John Bailey (luthier)

John Bailey (1931–2011) was a British luthier who made and repaired guitars and other stringed instruments during the 1960s revival of English folk music and beyond.

In the mid to late 1970s he moved back to London and for a time he was the Course Organiser of the Musical Instrument Repair Course (set up by Selwyn Jones, Paul Harvey and John Stone) at Merton College in Wimbledon.

John was originally a woodwork teacher at a school in Hendon and made instruments in his spare time.

Illustrated with line drawings, cover designs by Bailey's wife Maurine and a few photographs by Russ Woolnough, these scarce booklets are titles in The Folk Shop Instrumental Series; complete texts on how to make acoustic folk-style instruments.

(I needed all the help I could get) I decided to make guitars professionally and armed with some wood, basic woodworking tools and an excellent booklet by English Luthier John Bailey, I began the journey.