PJD Guitars was founded in 2010 by Leigh Dovey. The name PJD is dedicated to the memory of his late father who was a prop maker for the Royal Opera House in London’s Covent Garden. Leigh started working with knowledge of woods that he picked up from his father and with the tools and small workshop that his farther left him. Leigh spent his days working as a sound and video engineer at the Royal Opera House while honing his craft in guitar building in the evenings. He was lucky to be able with and for some great artists in his early guitar building days.  And that gave him the confidence to grow his skills as a guitar maker. 

Slowly but steadily Leigh expanded his business and moved up to York to a bigger workshop and started to employ crafts men to help build and grow his company. 

Starting a guitar building business in Europe is not an endeavour that is logical at first glance. After all, the USA has the name and the legacy and Asia and Mexico have cheap labour. PJD proves that it is possible to build an original guitar, with the potential to claim its place between the big names, built it in Europe and at a reasonable price level.

A PJD guitar can best be described as the outcome of a creative melting pot. PJD uses familiar concepts such as single cut bodies or thinline offset bodies with necks that have a 25,5″ scale and six on a side headstock. You could call this a hybrid style. The combine this with adventurous finishes and smart pickup choices to create something that has a lot of rock & roll vibe. A first impression is that of guitar that has been around for some time. And yet they also have a surprisingly refreshing element to them. It is hard to put your finger on what it is exactly but have a look at the guitars and you will certainly feel the need to explore them a bit further. 

PJD offers three models. Their most basic and most recognisable guitar is the Woodford. It looks somewhat like a hard tail strat but much less polished. More like working man’s tool. The St John is a much more original looking guitar. With a compact offset body this guitar makes you curious for its sound. The Carey is a original take on a single cut. The Carey and the St John both have a thinline body  option. And that really adds to the visual and playing experience. 

A small but growing group of artists have discovered PJD as well, Mark Sheehan fro. the Script plays a Carey, as does Amy Shaw. Tom Rylance from the Lottery Winners plays a St John Elite. And right they are to play an original instrument that thicks all the right boxes.