By Amy Pollock
A BANGOR man who started his own business building bespoke guitars has shared the journey that struck a chord with him to turn his lifelong passion into a profession.
Jeroen Bauwens, owner of Bèwes Guitars, who hails from Belgium but has called Bangor his home for over a decade, said music has always been a huge part of his life, with his family’s love for guitars dating back generations.
“Guitars were always in the house. My dad plays, my uncles play and my grandad played. It’s just something I grew up with,” said Jeroen.
He first started playing the instrument when he was a teenager, which quickly progressed into a deeper fascination.
“The more and more I played, the more interested I got in how things work – like how it’s set up and how to make the best out of the instrument.
“Then, I started doing a bit of repair and setup work for myself, and then gradually, somebody else would ask if I could do their guitar as well,” he said.
After many years of experimenting and learning as he went along, a big life change prompted Jeroen to reconsider his next career path.
“I was always working in jobs like warehousing while working on guitars on the side, and then when I lost my job at the end of 2023, I thought, what am I really going to do with my life? What would I really want?”
“And the first thing I thought was that I’d really love to be a guitar builder.”
After speaking with his partner, whose brother is a violin builder, Jeroen started to visualise his dream becoming a reality.
“It made me think, ‘this is actually possible’,” he said.
He enrolled into the Lagan Lutherie School in Balloo, Bangor, undertaking an intensive five-week course led by experienced luthier Sam Irwin to further his skills as an instrument maker.
“I did the course there and really fell in love with it, so I decided I was going to start my own business and do it part-time to let it grow and see what happens.”
Fast-forward to one year in business, Jeroen now offers a wide range of acoustic and electric guitar services to his clients, working out of a dedicated workshop space.
“I can build a guitar from scratch from blocks of wood. I can modify guitars, I can repair guitars and everything in between – anything you want done to your guitar – I can do it,” he said.
Since starting up Bèwes Guitars, Jeroen has completed multiple one-off commissions and collaborated with local independent guitar store Windmill Guitars on High Street.
“I have a good relationship with Windmill Guitars who will send me guitar repairs to work on.
“The guitar I’m working on at the moment, Simon [owner of Windmill Guitars] said about building a guitar and putting it in the shop. So this is one of my builds that actually isn’t a commission, but I can put it out there and let people play it in the shop. If somebody wants to buy it, they can buy it, so that’s really exciting.”
With an acoustic guitar taking roughly 250 to 400 hours to build, Jeroen said every guitar is unique.
“I can build a few guitars at the same time but they’re never the same. I don’t build in a production line, so it’s not like I’m building four of the same – every guitar will be unique.
“When I finish a guitar, my last one is always my favourite, but I’m already thinking about other things I’m going to do for the next one I’m building. They’ll always be slightly different because every time I do something, I go, ‘next time I’m gonna try that’.”
With one of his custom guitars reaching as far as his home country in Belgium, Jeroen said he hopes to keep expanding the business and attracting more clients across the globe.
“One was for my uncle in Belgium who said he wanted a Martin-style guitar. So I built him one and then flew it over.
“He’s loving it. He still sends me emails saying ‘I showed this guy the guitar and they loved it’ – so hopefully they’ll get even further,” he said.
For more information, visit: www.bewesguitars.com
