JOHN BIRCH GUITARS

Luthier John Birch founded John Birch Guitars in Birmingham, England in 1970. Prior to founding John Birch Guitars, Birch modified guitars with better parts and pickups as well as other improvements. The first custom guitars were based on popular models (i.e., Fender/Gibson designs) of the day, but featured new construction methods like through-body necks, improved truss rod design, and pickups such as the hyperflux, biflux, and multiflux. John Diggins came to work with Birch and did most of the woodworking on the guitars. Birch thrived through most of the 1970s, but as Asian guitars became widely available in Europe and the U.S., he watched his sales slide. Diggins and Baker left to start building guitars on their own leaving Birch to build guitars by himself. By the late 1980s, Birch stopped production on guitars altogether. In 1993, John Carling came to Birch to buy his last J1 model, but instead teamed up with Birch to restart John Birch Guitars. They moved the company to Nottingham and continued to produce the popular Birch models while introducing new models with Full Range pickups and MIDI functionality. Birch and Carling continued to build guitars together until Birch passed away in 2000. Carling opted to continue building John Birch Guitars on his own and he continues to build guitars in England. For more information, visit John Birch Guitars' website or contact them directly.