John Bailey

John Bailey (1931–2011) was a British luthier who made and repaired guitars and other stringed instruments during the 1960s revival of English folk music and beyond. Bailey lived in London until 1972 when he moved to Dartmouth in Devon. In the mid to late 1970s he moved back to London and for a time he was the Course Organiser of the Musical Instrument Repair Course (set up by Selwyn Jones, Paul Harvey and John Stone) at Merton College in Wimbledon. The demands of academic management however did not suit him and he was happiest when in the classroom passing on his skills to students. Hence in the late 70's he moved back to Dartmouth and he continued to make instruments there into the 1990s. John was originally a woodwork teacher at a school in Hendon and made instruments in his spare time. His business card from the early seventies said "Albert John Bailey – Violin Maker"