`The difference between this guitar and yours is that Django Reinhardt played this one`.

A quote by Michael Watson (Principal of the Bristol Spanish Guitar Centre) in 1968 when comparing the tonal quality of Jez Broun`s  guitar no. 12 with a Django Reinhardt guitar.

Of course, there were other differences : guitar no. 12 is not a cutaway model as Reinhardt`s guitars were and it was styled on a Levin Goliath, with deeper ribs and with a "crossbreed"  52mm wide cambered fingerboard with steel braided strings.

Award winning craftsman Jez Broun, makes guitars to individual commission. He also plays guitar which means he knows all about tone and action. He is a competent musician and in 2001 made a CD called Sometime with singer Helen King.

Jez Broun made his first guitar at the age of 17 whilst at  school in 1962. The first guitar, a classical acoustic, was unfortunately used as a cricket bat at a school barbeque and became the first guitar to feature an extra sound hole in the back !

Innovation is the trade mark of Jez Broun and undeterred he went on to produce twelve worthy guitars over the next decade.  Jez has run guitar making  courses in schools experimenting with materials and shapes. He ran an adult class at Goldsmiths College in London in the late Seventies, one of only two guitar courses available in London at that time. 




Since the Seventies Jez established himself as one of the top handful of innovative furniture makers in Britain. He is also renowned for  his books and videos on woodworking and is the acknowledged pioneer of creative routing, having written The Incredible Router in 1989.
The router has revolutionised the methods of acoustic guitar making today and no better the vast experiencespin off is an invaluable tool for guitar construction today.

Design is about problem solving and because Jez has an innate curiosity about how things are made the spin off is in his innovative approach to building guitars.


In 2002 Jez decided to start making guitars again using his vast making experience and flair for innovation. Encouraged by the current climate of interest for individual guitars and coming full circle in his own woodworking career, Jez Broun is making a come-back with some seriously good guitars.

Innovation is about taking risk and in 2004 Jez set himself the challenge of building a cutaway acoustic-electric guitar from a solid board of elm from the Forest of Avon. Avoiding steam bending, the ribs are "sawkerfed" and provide a strong visual feature. Defying the science of acoustics the guitar produces a respectable and balanced sound which goes straight to the fast lane by plugging into an amplifier via its Artec transducer.

A groundbreaking instructional DVD is planned for release in 2005 pulling together Jez Broun's vast experience and imagination as a designer maker in wood.

Member of the Crafts Council
Index of Selected Makers