Ian Corr hard at work.

Angie doing inlay work while Spider the cat looks on.

Profile - Ian Corr

Born in Zimbabwe on 20.08.1965, Ian moved with his family to Fish Hoek, Cape Town, South Africa, at age 12 years. It was here that he began an ongoing love for the ocean, spending much of his free time either surfing, sailing, fishing or diving. Whilst living in Scarborough, Cape Town, he met Marc Maingard of Maingard Guitars. He began working for Marc, and over a period of 4 1/2 years, he learnt much of what he knows about guitar repairs and construction.

During this time he also set up and ran a small business manufacturing Marimba's (African Xylophones). Through the hand tuning of literally thousands of Kiaat Marimba keys he fine tuned his skills as a hands-on tuner/artisan. These skills have held him in good standing to this day, where selection and tuning of timbers is crucial in good guitar construction.

During this period he also met his current partner Angela. Over the past 20 years they have traveled, built a home in Morgan Bay, Eastern Cape and produced a son Java, now 3 years old. Between leaving Maingard Guitars and establishing his own business, he has dedicated himself to accumulating tools, knowledge and some of the finest timbers available. Working from his workshop at home, Ian has created an inspiring space from which to pursue his passion of building high quality guitars. Angela has recently taken over the duties of inlay work and artistic design.

 - May 2009