Jim Redgate blends traditional and modern in South Australia to design/make guitars for the world's best

Jim Redgate's guitars, defined and made in South Australia, produced a traditional tone from modern construction

Jim Redgate, a South Australian luthier, designed and made guitars for some of the world’s most famed classical guitarists from the late 20th Century.

Redgate Guitars were world-renowned for producing a traditional tone from a modern guitar construction. Redgate clients included Pepe Romero, Ana Vidovic, Ralph Towner, Slava Grigoryan, Leonard Grigoryan, Bertrand Thomas, Jeff Young, Garath Koch, Odair Assad, Wolfgang Muthspiel and Karin Schaupp.

London-born in 1963, Redgate emigrated with his family to Adelaide three years later. His handyman father taught him many wood skills but Redgate begin a plumbing apprenticeship after leaving school at 15. Four years later, Redgate built his first guitar while completing a certificate of music performance course in 1985.

Redgate was accepted into Adelaide University’s Elder Conservatorium of Music to study for a bachelor or music (performance). This exposed him to high-quality guitars from overseas and “unusual and experimental” electronic music.  Redgate made his own study on his home-made guitars by taking them to concerts and getting feedback from the musicians to develop an instrument that looked beautiful and sounded right.

During his degree course, finished in 1988, Redgate performed on his own guitars in many solo and ensemble concerts and won a study scholarship. Redgate initially set up a custom-built workshop at his home in Port Noarlunga, a suburb on Adelaide's picturesque southern coastline.

While gaining inspiration from modern luthiers, Redgate added his own innovations to the art of classical guitar making. He was part of a movement using man-made materials such as carbon fibre, kevlar, and a honeycomb-structured material called nomex. This method, known as the double-top construction, had two thin skins of timber separated by an air-filled kevlar honeycomb core, so the soundboard was halved in weight but still maintained its strength. The string could move the soundboard with greater ease and the instrument was more efficient at producing sound.