My first guitar was a Futurama, a red Fender Stratocaster copy. I was thirteen and like many other youths in northern England in the 1960s I'd joined a local rock band. At seventeen I emigrated to Australia and have spent the last forty years fronting and playing guitar in various blues and rock bands, mostly in Sydney, though now I live in Brisbane.

Along with playing guitars, repairing and tweaking them has always been a favourite pastime and only after achieving a level of business success am I now able to make guitars a full-time pursuit.

For most of last year, I studied at the prestigious Galloup School of Lutherie in Michigan USA. The Master Luthier course is thorough and I learned from gurus such as Russell Olmsted, Bryan Galloup and Dan Erlewine. I am a certified fretted instrument repair technician and a certified practising luthier.

I invite you to visit the gallery page for examples of my work.

It's taken me a long time to get here, but I now spend my days performing repairs and building custom guitars out of my workshop in Brisbane. I still play the guitar around Queensland and New South Wales from time to time.

Andrew Highley

Master Luthier