He chopped it down for the start of a long process of making two electric guitars.

Antony had made electric guitars before, while at university in Sheffield in the early Eighties, but he had always started with blocks of wood, never an actual tree.

Moreover, on this occasion, he had the idea of filming all the details of how something from his garden was turned into a truly custom electric guitar, right through to the playing through an amplifier.

The result is a DVD, which Antony believes is unique – a 'make-your-own electric guitar' guide for enthusiasts that is also a documentary for those with a more general interest.

It took three years to complete, runs at nearly three-and-a-half hours and is now on the market.

"It has been very well received," says the avid guitar collector and player as well as maker.

He is busy trying to sort out distribution deals for the UK and Europe, including working with Matthias Jabs, guitarist with the German rock band The Scorpions, who has a music shop in Munich.

In the process of improving the website of ACD Guitars (his initials), Antony, aged 47, has already sold about 40 DVDs directly on eBay.

Guitars are becoming increasingly popular again, possibly fuelled by the Wii game Guitar Hero, he says. "There is a growing market with music shops in the UK and Europe reporting moves away from keyboards and drums to guitars."

Antony has been interested in guitars for most of his life. These days he has signature models bearing the names of Carlos Santana, Brian May, Jeff Beck and The Scorpions.

"I have got quite a collection and I play them. I don't just let them gather dust."

It all started when his sister had classical guitar lessons at school and Antony, who went to Rowlinson, picked it up.

"In those days guitars were expensive. One of the ways of getting one was to build one. I built my first electric guitar when I was at university. I built three in consecutive years.

"As time went on I thought I could improve that, make a better guitar, and then I came up with the idea of filming it."

Internet checks indicated that nobody had made a DVD of the whole process and the first step was in front of him.

"I had a cherry tree in the garden that had died and I thought wouldn't it be nice to make it 'live again' and make a solid body electric guitar from that."

The DVD shows how the tree becomes a log, how it is dried in a kiln (again, built from scratch) and the wood planed to the correct thicknesses for the body and neck. The fretboard, electrics, lacquer and mother of pearl inlay are added and you are ready to plug in.

Most hardwood trees can be used – ash, alder, oak, mahogany, maple, says Antony.

He estimates the cost of construction could be as little as £100, perhaps up to £500, while a decent customised model in the shops would be around £3,000 to £4,000.


The DVD, including a booklet, is being sold for £9.99.

For Antony it is the result of painstaking research and work alongside his business selling scientific instruments, which he also runs from his home in Norton.

He graduated in physics from the University of Sheffield and sold scientific instruments in Germany before creating Raytek Scientific 20 years ago with employee Andrew Mason, who has done all the video work on the DVD.

They have tried to keep things simple.

"We don't expect people to have too much knowledge and we have tried to explain the terminology," says Antony. "It's fairly light-hearted.

"At one point we were going to call it a day and say 'never again' but we continued and it is very professionally done."

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