Hutchins Guitars is an independently owned artisan guitar company based in Sussex in the UK.
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“We make great looking guitars, pieces of art that you can play“. Retro sexy is the idea behind the designs, these are modern guitars with a great sound and feel but with a nod to the classic designs of the past, especially the 1950s and 1960s. The whole team are avid lovers of the guitar as a piece of art, an object of beauty as well a fantastic instrument for artistic expression. Gary has collected classic electric guitars for many years and appreciate what they represent, the thought behind the design, the many varied sounds of the guitar and the image of the guitar hero as perceived in modern culture.
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Gary has been involved in the music industry for most of his life starting with his own record label, Safe Records, before moving into band management and music production. “I have had the great pleasure of working with incredibly talented people my whole life.”
He is recognised as one of the premiere modern guitar designers, London’s Albert and Victoria Museum featured Gary’s six neck guitar “The Beast” in the Power of Making exhibition … a proud moment for the family and the company.
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Gary found himself at a crossroads in his life when he found out his father had cancer. His father, Derek Hutchins, had been a master boat builder all his life, creating and repairing many barges and boats, without receiving credit or recognition for his work. In 2005 Gary’s father passed away. During one of the last conversations he had with Gary’s mother he had told her that he wished he had left Gary something, some kind of legacy. Gary’s mother only told him of this conversation after he had died. Gary says “It left me cold. How could such a great father have felt that he had failed in any way? Being an only child, the last "Hutchins" of my line and having just been blessed with a son myself, I pondered on this. It weighed upon me that Dad had left this world feeling that he had not achieved something special for me.” One day soon after Gary was strumming a guitar and reflecting on the long talks they’d had prior to his father’s death. Lost in thought as he played Gary noticed the brand name on the headstock of the guitar.
In a defining moment he saw ‘it’, his father’s legacy. Derek Hutchins had left Gary his name. “I decided to create something that he would be proud of, something that would leave a mark, something to maybe leave the children, a legacy, maybe even the start of something big. So I created Hutchins Guitars. The initial thought was that if only one of the guitars was found in a loft maybe 50 years from now the question may be asked … Who is Hutchins? The answer to that question: his name was Derek, he was a fantastic man and he was my father.”
Gary then turned his passion into his work and Hutchins Guitars was born. Over the next few months Gary studied guitar building, travelling to the Musik Messe in Germany to meet guitarists, makers and industry designers to talk guitars with other passionate like-minded people.
His travels, research and countless conversations across the industry taught him exactly what type of guitars were available and, more importantly, which were not. During these first few years Gary had the great fortune of encountering two guitar building gurus, Allan Entwistle and Trevor Wilkinson, both of whom he is now proud to call friends. After a year of research, study and travel Gary put together his first small range of guitars and basses and things grew from there.
More encounters with guitar makers including Graham Stockley, at the time with Hofner Guitars, Laura Libricz of Steinberger Sound, Gerd Schaller, a German Luthier and Harry Hornsey, a UK based Luthier helped Gary improve the range and ensured that the set up and playability of the guitars was of a high standard. The team now designs guitars that look different, look interesting, look GREAT and then makes them play!
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The last words should be from Gary ... “Thank you for taking the time to visit and read my website. I hope you find my guitars of interest and that one day soon you will join the growing family of Hutchins guitar players and own one yourself.”
