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27 May, 2008 - Research, commissioned by BBZGuitars of High Wycombe, has found that UK guitarists who own Gordon Smith guitars are more likely to play professionally than owners of Fender or Gibson guitars. BBZGuitars’ research shows that 60% of guitarists with Gordon Smith guitars play professionally compared with 57% for Gibson and 48% for Fender.

Commenting on the findings, chief executive of BBZGuitars, Steve Busby said, “Gordon Smith guitars are not only handmade in England they’re also extremely versatile for the price which makes them very attractive if you’re a gigging musician. With a Gordon Smith, you can specify almost everything in the build, from the bridge and pick-ups to the colour and even the thickness of the body and, you get all of that for well under a thousand pounds. Unless you buy a ‘custom shop’ Gibson or Fender, it’s not handmade but you’ll probably still pay over a thousand pounds for it – a ‘custom shop’ version will cost you up to five times as much.”

The survey, which questioned more than 500 guitarists in the UK, also found that most professional guitarists would rather buy guitars from companies like Italia, Vintage and St Blues than purchase better known brands, such as Yamaha, PRS and Epiphone.

Busby was not surprised by these results as he believes that most professionals prefer to play with original designs rather than copies. However, with regard to their ranking ahead of products from Yamaha and PRS, Busby feels this is more to do with cost than quality.

“Yamaha and PRS both make superb instruments, and they both use original designs,” said Busby. “The main difference between these brands and brands like Italia, Vintage and St Blues is the price and, depending on the model, that could be considerable.”

In further findings, the research also showed that professional guitarists were more likely to choose less well known guitar amplifiers, such as Sound City and Kustom than big brand names like Marshall, Orange or Peavey. Despite this, the top five amps preferred by all guitarists were Marshall, Fender, Mesa, Vox and Orange.

For guitarists who would like to test-drive guitars from Gordon Smith, Italia, Vintage or St Blues, or try-out Sound City or Kustom amps, BBZGuitars showroom is open Tuesday to Saturday, 10.00am - 5.30pm, and is located at Unit 33 Cressex Enterprise Centre, Lincoln Road, High Wycombe, HP12 3RL.