Ambler Custom Guitars

A wee Christmas update from Ambler Customs:

Howdy folks,

First and foremost, thank you again for being the best followers a small business like mine could ever ask for - you guys are just the best 👌

It's been a hectic year. One which has pulled me away from guitar building an awful lot. My fantastic wife and I have had some big challenges to work through in our private lives; from coping with a close family bereavement, right through to being able to welcome our baby girl into the world last April! The term 'emotional rollercoaster' gets banded around a lot out there but it sums this year up fairly neatly.

It seemed that things had calmed down a little for us towards the end of this year, but then in November I had to have surgery quite unexpectedly. Although the problem is sorted now, the recovery period has been a real kicker as I've not been able to get back into the workshop until I'm fully healed. This has been incredibly frustrating, but necessary. All being well, I'll be back in the shop most likely around the first week of January, and back to building some instruments!

Custom Orders: I've been getting lots of emails and messages asking for custom builds, and for info on when the order books will be opening again.
Unfortunately, I'll be keeping the order book closed for the foreseeable future to give me time to build some stock instruments up again. Sorry for any disappointment this may cause and thank you so much for your interest in my work, it really does mean the world to me.

Guitar building courses: These are open again and I'm currently taking bookings for 2024 (we do have one slot still open on the January course so get in touch if you want to kick off the New Year with your very own build!) Full list of dates and details can be found over on www.amblerguitars.com

I think that about wraps everything up! Heres to 2024, I cant wait to see what it brings and I would like to wish each and every one of you guys and girls the best for the new year.

Cheers,

John Ambler
Ambler Custom Guitars
www.amblerguitars.com

Hi everyone 👍🏻

A couple of shots here of a Salem model I finished up a month or so back for a customer in Europe.

Featuring a Tobias Caspar resin hybrid top, swamp ash body in faded blue denim, roasted Maple neck, Bare Knuckle Pickups HB set and Duesenberg hardware. Finished in a high gloss, and some fancy wiring to offer various switching options from the pups.

www.amblerguitars.com

Hey everyone-

I've finally gotten around to taking a few pictures of the second-hand 'Salem' that I mentioned a week or so back.

The owner has asked me to oversee the sale of it for him. He's gone to the dark side and now pretty much exclusively plays bass- so he is patiently waiting for his Ambler Customs Bass to be built!

This was the second Salem ever to be made, and features a Swamp Ash body, very rare Australian Blackwood top and has all the bells and whistles such as McNelly JM pickups and Mastery bridge + trem.

Overall a very cool instrument that I was immensely proud of when I finished it. It's a one of a kind guitar.

It's in great condition as can be seen in the photos. It has a couple of marks here and there as you would expect from 3 years of playing, and has a couple of lacquer chips on the edge of the fingerboard. For an additional fee the guitar can be fully stripped down, repolished and have the chips repaired, but overall its damn near perfect.

The guitar will receive a full fret dress and setup prior to sale, comes with a certificate of authenticity and a Hiscox case.

Please send me a direct message or email to [email protected] for further details and to discuss price & shipping.

Cheers!
John Ambler
www.amblerguitars.com

Howdy folks.
It's not often that a 2nd hand Ambler Custom comes along, in fact this is the first time I have ever advertised one!
A good friend and customer of mine purchased this rather special Salem from me a few years back, but he has recently gone over to playing bass, leaving this Salem a little surplus to requirements.
Whilst I design his new bass, he has asked if I can find a new home for this Salem.
I'll get some proper pictures taken shortly as the ones below were taken when I originally made the guitar, although it is in much the same condition.
Before anyone buys it I'll be stripping it down and giving it a full re-polish and set up.
I'll add it to the website soon enough and post further details, but if anyone is interested and wants more info then just drop me a message.
Full details to follow soon.
Cheers
John Ambler

This Capulet model was recently finished up for Route 628 Guitars and will be available for purchase through the fine folks there!

Featuring a quilted Maple top and Swamp Ash body in trans-electric blue with natural binding, and a Roasted Flame Maple neck with classic Ambler 'fat-neck' profile.

I designed these Capulet models to be super comfortable to play, yet be an absolute tonal powerhouse. And this model is no exception!

That's one more down on the waiting list, just the last couple to go and then I'll be back to focussing on building up some stock instruments for a while 👍🏻 Stay tuned!

Cheers
John Ambler

I forgot to post a picture of this one at the time of finishing it: The first semi-hollow Capulet guitar. This was a custom order that was finished up and shipped out to a customer a little over a year ago. Featuring McNelly Pickups mini humbuckers, a Duesenberg Les-Trem and one really rather insane master Grade Red Malley burl top.

Guitar building courses, 2023 / 2024!

Hi everyone, as promised earlier today, please find below the dates for the '23 & '24 guitar building course dates! Full details are on the website, link below, which you can also use to get in touch to book a course.

Courses run over a six day period. Either as a six day block or a ‘Weekender’ course, which are split fri/sat/sun fri/sat/sun across two consecutive weekends.

Course Dates 2023
Course 1: WC 21st August
Course 2: WC 25th September
Course 3: Weekender Course 20, 21, 22nd October & 27, 28, 29th October
Course 4: Weekender Course 17, 18, 19th November & 24, 25, 26th November

Course Dates 2024
Course 1: WC 15th January
Course 2: Weekender Course 16, 17, 18th February & 23, 24, 25th February
Course 3: Weekender Course 22, 23, 24th March & 29, 30, 31st March
Course 4: WC 29th April
Course 5: WC 20th May
Course 6: Weekender Course 21, 22, 23rd June & 28, 29, 30th June

The price for each course is £1,450 per person (including a £250 deposit payable on booking) and numbers are limited to three people per course. This is to ensure each student receives a personal experience.

For full details and to book a place please use the following link to go to our website: https://www.amblerguitars.com/guitar-building-courses-custom-guitar/

Hey everyone 👍🏻
Apologies for the radio silence on here. As some of you already know, my wife Laura and I recently had our first baby girl arrive, so I've been taking some time away from work whilst we got the hang of everything!

I'm back in the shop now, and back building guitars- I'm finishing 2 up this week and then I'll be working on the very last two guitars sitting in the custom order book. Once those are all done I'll be making a whole bunch of guitars for stock, which will be available for sale through the website once done. I've got plenty of ideas for those and I can't wait. Stay tuned to follow the build process on those.

Also, now the dust has settled some I'll be releasing new guitar building course dates for the next 12 months later today! I'm really excited to get cracking with those again 💪

James and Sam completed their guitar building course yesterday- a great pair of guys, it was a pleasure to have them at Ambler Customs HQ.

Sam made a semi-hollow thin-line Tele with Ziricote top and Mahogany Body, whilst James designed his own custom shape with Ziricote and Swamp Ash.

These chaps wanted to do something a little more involved than the standard one week course would allow time for, so they did a couple of extra days.

Fantastic work 👌🏻

A custom semi-hollow Juliet left Ambler Customs HQ today, classic Black & Chrome w/ custom McNelly pickups. That's one down and a few left to go on the custom order list. Once they're all done then i'll be back to building some stock numbers up!
www.amblerguitars.com

Howdy gang! I've had a few messages enquiring if I'll be exhibiting at The Guitar Show this year- I'm not this time, I am focussing solely on getting the customer orders on the waiting list built, and have actually sold out of stock 100% so I don't currently have any instruments to exhibit right now!

2023 however, I will be back there and hopefully will have a good pile of guitars and basses for you all to come and try 💪

The order books are currently still closed- thanks 👍🏻

Back to some guitar building finally with my fancy new eye-ball now working again 🤣 A semi-hollow Juliet underway 👌 www.amblerguitars.com -order books full and closed currently.

I was trying to find a nice Christmassy image of one of my guitars, but then stumbled across this Hell Raiser Bass instead 😈

Apologies for being so quiet this year on social media- it's been a hectic one and to be honest, sometimes the social media has to be put to one side in order to keep on top of things.
The order book is still full & closed, and most of the year has been spent chipping away at the custom orders on there.

Thank you all so much for all the well wishes sent to me during my eye surgery recently- those that know me best know I don't like to make much of a fuss about these things, the hardest part about it was having to down tools recovering for such a long period of time when Ambler Guitars was already behind on work due to Covid lockdowns.
Come the first week in January and I should be given the all clear to start throwing around some sawdust again, and I seriously can't wait! It's been a very long 8 or so weeks since surgery- the longest I've ever gone without doing some form of woodwork since I was still a spotty teenager!

What's 2022 looking like for Ambler Guitars?

New Premises:
Myself and Laura have recently been lucky enough to move into the house we always wanted, and have a brand spanking new workshop on site. It's still a couple of months away from being fully finished, but once done it'll be a huge help with production. And the 30 second commute to work in the morning is going to be a real game changer 😅 Once finished, the new workshop address will be in Chesterfield, UK.

Custom Orders & Availability:
The orders on the waiting list will be built and shipped asap, and then I am going back to building for stock for a little while.
It's been a blessing that my instruments have been so popular, but when the order book gets full and unexpected delays like Covid & surgery crop up then it can cause chaos. That's simply the reason why I've been sold out of instruments all year- I haven't had the time to replenish the stock that sells, so apologies for that!
I know a lot of guys like to see the new instruments being made and prefer to purchase from stock instead of waiting for a custom build.
It's not been possible in 2021 but by mid 2022 I should have a decent number of guitars and basses finished and available with no need for a waiting list.The grand plan is to make a few of each of my models, all different and then most bases (and basses- see what I did there?) will be covered!

Business:
2022 might well be the year that I relent and actually hire an extra set of hands for the workshop! More news on that later in the year.
Also, I have a couple of new models on the drawing pad, but they won't be worked on until the current custom orders are completed and stock has been replenished- but by the tail end of next year? Who knows - watch this space.
Speaking of this space- social media posts and news for Ambler Guitars (FB & Insta) will be back up and running on a regular basis- so expect to see plenty of updates and progress shots of what's happening at Ambler HQ!
Thank you all for sticking with me throughout the quiet patch on here! I've always said that Ambler Guitars has the best followers, and you Guys and Girls never prove me wrong!

And finally- Myself and my brilliant wife Laura would like to wish each and every one of and absolutely amazing Christmas. Hoping you all get fantastic presents, food and quality time with those you love the most. And here's to 2022 🍻 Let's go grab it and make it one hell of a year! 💪

Merry Christmas!
Lots of love,
John & Laura
Ambler Custom Guitars
www.amblerguitars.com

Out Today!

Ambler Artist James Frankland releases his instrumental album 'Dystopian Utopia' across all streaming platforms!

James is an astonishing player, and an absolute gent to go with it. Please take the time to have a listen to his album!

https://open.spotify.com/album/06DVONGsBX6XvQQozWKgjg?si=NIXywthhRnSa-VOQz45nDw&utm_source=copy-link&dl_branch=1