About Bear Guitars
One day about 6 years ago, I took a guitar off my wall, stripped it to free the wood, made it all come together better, and bang, it was a fabulous guitar, bought by Tom Toomey, guitarist with the Zombies, so its been played on legendary stages all over the world.
Now, over 100 guitars later, there are bespoke, unique Bear guitars all over the world, each one as individual as its guitarist, all created in the workshop in Dorset. (the Bear Cave!)
Bear Values
My Mission
To give every guitarist their own special, unique instrument that truly gives them inspiration and joy, and ultimately the biggest smile when
My promise
To create the best instrument I can each time, and should any element need tweaking, all of that is done free, as part of the ongoing relationship with your Bear Guitar
The Bear Vibe
I am very creative, some have said my guitars collide art and guitar design together, I certainly will always follow the feel and grain of the wood as my muse inspires me, I sense my guitars emerge from the wood, and develop their character as I work
Dorset Wood
I am increasingly creating guitar bodies using locally sourced timber, grown and milled here in Dorset, which makes its carbon footprint very small, some has only travelled a few miles in its whole life.
Dorset is blessed with an enormous amount of woods and copses, you can’t travel around the county with out seeing them everywhere. The wide diversity of species means there is a lot of variety I can choose from, and i’m trying out new woods all the time.
Meet the maker
Hi, I’m Andrew!
I can offer advice and suggestions to make your guitar the best it can be. From the colour and shape to the little details, I can help you decide on the perfect guitar for you.
I’ve been a passionately bad guitarist for 45 years, but I realised there may be a path here that suited me even more, and now having made over 100 guitars, I’m proud to call myself a luthier.
Visit the workshop
Come and visit the workshop (we call it the big blue Bear Cave!)
We’re always happy to welcome visitors, and there’s absolutely no obligation to buy!
You can test our guitars to see how they sound and feel, or we can just have a good old chat about how much we love guitars.
Shop guitars
Get your hands on your very own unique Bear Guitar. Each guitar is lovingly crafted and handmade in my workshop.
Custom guitars
I take your guitar dreams and make them a reality, and create a guitar that is as individual as you are.