Atkin Guitars

Founded in 1995, Alister Atkin has grown his company into one of the UK's premier brands by creating beautifully made, vintage-inspired instruments that possess feel, personality, and spark. Their focus is less on making "exhibition pieces" and more about inspiring the musicians who pick them up - an idea we wholeheartedly embrace at our shop.
Location: Canterbury, UK | Employees: 11 | Guitars Built Per Year: ~300

Models We Love

L-36 12-Fret

This design is among the smallest of acoustic guitar body shapes. 1936 was a great year for the Parlor design and Atkin's ‘Thirty Six’ takes inspiration from those very guitars right at the time they became a pivotal part of American Folk and Blues music.

Carefully selected Baked Sitka Spruce combined with their hand-scalloped bracing delivers a tight, bouncy tone that’s perfect for folky fingerpicking and blues-style flatpicking alike.

L-36 13-Fret Custom

This design is among the smallest of acoustic guitar body shapes. 1936 was a great year for the Parlor design and Atkin's ‘Thirty Six’ takes inspiration from those very guitars right at the time they became a pivotal part of American Folk and Blues music.

Carefully selected Baked Sitka Spruce combined with their hand-scalloped bracing delivers a tight, bouncy tone that’s perfect for folky fingerpicking and blues-style flatpicking alike.

LG-47

Atkin's ‘Forty Seven’ is a lightly built X-braced guitar that sounds incredible for fingerstyle playing, and also has enough size and punch to make it great for flatpicking as well.

Their scalloped bracing system brings out the best in this smaller body, giving a bass tone that is strong and more commanding than you would expect from an instrument of this size.

Many pre-war examples had “baseball” bat sized necks but Atkins add their standard C-shape to this model.

J-43 Reserve

The Forty Three is both direct and powerful, but with an easy-playing shorter scale length, it’s easy to see why this guitar has been favoured by so many singer-songwriters over the years. The big-bodied slope shoulder shape, combined with Atkin's Baked Sitka spruce top and mahogany back and sides, delivers warm mids, solid lows and great definition. It’s a timeless acoustic guitar tone.

Alister Atkin
"We’re passionate about the history and evolution of the acoustic guitar, the classic models and great innovations that have influenced the players and the music that we love. We want to tell that story with our guitars. Over the years, we’ve worked on just about every model you can name, from golden-era pre-war Martins and Gibsons to the boutique makers who shook things up in the 70s and 80s. We know these guitars inside and out, and we pour all of that experience into every guitar we make."