News 2014

DECEMBER, 2014. NEW BUILDS FOR 2015.

All our builds for 2014 are completed. We are now 100% ready to start all new builds for 2015 right now. Now is the time to order a Gaskell Custom Shop guitar or bass. We will be back from break on 3 January 2015.

DECEMBER, 2014. CHRISTMAS & NEW YEAR!

From all the staff at Gaskell Guitars we would like to wish all left handed guitar players and lefthanded bass players a very merry Christmas and a great 2015! Gaskell Guitars will be closed from 19 December until 3 January. We will be checking emails during this time but not as regularly as normal. Spend your money from Santa on a Gaskell lefty guitar in 2015!

NOVEMBER, 2014. BUILD TIMES.

Being this close to Christmas and the end of the new year we will not be starting any new Custom shop lefty guitar builds until 2015. We are still taking orders but please be aware all new orders will be started in January. We have to get our current production run completed before any new ones are begun. We thank you for your patience.

NOVEMBER, 2014. LEFT HANDED FLYING V.

Here at Gaskell Guitars we are big fans of Neal's http://leftyfretz.com website and I am sure we can all agree that his website is the ultimate resource for lefty players around the world. It was from Neal's website recently that I learned that Gibson will never make a left handed Flying V guitar. I am not a big fan of Gibson for the very obvious reason that they really don't give a rats ass about lefties and I find it hard to accept that some lefties still feel the urge to go running to them pleading for guitars. There's really no justifiable reason for that as far as I am concerned - but that is surely understandable: we make left handed guitars, they don't! If you want a Custom built, 100% customizable lefty Flying V, I will make it. Start planning.

NOVEMBER, 2014. WHY BUY GASKELL GUITARS?

The most simple question one can ask of us is "why should I buy a Gaskell"? Despite the simplicity of this question we didn't really have one place on this website where you could get an adequate answer to that question... until now. Viewable from our DOWNLOADS page is the new article "Why Buy A Gaskell?" We invite you all to have a read. Feedback welcome. Click here to go to it direct.

NOVEMBER, 2014. THE EAGLE HAS LANDED.

Great news for all lefty players the world over: The Gaskell Eagle is here! Years in the making, the Gaskell Eagle is perfected and ready to go. We are 100% delighted with the outcome. The Eagle is simply the best left handed Superstrat in the world. Forget about the other companies out there who begrudgingly build one or two left handed guitars and overcharge you for the "privilege." Be done with being treated like a second class citizen by them. We make left handed guitars only. We are the only ones who do. If you want the ultimate Superstrat then the Gaskell Eagle is the guitar for you. Fully made to order and 100% made in our Custom Shop. You can have one. Every lefty should.

OCTOBER, 2014. "ONE OFF" CUSTOM BUILDS.

Now that we are in full swing at the Gaskell Custom Shop I wanted to give some helpful info to anyone contemplating buying a left handed guitar or bass which may be a "one off" instrument. It is important to know that for every instrument that we have not built before there is a process of R&D, templating, prototyping, testing, modifying and other actions which are necessary to take before the first of any new model is made. These initial steps can take up to 80 hours sometimes. If you want a custom guitar that I have not already templated or that I cannot easily modify existing templates for then I have to treat your build request as a "one off" and put in those initial 80 hours or so before I can even start to build your instrument. I am sure no one would expect me to do that for free. This work does come at a cost. I am more than willing to put in the time to do that but I am even more willing to steer you in the direction of something I have already templated. Not everything we can build is listed on this website. Any model we have built in the past was R&D'd and templated by me before being made. I already spent the 80, 100, or 150 hours in the beginning. We can make ES-335 style, Iceman style, Telecaster style, Rickenbacker 330 style, Rickenbacker 4400 style, original Randy Rhoads style, Jackson Kelly style, and more. The Custom Shop pricing structure is the same. However, any "one off" builds will require additional charges for the initial work to get it to the point of being able to be built. I hope this is helpful. OCTOBER, 2014. Gaskell Guitars will be closed from 1 October to 8 October as Kevin is in New Zealand during this time. This coincides with the workshop staff also taking their own breaks. It might not be possible to get an email response during this time.

SEPTEMBER, 2014. THE FUTURE OF GASKELL FACTORY-MADE GUITARS.

Since we announced the discontinuation of our factory-made line in favour of full custom shop production many people have since emailed us asking whether we had any intentions of bringing the factory line back one day. I have written a detailed statement concerning this and thoughts on the matter in true Kevin Gaskell "no holds barred" style in an article called "The Future Of Gaskell Factory-Made Guitars." You can read it here or go to our DOWNLOADS page. Feedback is welcome. We are dedicated to the lefty cause.

SEPTEMBER, 2014. THE EAGLE HAS ALMOST LANDED!

In 2-3 weeks we will have pictures of the first custom shop Gaskell Eagle. The first one we made was so incredible that I actually decided to keep it for myself as my new personal guitar of choice! The one you will see very soon belongs to a customer who took all the opportunities to make it the very best guitar to suit his needs and we are extremely pleased with it ourselves. The Gaskell Eagle is always 100% made in Australia at the Gaskell Custom Shop in Sydney. It has a unique yet familiar body shape and a knock out orginal and completely appropriate head stock. The Eagle is truly the world's best left handed Strat style guitar. No doubt about it. Stay tuned. Kevin

AUGUST, 2014. LEFT HANDED ACE FREHLEY BUDOKAN LES PAUL.

Just finished in Custom Shop, the iconic Ace Frehley "Budokan" Les Paul! Three originial DiMarzio pickups, genuine mahogany body and neck, flamed maple cap, TonePros hardware, Schaller tuners, and finished in traditional sunburst. If you happen to be a lefty who always wanted a Budokan Les Paul you would be well aware that these were never offered by Gibson in left hand. This guitar is fully templated and can be made to any specifications. See our PRICE LIST accessible via our RESOURCES page. 100% made in Australia.

JULY, 2014. END OF GASKELL FACTORY-MADE LINE.

It is with great disappointment that we announce that we have been forced to discontinue our factory-made line of left handed guitars. This is due to rising costs which have made it impossible to maintain our sub $1000 price range. The fact is, 50% of the manufacturing process of our production (off the shelf) guitars and basses has always been done here in Australia. The factory only ever did half of the work. Australia's cost of living is extremely high, in some cases up to 4x what it was a mere 10 years ago. Australia is extremely expensive. We have tried very very hard but these factors make production other than full Custom Shop unsustainable. The good news in this is that we will be fully offering Custom Shop as per usual, and we will be additionally offering PRO SERIES which are custom shop guitars and basses that are less expensive due to being made from factory-made body blanks instead of being built from scratch inhouse. We thank all left handed guitarists and basses for their support over the years. There are hundreds of Gaskell players around the world today, so many we have long since lost track! For those of you who own a Gaskell production instrument, be aware that your instrument is going to be very collectible as a result of this change. From here on out lefty players around the world wanting the very best left handed instrument should look no further than Gaskell Guitars. Custom Shop guitars, designed by a lefty for lefties only.

JUNE, 2014. R.I.P

On the 18th June 2014 our beloved Zac lost his battle with cancer. He was 13. There are no words that can describe the grief. I ask that you be patient in regards to responses to emails at this time. Kevin Gaskell.

MAY, 2014. SHORT BREAK.

We will be closed from Thursday 19 May, 2014 until Friday 6 June, 2014. Emails will not be seen during this time.

APRIL, 2014. HYBRIDS ARE IN.

Just last week our current run of Hybrid and Hybrid Deluxe guitars arrived from the factory. With the two short weeks (Easter + ANZAC Day) one after the other we have fallen a little behind on getting these through set ups along with everything else, but we are almost there. Those of you with pre orders (the majority on this run) please be patient. We will let you know when we get them done and out the door to you. Expected to be next week (first week of May.) Update August 2014. There are several Hybrids from this run still in stock. Contact RIVER MUSIC. International delivery is available.

APRIL, 2014. NEW CONCORD MODEL!

Well fellow lefties, we finally did it. You will notice there is a new Gaskell guitar on the website: the Concord Mark II. This is the Alexi Laiho style of Randy Rhoads V, with Floyd Rose tremolo and EMG pickups. For Australian and New Zealand lefty players, this is your chance to actually own a left handed RR style V guitar. You should already know that the LH Jackson originals are not sold in Australia and New Zealand and cannot be ordered through a music store. Not a hard decision to make.

MARCH, 2014. NEW STOCK.

Our latest batch of guitars in from the factory have all been sold. If you missed out, we are organizing our next run now. It is always a good idea to pre-order if you are keen on one that is not in stock. Always check the Australian retailers for stock. PKS MUSIC and RIVER MUSIC are the two major Gaskell dealers in Australia. They sell internationally too. See the DEALERS page of our website.

FEBRUARY, 2014 PLATINUM SETUP.

We get a lot of emails asking about the Platinum Setup Service and we are always happy to answer your questions. It is something that can benefit any player. Additional information has been added to our Care & Maintenance guide (click here.) JANUARY, 2014. We have just resumed as of 13/1/14 and we have just about all our custom guitars finished, injuries and a few little incidents (wood splits on finished necks - aaagh!) notwithstanding. We are well on track for 2014!ards Kevin (Australia) Peter (USA) Alan (England) Theo (Brazil.)