ABOUT US

We are a small company based in the south of Scotland, set up by David Buchanan-Dunlop in early 2006. David originally trained as a harp maker, completing a four-year apprenticeship with one of the worlds leading harp makers - Mark Norris Harps. Working at Mark Norris Harps for seven years David gained considerable experience as a luthier, which he has now channelled into DBD Guitars.

Guitars

DBD Guitars aim to bring together the benefits of off the peg guitars along with the advantages of custom-made guitars.  To achieve this we have designed a range of guitars, which can be built from our selection of designs, parts, materials and finishes. We have carefully designed the range so that all parts are compatible with each other, so there is no chance of making a wrong choice. In the options pages of the website we detail all the choices and explain which options will suit your requirements best. Once you have looked at all the options, you can get an instant quote from our online store and experiment with different set ups to build a guitar that meets your needs.
There are three main advantages to this system:

• Choice- Our range of parts means you can build a guitar that specifically meets your needs in functionality, aesthetics and price.
• Competitive prices- Because we sell directly from our workshops there are no third party mark-ups meaning our customers benefit from better prices.
• Quality- As we work with tried and tested designs that we have spent time developing and finding the best building techniques for; the quality of the guitars is exceptionally high in both design and construction. 

Quality Assurance

Buying a custom guitar can be an uncertain process; you can never be entirely sure what the guitar will be like until it is finished. We can offer you the piece of mind knowing that if your guitar doesn't live up to your expectations we have a 21 day, "no questions asked", money back guarantee. Alternatively if it is just a part of the guitar then we will replace that part or exchange it for another part. We also offer a lifetime warranty against defects in materials and workmanship in addition to a 2-year warranty on all parts and electronics. For more information please see: Returns and Exchanges and Warranty pages.

Environment

The timbers we use have not only been selected to give your guitar great tone but also to be kind to the environment. We are committed to helping conserve the world's forests, to do this we have tried to minimise the amount of timber that comes from high-risk areas. The majority of our wood is sourced from Europe and North America where laws on logging are much tighter. We use FSC certified timber wherever possible, this means that the wood is guaranteed to come from sustainable and well-managed forests. Indeed it is our ultimate aim to produce guitars exclusively from FSC certified timber.

In addition to sourcing our wood responsibly we also aim to help reforestation projects and forest protection schemes. We support two projects, the Carrifran Wildwood project and Rainforest Concern. For every guitar that we sell we make a £25 donation to either of these projects. So we hope that by making guitars we are ultimately giving back more than we take.    

Workshop

The DBD Guitars workshop is based in the village of Stobo near Peebles in the Scottish Borders. Visitors are welcome to the workshop to try the guitars and to see how they are made. Please phone or email to arrange the best time to visit.