A guitar maker's musical journey

By Jason Martin
BBC Oxford

The waiting list is 2½ years for guitars made in Paul's Chipping Norton base

The term 'luthier' refers to any craftsman specialising in stringed instruments and it certainly applies to instrument maker Paul Fischer.

Over the last 50 years Paul has created guitars, harpsichords, clavichords, spinets, and lutes.

"I wasn't attracted to the trade by choice" Paul explains. "A music master at school put the idea to me. It just sounded amazing and so exciting."

Paul entered the profession at the age of 16 in 1956.

A six year apprenticeship with Oxford-based instrument maker Robert Goble followed during which Paul was taught the importance of patience.

"I soon learned not to expect quick results. The process of shaping, carving, planning, and jointing requires a lot of time. Patience is absolutely a virtue in this industry."

Upon completion of his apprenticeship Paul was drafted into the army where he spent six years serving in Germany, four in the tank regiment and a further two on helicopter duty, providing the armoured shield between East and West Germany.

By coincidence, within a couple of weeks of leaving the army Paul was introduced to famous guitar maker David Rubio: "I found out where he lived, got in the car, knocked on his door and said 'I understand you want somebody to work with you.'"

Paul believes that guitars are "as individual as a child is to a parent"

Initially it was just Paul and David in the workshop but due to demand, within 18 months there were nine employees.

Over the next six years Paul worked closely under David to master the art and firmly believes that "making a fine musical instrument is really down to the experience and skill of the maker choosing the materials very carefully."

This quest for the perfect material has taken Paul all around the world. In the mid 80s Paul visited the rainforests of Brazil and the Amazon under a Winston Churchill scholarship to source out suitable alternatives to Brazilian Rosewood which, despite its renown for acoustics, has been listed as an endangered species and banned from importing and exporting due to overexploitation.

While the six weeks spent in Brazil gave Paul an invaluable opportunity to try new varieties of wood for making guitars, even two instruments made from the same wood will not sound exactly alike. "They're all as individual as a child is to a parent" he explains.

This individuality is very much at the heart of his work and such is the quality and reputation of Paul's instruments that the waiting list currently stands at two and a half years and has known to be as long as six.

Generally Paul makes three guitars simultaneously but recently has reduced this to two. Again, patience is the key to creating a quality instrument.

Paul makes instruments for some of the most celebrated classical guitarists

"When it comes to something you feel passionate about you demonstrate your patience because you really want to be sure that what you're doing is producing something of the very highest quality."

In addition to the actual process of making an instrument from start to finish, Paul is further excited by hearing what the musicians go on to create.

"Making musical instruments for people with talent and a musical gift is really an extra buzz - hearing and seeing an instrument that I've made on stage or occasionally on the radio is a great feeling."