The casual stroller down Stoke Newington Church Street may well find themselves intrigued by a window ledge facing the road with what appear to be biscuit tins with planks of wood sticking out of them. They may then shake their head and make a promise to quit spending so much time in the nearby Old Shillelagh pub.
However a return visit will reassure them that they have not been the subject of absinthian visions, for these tins and bits of wood also have strings which enable them to make a sound that their maker Jon
athan Free of Tintone Guitars proudly describes as an ‘uncontrollable noise.’ LISTEN HERE tintone demo
Jon has been working as a guitar repairer for years but only turned to making custom guitars a year or so ago when, stuck for a present for a friend, he made good use of some discarded table legs thrown outside his house. He had the idea of making a cigar box guitar as favoured by blues musicians of yore such as Eddie ‘one string’ Jones. However as he discovered “the English don’t really have cigar boxes, they prefer to drink tea and biscuits.
Since then he has concentrated on perfecting his art using the tricks that every guitar repairman has. He tries to use as many recyclable bits as as he can in his ‘sonic fascinators.’ These include old discarded strings, wardrobe rail fittings, suitcases and hardwood, he buys only the tuners new.
“I want them to look like they were made 100 years ago’” says Jon, ‘also I hate throwing things away that work perfectly well.” Even the slide is made from glass bottle-necks which Jon spends hours smoothing down.
Jon became interested in dismantling and rebuilding guitars at an early age when his uncle gave him his battered guitar as a gift. Jon fixed it up
and amazingly it is still used today by his old friend Tom Collinan of Th’ Faith Healers.
Jon himself played guitar in the band Penthouse who disbanded a few years ago. This brought Jon back to tinkering with guitars for a living. He still gets on stage from time to time with Gin Palace, Hackney’s foremost hard drivin’ rock and Roll band.
At present he makes one guitar a week though he can put one together in a matter of hours. The popularity of the guitars means that as soon as he makes one they tend to sell. Jon has also made guitars for a host of musicians including Matt Verta-Ray and John Spencer of Heavy Trash, and Lee Renaldo of Sonic Youth, his first with a magnetic steel pick up. “I think that’s the way forward” says Jon who says the best way to learn is to just to go your own way.
“You can just pick them up and amuse yourself, it’s a really amazing thing to do… that’s my motivation for making them I suppose.
Find out more at http://www.tin-tone.com
Leave a Reply