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Gary Hearn with his guitar

A GUITAR maker has successfully designed a radical new version of the classical instrument and is causing a stir in the music industry.

Father-of-two Gary Hearn, 55, of Park Street has been a full-time guitar maker and repairer for five years, but three years ago he started developing a new system which has revolutionised the classical guitar.

After a lengthy process, the final product is the Classical Leaf guitar which uniquely has had its soundhole removed with only a few smaller ones in the upper bouts of the guitar, allowing a much larger soundboard.

Despite being sold in only a select few shops, demand is growing for the guitar, made solely by Gary.

He said: "I have always played the guitar but could never afford one so I built one.

"It was a drug after that and it ended up being a business.

"I've wanted to design a new concept to bring more power out of classical guitars.

"I know classical guitars only use two-thirds of their power so I wanted to push that.

"I did lots of studying into sound and engineering and came up with a design last year. It is a marvellous thing, and now it is really taking off. It's just an amazing sound, almost like a piano.

"There are a few people out there who have done it but they haven't gone quite as radical as I have. I think I've pushed it to its limit."

The guitar is now getting noticed across the country and concert guitar player Richard Durrant was delighted to endorse it.

While looking for new premises to help cope with the demand for the new guitars, which cost about £6,000 each, Gary is also busy developing a similar version for the steel strung guitar.

He added: "The steel guitar is exciting because it's also a more powerful instrument and everyone is waiting for it to finish.

"More people play the steel strung guitar so it could be even more successful."

6:00am Monday 30th April 2007

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