About
Welcome to Manton Customs, Shropshire based luthier of fine electric and bass guitars. Each instrument is hand built with pride in England from the finest timbers, both exotic and homegrown. Not only do we insist on high grade timbers but also quality hardware from named brands including Gotoh, Hipshot, Schaller, EMG, Bare Knuckle, Kent Armstrong and Seymour Duncan. However, as with our timbers the choice of hardware is yours.
About Me
Guitar and bass building is my absolute passion. I took up building at age 18 having been playing bass and guitar since the age of 12. Upon completing my first build, I was hooked and became thoroughly addicted to building, continually pushing for perfection with each build in those early days. Now over 15 years later my instrument building addiction has not waned, and I’m in the workshop full time, all day - pretty much every day!
​
​
The Workshop
The workshop is an old smithy based at the centre of a quiet medieval village in Shropshire. The workshop itself is a Victorian building which dates back to at least the 1850’s. During this period and until the early 1900’s the building was the village blacksmiths.
What I Offer
As you may be able to tell from my model range, I’ve always liked the more avant-garde instruments which push the boundaries a bit. The focus with my builds is usually looking forward, rather than backwards to the well known Fender and Gibson instruments. As you will see, I do also have plenty of instruments in my model range which are clearly inspired by these big names, however I always like to introduce a twist here-and-there to make the designs more current. I generally try and stray away from outright copies which have had no additional thought put into them. You will see such innovations as the True Temperament fretting system, Evertune bridges, non-traditional wood choices and unconventional scale lengths here. If you’d like a Strat which looks like it’s been run over by a bus, maybe look elsewhere!
So in summary my model range is largely split into two categories - classics reimagined and avant-garde designs. In addition to this I’m also happy to work with you to create one off custom builds to bring your dream guitar to life!
In addition to our custom built instruments, we also offer an extensive list of guitar repair services to Shropshire, Cheshire, Worcestershire, Mid Wales, the West Midlands and beyond.
These services include (but are not limited to) setup, fretwork, refrets, damage repair, upgrades and even a full refinish service in a variety of finish types, including Nitrocellulose paint.
So, in short we can carry out literally any kind of repair/maintenance work on both electric and acoustic instruments.
​
Workshop images taken by https://rpkelley.co.uk/
