It was with sad sorrow that  I heard of the passing of the legendary luthier / guitarist on Friday 3rd August  .  My deepest sympathies go out to Syra and family . I knew Chris since late 1985 when he was still playing in a band  , we came to realise we had a lot in common - we both played white Gibson S.G. Custom guitars , shared a liking of Rock /Blues music ,  and had a motivating force to further our careers in our respective fields , he , as a  luthier , myself , as a custom amp. builder / repairer new to the Kerry shore's  trying to establish myself  .  Back then he was based in a tiny one room workshop in which his amazing " string "  instruments were built .  Later he had a workshop purpose built at home in Killshannig with studio space above it for Syra , who in her own right is a fabulous artist  .  In early '86  Chris asked me to design and build tiny Pre-amp./ EQ.  boards which I used to supply him with on an ad-hoc basis , in that I could vary the spec. ( with only a phone call  as opposed to a company having to re-jig  tooling etc )  to suit the custom requirement of the instrument he was building at the time . This arrangement worked beautifully well for a good while and we each helped the other out with bits and  pieces and kindly advice on matters guitar-wise .  For it was Chris that always said to me  " you must get yourself a website "  and as the reader knows  I've done just that  .    I  always held and will postumously continue to hold Chris in the highest esteem  , for  he was a true Gentleman  , a  Master Craftsman   and that rarest of all things  , a  lovely human being .

      R.I.P.   Chris  ,  you will be sadly missed .