Kevin Chilcott was apprentice to one of the luminaries of British Guitar making - Chris Eccleshall. After leaving his apprenticeship to become a Professional Luthier - between 1981 and 1989 it is estimated he "made by hand"(*) over 125 custom built guitars - Acoustic, Semi-Acoustic & Electric including 12 Thru-Neck Electric Basses. This averages over 15 guitars per year for the period, but
the first few years were very 'lean' as you would expect from a small new business, however over 40 were hand-built in the last 12 months of production between 1988 & 1989.
In 1982 he exhibited his guitars for the first time - This was at the First British Guitar Show, held at The Royal Festival Hall in London, England.
The majority of his guitars were made in the years 1987 to 1989 & of these, over 40 were made in the last year of production, as previously mentioned, when the orders were 'flooding' in. Once again it is worth stressing - All the guitars were "made by hand"( * ). A few of the early guitars had the logo - " Chilcott " but the vast majority were " Royals ".
Source: http://www.kevinchilcott-luthier.co.uk/private/history.htm
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