Frets: 2998
    JookyChap;1057877" said:
    @DrBob said:

    Wait, what ? There's a guitar builder in Sutton ? And on St James Rd Ferrchrissakes, how did I not know this ? I only moved out 18 months ago Gah !



    Must be something very musical about St James Rd, used to hang out & get guitar lessons with Dick from Bad Influence when he lived on St James Rd AND I also had a few lessons from Adrian Clarke when he lived on St James Rd too !










    Crazy thing is that the property prices in Sutton have more than doubled in the last year too ;)
    They started climbing the very moment I pulled onto the A3 for the drive North, always the way..
    Same as Tylers man ! ;-)
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  • TTonyTTony Frets: 27343
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    Not really my "thing" as a design, but the quality is apparent and I really like some of the design touches.  Anyone who uses proper wood rather than cheap plastic for the cavity cover will always get a vote from me.

    Love the walnut in the David Dyke woods post too.  That man has a ridiculous amount of stunning material. 
    Having trouble posting images here?  This might help.
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  • JookyChapJookyChap Frets: 4234
    That's funny @TTony, you are the one person I'd have thought would go for these when I saw them.

    Bit posh for me, but love the shape and the 'Flame' name on the body, sound hole shapes...great to see somebody doing something different.



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  • TTonyTTony Frets: 27343
    JookyChap said:
    love the shape and the 'Flame' name on the body, sound hole shapes...great to see somebody doing something different.
    Yup, absolutely agree.


    JookyChap said:
    @TTony, you are the one person I'd have thought would go for these when I saw them.
    But just doesn't tick my boxes somehow @JookyChap - strange isn't it, how "attraction" works!
    Having trouble posting images here?  This might help.
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  • JookyChapJookyChap Frets: 4234
    @TTony indeed it is, sugar ;) 





    :D

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  • Flame_GuitarsFlame_Guitars Frets: 79
    tFB Trader
    Thanks for the comments @JookyChap and @TTony When I started making electric guitars (having made a number of acoustic guitars before that) I decided that I was not going to make my version of Fender and Gibson guitars; nothing wrong with that, just not the way I wanted to go. So I developed a body shape that was a little different but not too "out there". It was also important to me that the whole guitar felt balanced whether played standing up or sitting down. Some people like the design, other don't. I get that and am relaxed about it. I apply exactly the same sense of "what looks right" when I look at other guitars.
    Flame Guitars. Custom electric guitars, servicing & repairs by David Kennett
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  • JookyChap;1058072" said:
    @TTony indeed it is, sugar ;) 









    :D
    If yourself and @ttony procreated, the offspring would single handedly support the UK guitar market for decades to come.

    Just saying...
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  • Flame_GuitarsFlame_Guitars Frets: 79
    tFB Trader
    On the bench this week is this rather wonderful piece of black walnut. This will look quite stunning once lacquered.

    Main body wood is korina. The neck is maple with a zirocote fretboard. The pickups will be Seymour Duncan P-Rails and the bridge will be a Hipshot contoured tremolo.

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    This guitar has been commissioned by a long standing customer of mine. I do have another very similar piece of walnut cut from the same tree if anyone is interested. If so, happy to discuss further.

    Hope you enjoyed the pictures

    Flame Guitars. Custom electric guitars, servicing & repairs by David Kennett
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  • octatonicoctatonic Frets: 33725
    Would you care to explain your neck join fixing method?

    Is that some sort of M bolt?
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  • SteveRobinsonSteveRobinson Frets: 6914
    tFB Trader
  • OilCityPickupsOilCityPickups Frets: 9980
    tFB Trader
    Hi David ... from Oil City Pickups ... another London maker :-)

    Good to see some more craftsmanship and creativity from these parts 

    Ash
    Professional pickup winder, horse-testpilot and recovering Chocolate Hobnob addict.
    Formerly TheGuitarWeasel ... Oil City Pickups  ... Oil City Blog 7 String.org profile and message  

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  • Flame_GuitarsFlame_Guitars Frets: 79
    tFB Trader

    @octotonic Sure. It's what I describe as a "bolt in" neck to body joint. In short, the neck is secured with 2 bolts; one that is inserted from the back of the body and the other through the pickup cavity. The body bolt pulls the neck down onto the body and the cavity bolt pulls the neck into the body. It is metal to metal fixings rather than screwed in. I'll post some pictures that explains this more easily words.

    @TheGuitarWeasel ; Hi Ash, had a look at you pickups; always keen to support another Londoner. I see you are based in Leyton. I'd love to come across and see your work sometime. But as you know it will take me less time to drive to Bristol than from SW to NE London!

    Flame Guitars. Custom electric guitars, servicing & repairs by David Kennett
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  • OilCityPickupsOilCityPickups Frets: 9980
    tFB Trader


    @TheGuitarWeasel ; Hi Ash, had a look at you pickups; always keen to support another Londoner. I see you are based in Leyton. I'd love to come across and see your work sometime. But as you know it will take me less time to drive to Bristol than from SW to NE London!

    Lol ... I use the tube ... sod driving :-)
    You are always welcome, I'll put the coffee or tea on if you get around to it. 
    Professional pickup winder, horse-testpilot and recovering Chocolate Hobnob addict.
    Formerly TheGuitarWeasel ... Oil City Pickups  ... Oil City Blog 7 String.org profile and message  

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