Trent Guitars

Kent747 · June 2021

Anyone know about Trent guitars? Love the shape.

https://www.trentguitars.com/

THR1LLHAU5 · June 2021

Not heard of them but they look promising.

TrentGuitars · June 2021

Good morning! I had the great excitement to see alert on this forum that I'm keeping an eye on as you might imagine after releasing the guitar last week.

Any questions let me know but if you wanted a mini bio on me:

I'm a cabinetmaker of 10 years experience, I run a small furniture making business out of my workshop in Poole. I've made all kinds of wooden objects over the years but the majority has been fine furniture for the domestic market, with some high end shop fitting sprinkled in. Over the past year or so I've developed a love for making guitars and it soon became apparent that I wanted to give it a go at doing it commercially.

As I don't know the exact rules of self promotion on here I'll save the waxing poetic about the Model 1 but anythign you want to know I'm here!

Elliott

markslade07 · June 2021

They do look rather lovely, I must say. Not specifically in the market for one myself, but would love to see some video/ audio clips

Richardrichard · June 2021

TrentGuitars said:

Good morning! I had the great excitement to see alert on this forum that I'm keeping an eye on as you might imagine after releasing the guitar last week.

Any questions let me know but if you wanted a mini bio on me:

I'm a cabinetmaker of 10 years experience, I run a small furniture making business out of my workshop in Poole. I've made all kinds of wooden objects over the years but the majority has been fine furniture for the domestic market, with some high end shop fitting sprinkled in. Over the past year or so I've developed a love for making guitars and it soon became apparent that I wanted to give it a go at doing it commercially.

As I don't know the exact rules of self promotion on here I'll save the waxing poetic about the Model 1 but anythign you want to know I'm here!

Elliott

Interesting, I can imagine that makes for some fine guitar woodwork. Are you also a guitar player? I ask because some of the finer points of fretwork, setup etc may work better if you are!

SlopeSoarer · June 2021

Elliot do you know Ian Elson by any chance?

He uses Bare Knuckle pickup too!

Only joking, it looks great:)

WezV · June 2021

TrentGuitars said:

I'm a cabinetmaker of 10 years experience, I run a small furniture making business out of my workshop in Poole. I've made all kinds of wooden objects over the years but the majority has been fine furniture for the domestic market, with some high end shop fitting sprinkled in. Over the past year or so I've developed a love for making guitars and it soon became apparent that I wanted to give it a go at doing it commercially.

pay attention to threads like this one
https://www.thefretboard.co.uk/discussion/207820/ian-elson-guitars-avoid/p1

not because I think for one second that is what you will do. There is lots of good discussion around some of the pitfalls in that thread and the one linked to it.

You have a good design there.

EricTheWeary · June 2021

Lovely looking guitar, hope it all goes well.

rpr · June 2021

You need to register as a trader - have a word with the mods. There is a Made in UK section, you can post your wares, build progress etc - more piccies = more good. The Making and Modding section might be worth gandering

TrentGuitars · June 2021

Wow, many responses already! Thanks guys, let's do this

Richardrichard said:

TrentGuitars said:

Good morning! I had the great excitement to see alert on this forum that I'm keeping an eye on as you might imagine after releasing the guitar last week.

Any questions let me know but if you wanted a mini bio on me:

I'm a cabinetmaker of 10 years experience, I run a small furniture making business out of my workshop in Poole. I've made all kinds of wooden objects over the years but the majority has been fine furniture for the domestic market, with some high end shop fitting sprinkled in. Over the past year or so I've developed a love for making guitars and it soon became apparent that I wanted to give it a go at doing it commercially.

As I don't know the exact rules of self promotion on here I'll save the waxing poetic about the Model 1 but anythign you want to know I'm here!

Elliott

Interesting, I can imagine that makes for some fine guitar woodwork. Are you also a guitar player? I ask because some of the finer points of fretwork, setup etc may work better if you are!

I certainly have a head start having all the machinery that's required and the fundamental knowledge in fine woodwork finishes is undeniably useful! Thankfully I am a guitar player, which has certainly aided in being able to get a nice setup. Further to this I've also had the guitar with well established techs and had much more experienced players than me have a go!

markslade07 said:

They do look rather lovely, I must say. Not specifically in the market for one myself, but would love to see some video/ audio clips

This is my current main focus, I'm just finishing up two demo models for dealers/pass around. I also am making one for a wonderful musician named Katie Harkin who has kindly offered to do some demo videos for me.

WezV said:

TrentGuitars said:

I'm a cabinetmaker of 10 years experience, I run a small furniture making business out of my workshop in Poole. I've made all kinds of wooden objects over the years but the majority has been fine furniture for the domestic market, with some high end shop fitting sprinkled in. Over the past year or so I've developed a love for making guitars and it soon became apparent that I wanted to give it a go at doing it commercially.

pay attention to threads like this one
https://www.thefretboard.co.uk/discussion/207820/ian-elson-guitars-avoid/p1

not because I think for one second that is what you will do. There is lots of good discussion around some of the pitfalls in that thread and the one linked to it.

You have a good design there.

One thing I've learned in my time making things is to not get too in the mire slagging off other makers, but what I will say is this - if I delivered furniture with those levels of fit and finish issues I wouldn't be in business. I'm incredibly hard on myself and even the slightest mistake would mean I'd have to start over.

The fit and finish really is everything for me, I'm going for the wonderful smooth fret ends like little ball bearings, the eased edge on the fretboard, perfect alignment of mating surfaces (ie. neck to body at the heel).

rpr said:

You need to register as a trader - have a word with the mods. There is a Made in UK section, you can post your wares, build progress etc - more piccies = more good. The Making and Modding section might be worth gandering

Thanks for the heads up! I'll get on this.

Thanks again chaps and you can see more behind the scenes stuff on my instagram, http://instagram.com/trentguitars

TeleMaster · June 2021

What screws do you use?

Guitars look lovely.

earwighoney · June 2021

I like this a lot,

It's one of the more pleasing off sets I've come across, a little bit like a more manageable Danelectro Dead on 67. I imagine it might not be for everyone, but I like the positioning of the control plate and switch.

hoops · June 2021

Guitar certainly looks great and like the quality feel of website.

stickyfiddle · June 2021

Welcome! That design looks great (including the headstock - well done!!) and a good but not unrealistically cheap price. I’m not in the market at the moment, but it’s great to see a new UK builder who looks to be doing it right.

@trentguitars have you done any with JM trem? I feel as if that trem and humbuckers would give me all sorts of warm fuzzy feelings…

punchesjudy · June 2021

Yeah, like this a lot.

TrentGuitars · June 2021

TeleMaster said:

What screws do you use?

Guitars look lovely.

Hah! This is actually something that my friend asked me recently when we were looking at options for hardware. "Arn't the screws on guitars just normal commonplace screws?" I then had to give him the lecture on the majority of guitar screws being raised countersunk rather than just countersunk, phillips rather than pozi drive and nickel plated or stainless rather than the ugly zinc plated. So in answer to your question - the neck screws are m4 raised countersunk A2 stainless bolts into steel threaded inserts. The rest are nickel plated raised countersunk from WD music. I do appreciate you were probably making a joke with regards to the recent thread about another maker, though!

earwighoney said:

I like this a lot,

It's one of the more pleasing off sets I've come across, a little bit like a more manageable Danelectro Dead on 67. I imagine it might not be for everyone, but I like the positioning of the control plate and switch.

That's very kind of you to say, thank you! We worked (the guitar is designed in collaboration with a dear friend of mine and a much better guitarist) on the control locations tirelessly. From the beginning we really wanted a metal plate as we both love that on the Jaguar and Tele. We went through looking into having custom plates made but I really do try to keep the process as in house as I can (the plates would need to be waterjet cut then nickel plated). We found that the early p-bass cover we have used on the final product really works for it and is readily available.

hoops said:

Guitar certainly looks great and like the quality feel of website.

Thank you so much that means a lot, we tried really hard to get the vibe right for it!

stickyfiddle said:

Welcome! That design looks great (including the headstock - well done!!) and a good but not unrealistically cheap price. I’m not in the market at the moment, but it’s great to see a new UK builder who looks to be doing it right.

@trentguitars have you done any with JM trem? I feel as if that trem and humbuckers would give me all sorts of warm fuzzy feelings…

I would love to do one with a JM trem, it would mean I would have to incorporate a bit of neck angle but that's not too much of an issue. The main thing at the moment though is the stock issues with Mastery - very hard to get hold of right now. I would definitely be interested to do one with a strat trem, but for now the hardtail is a solid platform to launch on.

WezV · June 2021

TrentGuitars said:

Wow, many responses already! Thanks guys, let's do this

WezV said:

TrentGuitars said:

I'm a cabinetmaker of 10 years experience, I run a small furniture making business out of my workshop in Poole. I've made all kinds of wooden objects over the years but the majority has been fine furniture for the domestic market, with some high end shop fitting sprinkled in. Over the past year or so I've developed a love for making guitars and it soon became apparent that I wanted to give it a go at doing it commercially.

pay attention to threads like this one
https://www.thefretboard.co.uk/discussion/207820/ian-elson-guitars-avoid/p1

not because I think for one second that is what you will do. There is lots of good discussion around some of the pitfalls in that thread and the one linked to it.

You have a good design there.

One thing I've learned in my time making things is to not get too in the mire slagging off other makers, but what I will say is this - if I delivered furniture with those levels of fit and finish issues I wouldn't be in business. I'm incredibly hard on myself and even the slightest mistake would mean I'd have to start over.

The fit and finish really is everything for me, I'm going for the wonderful smooth fret ends like little ball bearings, the eased edge on the fretboard, perfect alignment of mating surfaces (ie. neck to body at the heel).

I wasn't highlighting it to slag off another builder, but for the POV's contained within that should definitely be considered by anyone starting up a new guitar business.

stickyfiddle · June 2021

TrentGuitars said:

stickyfiddle said:

Welcome! That design looks great (including the headstock - well done!!) and a good but not unrealistically cheap price. I’m not in the market at the moment, but it’s great to see a new UK builder who looks to be doing it right.

@trentguitars have you done any with JM trem? I feel as if that trem and humbuckers would give me all sorts of warm fuzzy feelings…

I would love to do one with a JM trem, it would mean I would have to incorporate a bit of neck angle but that's not too much of an issue. The main thing at the moment though is the stock issues with Mastery - very hard to get hold of right now. I would definitely be interested to do one with a strat trem, but for now the hardtail is a solid platform to launch on.

Yeah, obviously I’m assuming that would incur a hefty up-charge as well. But I like that you instantly thought “mastery”

earwighoney · June 2021

TrentGuitars said:

That's very kind of you to say, thank you! We worked (the guitar is designed in collaboration with a dear friend of mine and a much better guitarist) on the control locations tirelessly. From the beginning we really wanted a metal plate as we both love that on the Jaguar and Tele. We went through looking into having custom plates made but I really do try to keep the process as in house as I can (the plates would need to be waterjet cut then nickel plated). We found that the early p-bass cover we have used on the final product really works for it and is readily available.

I think it's a good choice of pickup positioning and control plate; good for the pinkie finger volume swell.

As for the early P Bass control plate, have you seen this from Fidelity Guitars?

TrentGuitars · June 2021

WezV said:

TrentGuitars said:

Wow, many responses already! Thanks guys, let's do this

WezV said:

TrentGuitars said:

I'm a cabinetmaker of 10 years experience, I run a small furniture making business out of my workshop in Poole. I've made all kinds of wooden objects over the years but the majority has been fine furniture for the domestic market, with some high end shop fitting sprinkled in. Over the past year or so I've developed a love for making guitars and it soon became apparent that I wanted to give it a go at doing it commercially.

pay attention to threads like this one
https://www.thefretboard.co.uk/discussion/207820/ian-elson-guitars-avoid/p1

not because I think for one second that is what you will do. There is lots of good discussion around some of the pitfalls in that thread and the one linked to it.

You have a good design there.

One thing I've learned in my time making things is to not get too in the mire slagging off other makers, but what I will say is this - if I delivered furniture with those levels of fit and finish issues I wouldn't be in business. I'm incredibly hard on myself and even the slightest mistake would mean I'd have to start over.

The fit and finish really is everything for me, I'm going for the wonderful smooth fret ends like little ball bearings, the eased edge on the fretboard, perfect alignment of mating surfaces (ie. neck to body at the heel).

I wasn't highlighting it to slag off another builder, but for the POV's contained within that should definitely be considered by anyone starting up a new guitar business.

Very appreciated and I definitely see where you're coming from, thank you!

earwighoney said:

TrentGuitars said:

That's very kind of you to say, thank you! We worked (the guitar is designed in collaboration with a dear friend of mine and a much better guitarist) on the control locations tirelessly. From the beginning we really wanted a metal plate as we both love that on the Jaguar and Tele. We went through looking into having custom plates made but I really do try to keep the process as in house as I can (the plates would need to be waterjet cut then nickel plated). We found that the early p-bass cover we have used on the final product really works for it and is readily available.

I think it's a good choice of pickup positioning and control plate; good for the pinkie finger volume swell.

As for the early P Bass control plate, have you seen this from Fidelity Guitars?

Yeah - I love their guitars, but I feel their plate is iconic to their models and I do prefer a nickel plate over aluminium.

5redlights · June 2021

Stunning guitar. Really good nod to some familiar designs, whilst having it's own look. Comes across as someone who really understands guitars. The fact that this is your first design on sale is very commendable too. Well done. looks like it would be lovely to play.

grungebob · June 2021

These look really nice and at a price point that’s bound to intrigue enough to take a punt.

Candy apple green with a cream pearloid guard would be right up my street.

stickyfiddle · June 2021

I've spent the whole afternoon thinking about an aztec gold one with WRHBs and a JM trem. Gah!!

ThePrettyDamned · June 2021

Cor, they look nice.

ThePrettyDamned · June 2021

Amazing to hear you use a more ecologically friendly finish than nitro!

TrentGuitars · June 2021

Loving the feedback, thanks guys!

ThePrettyDamned said:

Amazing to hear you use a more ecologically friendly finish than nitro!

Yeah it seems to be one of the most well received features,

What's great is that alongside the stock colours I can match to nearly any colour if asked thanks to how great my paint supplier is!

Fiftyshadesofjay · June 2021

These look really great, love the shape. I’ve been keeping an eye on your Instagram as well and it looks fab, tempted by a pink one!

grungebob · June 2021

I might have missed it, but radius isn’t listed as a spec for the neck?

TrentGuitars · June 2021

grungebob said:

I might have missed it, but radius isn’t listed as a spec for the neck?

Thanks for spotting that! It's 12", I'll add it now to the website

grungebob · June 2021

TrentGuitars said:

grungebob said:

I might have missed it, but radius isn’t listed as a spec for the neck?

Thanks for spotting that! It's 12", I'll add it now to the website - Cool that’s my preferred option

Switch625 · June 2021

Looks very nice. Where did the name Trent guitars come from? Terence Trent D'Arby?

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