Northern Light

A new guitar-making venture in the North East of England promises some boutique-like style at everyday prices

- Dave Burrluck

We have a rich industry of guitar makers here in the UK, but not all of their fabulous instruments can be classed as affordable. Well, affordability is the premise behind C9 Custom Guitars: a partnership between experienced production guitar specialist Mark Lamaq and high-end machine head-maker Keith Robson, who has turned his attention to guitar making in the past few years. The duo only formed the company in 2022 (though Mark had previously been helping Keith to create instruments under the Robson brand), but they’ve already attracted the attention of Northern heroes such as Tim Burgess, Mani and Paul Arthurs.

Our review guitar, the Ventura, is effectively a production prototype and is one of three models in the range. So while it’s early days for C9, this guitar illustrates the intended style and vibe, which is perhaps best described as ‘affordable boutique’. But what does that actually mean? First of all, 90 per cent of the guitar is made in the UK, in Shiney Row, Houghton Le Spring, just outside of Sunderland. The woodworking is very clean, with a slab body that’s approximately 41mm thick made from grandis, “a FSC-certified wood used in the building industry, for example”, Mark explains. “It’s like a slightly lighter African mahogany, although the weight can vary between super light and ordinary.” There are no curved contours and, instead of being radiused, the edges have a light chamfer (as used, for example, by PJD on its start-up Standard models) that’s increased in width where you’d normally expect a curved forearm and rib-cut contour. The relatively large offset body size does contribute to the weight, but it still drops in about ‘right’ for its Jazzmaster-inspired style.