About Hutchins Guitars
HUTCHINS GUITARS is a boutique guitar company. All of our guitars are made in small factories in Korea and China that I, Gary Hutchins, have visited personally. I know the owner of the factory, I know his family and his workers -- I even know the lady who makes the tea.
We personally plan every single step of production, nearly all by hand, and every guitar I design is a limited edition of each model and colour. I make great looking guitars. In fact, I make pieces of art that you can play.
My name is Gary Hutchins and I am an avid lover of the guitar as a piece of art and as an avid music fan. I have collected guitars for many years and love what they represent - the thought behind their design, how they sound and what they do. I have been involved in the music industry for most of my life. I started off with my own label, Safe Records, before moving into band management and music production. I have had the great pleasure of working with incredibly talented people all my life. However, I found myself at a crossroads in my life when I found out that my father had cancer.
Derek Hutchins had been a master boat builder all his life, creating and repairing many boats and barges without receiving credit or recognition for his work. One day while we were talking about life in general and what we as people do while we are here and what we leave behind us, the subject of legacy came up. My father felt as though he had not left a legacy in this world that my three children (Amy-Leigh, Edward and Francesca) and I could honour after he was gone.
My father passed away in 2005. One day after he passed I was strumming a guitar and reflecting on the long talks we'd had prior to his death. Lost in thought I played, and then I noticed the brand name on the headstock. In a defining moment I saw it - my father's legacy. Derek Hutchins had left me his name.
I decided to turn my passion into my work and Hutchins Guitars was born. Over the next few months I studied guitar building. I travelled to the Musik Messe fair in Germany to meet people and gain ideas and then I visited factories in Korea and China. My travels and research, and countless conversations across the industry, taught me exactly what kind of guitars were available - and more importantly, what guitars were not. Along the way I had the great fortune of encountering two guitar-building gurus, Allan Entwistle and Trevour Wilkinson, both of whom I am proud now to call friends. After a year of research, study, and travel I put together my first small range of guitars and I went on from there. I design guitars that look different, look interesting, look GREAT - and then I make them play!
Thank you for taking the time to visit our website. I hope you find my guitars of interest and I hope that one day soon...you will own one yourself!