Jon Case built his first guitar in 1965, at the age of ten. “It was made from whatever I could get my hands on at the time – hardboard for the body and a two by one inch section of pine for the neck,” he laughs. From this inauspicious start he rapidly progressed, so that by the age of 16 he was putting together replicas of the guitars that he wanted but couldn’t afford to buy. “I built myself a Les Paul, a LesPaul Junior and a Flying V,” he says. In 1972, Case went to Canterbury art college where he studied graphic design. “The real plan was to meet other musicians and become a famous guitarist,” he confides. Things didn’t go according to plan, however, and for the next 30 years he pursued a successful career in graphic design. Jon’s passion for guitars didn’t go away, however, and in the year 2000 he made the transition from full-time graphic designer to luthier. Jon now has a workshop in Kent, where he builds a small number of guitars to order each year.

In conversation with Paul Alcantara - Guitar Buyer magazine