Auden Musical Instrument Co buys assets of UK Guitar Builders Ltd following its liquidation and hails "exciting new project" for British guitar building

Gordon Smith Gatsby
(Image credit: Future / Phil Barker)

Auden Musical Instrument Co Ltd has announced that it has completed the purchase of the assets of UK Guitar Builders Ltd following its liquidation earlier in February.

The parent company of Auden and Gordon Smith Guitars, Auden Musical Instrument Co Lt acquired the machinery and material stocks from the UK Guitar Builders York facility to be relocated to a new Northamptonshire workshop.

"This is the first stage of an exciting new project for both brands and British guitar building of which more details will follow soon," stated Auden Musical Instrument Co Ltd owner Doug Sparkes in an Instagram post.

The post is clear to state that it is assets that have been purchased here and there's no mention of any future affiliations with the brands UK Guitar Builders Ltd previously worked with at this point. These include Chapman Guitars' planned high end Workshop Series and in reply to a question on the Gordon Smith Facebook page of whether Auden would be involved in producing instruments for the series, it confirmed this would not be the case.

“Hey, just to clarify we have no plans to make UK Chapman," wrote a representative. "Wish them all the luck getting sorted but we will not be making them. Thanks!”

In reaction to the news earlier in February that UKGB would not be able to fulfil any more orders for companies due to its situation, Chapman Guitars wrote on Instagram; "Fortunately, we are already in dialogue with an alternative experienced high-end Guitar builder with a view to being able to resume production in the next 4-6 weeks.

"All customers with orders placed for UK made Chapman guitars have been informed and offered the option to wait or cancel and have their deposits returned," the company added. 

UK Guitar Builders Ltd was set up in 2021 by the owners of PJD Guitars to expand production into making select electric guitars for other UK brands under licence including Cream T Guitars and Seth Baccus.  

Rob Laing
Reviews Editor, GuitarWorld.com and MusicRadar guitars

Rob is the Reviews Editor for GuitarWorld.com and MusicRadar guitars, so spends most of his waking hours (and beyond) thinking about and trying the latest gear while making sure our reviews team is giving you thorough and honest tests of it. He's worked for guitar mags and sites as a writer and editor for nearly 20 years but still winces at the thought of restringing anything with a Floyd Rose.