Gillett Guitars

Another video clip from Haydock Park: https://youtu.be/Ru0Wt5QGf6I

OK, so here's some video from the day showing my old mate Jim getting things started in our hospitality suite overlooking the course. Oh, and there's a guest appearance from another of my mates - our very own AndyJr! https://youtu.be/UP7Reri8Z9I More to follow from Haydock and the evening pub gig!

...and another one about changing our branding name to Burns. You're right about the regional shows. We did London Olympia (aka 'the London Marathon'), compared to which the Bristol and Liverpool shows were a walk in the park - and cheap too! The most famous face I saw belonged to my mate Jim, but there won't have been many other visitors at the show who knew about Tractor.

Cheers Daz - it's making the toasting grill quickly detachable that's giving us the biggest headaches.

A Day at the Races Well, at a race-course anyway! We're back after a successful show at Haydock Park and here's a few pic's from our stand, demo room - and a gig at the local pub afterwards. An early shot before the visitors arrived - a very informal 'table top' set-up in the halls, but none the worse for that. Our Contour basses and the new guitar we've just added to the range got a great reception and a lot of visitors went up to our private room to play in a more controlled environment. The demo team: local guitarist Jim Milne from the '70s cult band Tractor with buddies Pete and Andy on bass and keyboard respectively. A good selection from the long-serving membership of Liverpool's thriving live music community. After the show, the Contour guitar and bass got a gallop in the local pub too! All in all, a great musical weekend - and back to work making the first batch of new Contour guitars, most of which are already sold!! Scrumpymike

Just a heads-up for anybody who's going to the North-West Guitar Show at Haydock Park near Liverpool this Sunday 20th. We've got a stand and a private demo room in Hall 3, on the 1st and 2nd floors respectively. Our main aim is to demo our prototype Contour 6-string guitar but we'll have our full range of basses there too. Don't be a stranger - come and say hi! http://www.guitarshows.co.uk/ARPages/NorthWest.html

Thanks Bernard, and well spotted - was going to e-mail latest stuff to you anyway.

Well, the Bristol Guitar Show has been and gone (last Sunday), so here's some feedback: We haven't exhibited at a 'regional' event before but we decided to take a punt on this one on the grounds that a) it's just up the road and b) the cost is modest (about a tenth of what we spent on the London Olympia show in March). I can now report that we were well impressed! I'd already had a look at the video of last year's show compiled by the organisers to show-case the event. That looked good but, as we all know, (PR) pictures don't always give a true reflection of reality. As soon as we arrived at Ashton Gate Stadium (Bristol City's home ground) on Saturday evening, though, it was obvious that this was going to be a good gig! I was especially encouraged to see that Hofner had taken a stand close to ours, on which there were some lovely guitars and basses - including a couple of delightful Macca 'Violins' (the stuff of my adolescent dreams). I got chatting to the two Hofner guys and invited them to come over and look at our instruments, which they did half an hour later. I'm not exaggerating when I say that they were blown away by 'Gillett Guitars' (one of them actually said "You've re-invented the electro-acoustic guitar!") Obviously, that's not something I would put out on mainstream media (they wouldn't thank me for it ) but hopefully I'm safe sharing it here. I took it as a real compliment for Michael G's work (he wasn't there at this time) and felt proud by association. So, Sunday morning dawned (we were at the venue soon after ) and it wasn't long after the 10am kick-off (pun intended) before the hall was very busy indeed. This included our stand and the separate demo room we had taken to show our prototype six-string guitar. As at Olympia, Paul 'Keys' Quinn was tickling the ivories (not real ones Officer) to good effect. Again, like the London show, our private room was next to the live stage - which was really effective in terms of maximising our audience. The feedback on the new guitar was all positive and there were some useful suggestions for tweaks we can do before we finalise the design for its formal launch (there are one or two pic's in the pipeline, which I'll post here in due course). These regional shows seem to be the way to go - not just for the visitors, who get to see and try masses of kit under one 'local' roof - but also for us manufacturers (low-cost, user-friendly events) and even the retailers. I spoke to one guy who is closing his retail shop in favour of selling via shows like these and on-line. He reckons it would have taken him a month to sell through the shop what he sold last Sunday! Of course, it's a bit different for us with a new brand of premium-priced guitars. Suffice to say that we sold our most expensive £2650 bass off the stand. Which reminds me, the couple of 'H' guys referred to above couldn't believe that we could offer the quality we achieve at our asking prices. "We don't have your overheads" was my reply! Scrumpymike

PM sent

Cheap they're not - but if you see and play one you'll know why

A really big (for us) breakthrough is the development of a guitar version of the Contour bass. It retains the all-important 'look' and main features of the bass, namely ergonomic sculpting front and back, combination of conventional pick-ups (2) plus bridge transducer, and thru-body stringing for enhanced sustain. We got the prototype finished just before the S-W Bass Bash and took it along to give the guitar-playing bassists among us a sneak preview (thankfully they loved it). This included 'Scrumpette' Mandy's bro' Steve (pictured below), who actually is a guitarist and came down from Brum especially to try the new guitar. http:// Its first showing to the general public will be at next weekend's Bristol Guitar Show on Sunday 29th April at the Ashton Gate Stadium (City ground). Needless to say, we'll have our basses there too and would love to welcome any Basschat members on to our stand. You can see Reverb's review of last year's show along with some video footage on the organiser's website link: http://www.guitarshowsuk.co.uk/ Scrumpymike

Quite a lot has happened in the world of Gillett since I last posted, and it’s a bit remiss of me not to have posted for a while. (I’m going to do this in easy instalments, as the forum seems to struggle with long posts made up of imported stuff.) So, where were we? Ah yes, fighting our way through the snow in a desperate bid to reach the London Bass Guitar Show. As many of you will know either from being there or seeing Silvia Bluejay’s excellent coverage on this forum (also in Bass Guitar Magazine), we DID make it – albeit a couple of hours after the show opened, and without all our customised stand-wall panels printed with colourful (and expensive) graphics for the show. This is how it should have looked… http:// …but what we actually got was a plain white shell-scheme hastily cobbled together by the show organisers (for which we were most grateful). No matter, the fact that we made it to the show at all was a great relief and anything over-and-above that was a bonus. So, how was it for us? BRILLIANT! We had a steady stream of interested visitors and, thanks to the fact that we had ace keyboard-player Paul Quinn (a mate of Michael G’s) on hand, our stand was notable as the one from which some very nice music was being made much of the time. The way we worked it was that we had a couple of ‘playing stations’ – one in the main body of the stand and another tucked round the side out of the way. When a visitor started playing in the ‘hot seat’, the versatile Mr. Q would just kind of join in with whatever they were doing. If it appeared to be working, it just took off; if not, then Paul didn’t push it. This plan turned out to be inspired and certainly made life a whole lot more enjoyable for stand personnel and passers-by, who generally stopped for a listen, a look, and usually a go on one of our basses. We had deliberately chosen a pitch just off the main exhibition area at the end of the concourse leading to the Olympia auditoriums (and the loos). In this area, there was not much noise (apart from what we were making), a constant trickle (no pun intended) of people heading for the toilets and, thanks to the packed programme of on-stage events, queues of people in front of our stand waiting for the doors to open swelled by the stream of people coming out of the previous show. One casual passer-by was Yolanda Charles on her way to her headline gig on Sunday afternoon. Like pretty much everybody who sees our Contour basses for the first time, she was struck by the sculpted look and promised to come and have a play after her performance had finished. And, true to her word, that’s exactly what she did, accompanied by a couple of her friends (another bassist and a keyboard player). The resultant half-hour jam session was an absolute joy and Yolanda made it clear that she was very impressed with our basses. http://

Just thinking about last night's post again with the benefit of hindsight (and less brain-fade - it was past my bed-time), I've got one correction and a couple of additions: CORRECTION What I said about needing to know the exact species of rosewood is probably misleading; if you know it's rosewood and have proof of origin, that's enough. (The regulations are framed to include the names of all the different species so that the authorities can recognise rosewood under any other name.) ADDITIONS I can't stress enough how helpful APHA were in enabling me - a self-confessed newbie - to get to grips with the CITES stuff. They gave me the 'idiot's guide' on the phone, e-mailed me the application form and other relevant info, and then talked me through by phone the bits of the form that I didn't understand. They also summarised what our customer would need to do to ensure the import procedures went smoothly. The cost of our permit was £59 btw. If any of you are faced with the prospect of tackling CITES, I'll be happy to send you a copy of one of our completed application forms to give you an idea of what's involved (I'm pretty sure that the information required for importing will be similar). Last but not least, if you've got a guitar (or anything else!) made of rosewood, maybe hang on to it - it's likely to become an appreciating asset; I recently spotted a Brazilian rosewood-bodied guitar up for £36-grand IIRC. Makes our rosewood Contour S bass look like a bargain at £2200 (OK, I'll get me coat) Scrumpymike

Although my involvement with CITES has been exporting Gillett basses, I wanted to contribute a couple of things that are relevant. First off, you need to be aware that certain types of rosewood are more stringently controlled than others. In fact, the Dalbergia genus (commonly referred to as 'rosewood') covered by the trade restrictions comprises 300 different species , and you need to know the species and origin of what you are importing or exporting in order to apply for a CITES permit. (Rosewood of Brazilian origin is the most tightly controlled, as that's where the degree of endangerment is most acute.) Secondly, the CITES regulations are global in scope but controlled by nominated managing agents in each individual country. In the UK you have two options (see below - sorry about the formatting!). I deal with APHA in Bristol, as they are just up the road, but they are extremely helpful on the phone. Option 1. Elaine Kendall Head of CITES Policy team Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) Natural Environment Policy Floor 2 Horizon House Deanery Road, BRISTOL BS1 5AH Email: cites.ukma @ defra.gsi.gov.uk (For queries about CITES permits, please contact the Animal and Plant Health Agency at: wildlife.licensing @ apha.gsi.gov.uk; tel +44(0)117 372 3700. Full contact details are at (2) below.) Website: http://www.gov.uk/cites-controls-import-and-export-of-protected-species Last update: 23/02/17 Competent to grant permits / Competente para conceder permisos / Compétent pour délivrer les permis Option 2. Animal and Plant Health Agency (APHA) Centre for International Trade - Bristol Floor 3 Horizon House Deanery Road, BRISTOL BS1 5AH Tel: +44 (117) 372 37 00* Fax: +44 (208) 415 25 10 Email: wildlife.licensing @ apha.gsi.gov.uk Website: http://www.defra.gov.uk/ahvla-en/imports-exports/cites/ (Last update: 23/02/17) Sorry if this is too much information - it took me a lot of time to research the subject and this is just a summary! Scrumpymike

I gigged the same 4 x 12" cab for years with TE heads and TE 1 x 15" - very nice too! Scrumpymike (replied from Gillett Guitars account by mistake )

Sibob said: " I'd also like to think that engaging and supporting the UK bass community is high on a number of brands agendas" That's certainly high on the Gillett agenda and I'm sure we're not the only ones. Must say I was expecting to see Barefaced and looking forward to a chat with Alex. Scrumpymike

I've been following the 'reasons to exhibit' strand with some interest. We were there because Gillett is a relatively new brand and we need the exposure. Yes it's hard work (especially when it involves shifting a ton of snow before you start) and, yes, it's expensive (£thousands all in). So, would we still be there if we didn't need to generate more business? Probably yes - because it's just so much fun! The real buzz for me was listening to the variety of music played on our basses on our stand (thanks largely to our resident ace keyboard player Paul Quinn). At one end of the spectrum we had Yolanda Charles' half-hour jam late on Sunday; at the other end was the 14-year-old autistic lad who's been playing bass for 7 months and it's making life more enjoyable for the whole family. Loved every minute of it! Scrumpymike

Only a little bit? You're just not trying hard enough! Were you there when she turned round to Michael G with a big smile on her face and shouted out "I like this!" We certainly liked THAT

He came on our stand for a play but when I tried to take a selfie all I got was my face and his shoulder - should have done it while he was still sitting down Scrumpymike

Wow - where do we start with this one? I suppose for us Gillett guys the highlights came at the beginning and the end of the show: first that we managed to defy the weather beast and get there at all - albeit with a makeshift shell stand (our posh one spent the weekend in our van Somerset); and last but definitely not least the 40-minute jam session that Yolanda did on our stand from around 4:30! She turned up with a couple of her friends (another bassist and a keyboard player) and treated us and a growing crowd of remaining visitors to a musical feast. She and the other bass-player alternated on 4- and 5-string Contour basses backed by the aforementioned keyboard buddy, who eventually handed the keys back to their rightful owner when our resident stand player Paul came back from a quick look round the show. Our techie Simon grabbed some video on his camera and I'm waiting to see how that turned out. If we'd known what was coming, we'd have hired a professional film crew More to say but I have to stop cos my single remaining brain cell is getting tired. Scrumpymike

Thanks for that - the most notable (regrettably unrecorded) event will hopefully be the 1 1/2 hours I spent digging the car out of the snow this afternoon.

Show organisers will accept Saturday tickets on Sunday (or vice-versa).

GILLETT/LBGS UPDATE Michael G has managed to retrieve all our stuff from the stricken van and will be heading up the M5 in his car first thing in the morning - closely followed by me and (hopefully) our techie Simon in mine! Scrumpymike aka Gillett Guitars Sales & Marketing Manager

GILLETT/LBGS UPDATE Michael G has managed to retrieve all our stuff from the stricken van and will be heading up the M5 first thing in the morning! Scrumpymike