TIME MACHINE
Gordon Smith Guitars was founded in 1974 by Gordon Whitham and John Smith and its instruments were known for their basic no-nonsense looks and functional playability. If you wanted a mahogany-bodied single-humbucker guitar with no unnecessary frills, finery and an American price tag then Gordon Smith was the first number to dial. But simple good looks weren’t the brand’s only asset; the guitars that the Partington-based workshop turned out back then could deliver the goods. John Smith’s design ethic was that he wanted a guitar to be made like a Zippo lighter – in that it did one thing really well, playing the role of a basic rock ’n’ roll machine.
Since 2015 the brand has been in the hands of Auden Guitars in Higham Ferrers, where the company is faithfully carrying on the tradition of the original models, with a few contemporary tweaks along the way. We spoke to Auden’s owner Doug Sparkes about one of Gordon Smith’s most enduring models, the GS1, going right back to the beginning…
How did you first came across the renowned UK builder?
“I guess my first introduction to the GS1 came way before
