B&H Instruments are hand made in Upper Farringdon, Hampshire by Dave Mattey (above, second left) who has been playing and making steel stringed instruments of all types for a very long time... Over the decades I have been playing my own instruments in all kinds of bands - folk, blues, rock, big band, soul, funk and reggae, but my first and lasting interest has always been traditional celtic music.
I have always been a 'maker of things' - anything really, from everyday DIY to house renovations and while in a former life as a university academic designing and building many of the instruments I used to analyse rocks and minerals in my research labs. All the while I was making instruments in spare time, which has now become my full time occupation. I make guitars, mandolins, bouzoukis, citterns and Weisenborns, leaning towards the classic designs, focussing on getting the best tone and projection out of the instrument. With a science background I am a data nerd, measure, record, compare - theres always something new to learn about what causes an instrument to ound the way it does. More recently I have been exploring bronze casting techniques to make my own tailpieces for mandolins and bouzoukis. Always something new to learn!
I am concious of choices that need to be made regarding the sources of tonewoods used to create instruments, particularly the manner in which the tonewoods are harvested and whether forests are responsibly managed. B&H Instruments recognise the CITES treaty (https://www.cites.org/) and the tonewoods that are endangered or CITES-protected. I source tonewoods from reputable dealers trading FSC-certified timbers. Where possible I prefer to use domestic and European timbers such e.g. yew, sycamore and walnut, and sometimes timber salvaged from fallen trees or discarded furniture which can sometimes be a surprising source of old, stable and high quality timbers.
The photo above is our trad Irish session at the Good Intent, Petersfield, Hampshire, held every Wednesday at 8pm - if you are nearby, come and listen or join in !
I have always been a 'maker of things' - anything really, from everyday DIY to house renovations and while in a former life as a university academic designing and building many of the instruments I used to analyse rocks and minerals in my research labs. All the while I was making instruments in spare time, which has now become my full time occupation. I make guitars, mandolins, bouzoukis, citterns and Weisenborns, leaning towards the classic designs, focussing on getting the best tone and projection out of the instrument. With a science background I am a data nerd, measure, record, compare - theres always something new to learn about what causes an instrument to ound the way it does. More recently I have been exploring bronze casting techniques to make my own tailpieces for mandolins and bouzoukis. Always something new to learn!
I am concious of choices that need to be made regarding the sources of tonewoods used to create instruments, particularly the manner in which the tonewoods are harvested and whether forests are responsibly managed. B&H Instruments recognise the CITES treaty (https://www.cites.org/) and the tonewoods that are endangered or CITES-protected. I source tonewoods from reputable dealers trading FSC-certified timbers. Where possible I prefer to use domestic and European timbers such e.g. yew, sycamore and walnut, and sometimes timber salvaged from fallen trees or discarded furniture which can sometimes be a surprising source of old, stable and high quality timbers.
The photo above is our trad Irish session at the Good Intent, Petersfield, Hampshire, held every Wednesday at 8pm - if you are nearby, come and listen or join in !
