Please Click on Highlights for Pictures - where available.
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 ". The most memorable ones were probably : -
The " TV Junior " reviewed in 'Sounds' in 1985 - Where Gary Cooper said :
" A guitar for the Paul Kossoff / Peter Green inspired player "
and
The " Angel V " reviewed in 'Guitarist' in 1987 - Where Eddie Allen said :
" This is one of the most comfortable necks I have ever played "
The Electra, or
'Cheese' as it was often jokingly
called because of series of holes routed
through the body, also had stunning ' V ' shaped
Mother-of-Pearl (MOP) inlays up
the fingerboard. The Electra
came in Natural with a ' Quilted '
maple top (only two made), also in
Black, Red, White, Pink
and Yellow finishes.
( The design influence came from a guitar that Russ Ballard from Argent
had in the early '70s.)
The Electra Mk II was the most prolific " Royal " model, as was The Electra Bass from the Bass series.
They were,
however, never reviewed but The Electra Mk I
was the center-piece of the
'Guitarist Magazine'
Stand
at The
Guitarist Show
in
1987.
There were only 2 Electra Mk I's
made, both finished in red - The
Prototype in
1986
which was bought by
Mark Smith
(Smiffy) & the one for the Guitarist
Show 1987.
The Mk I style mutated
to the Electra Mk II after that, which had pointed upper & lower body
'horns', a 'reverse' style headstock with the machine heads 'underneath', more 'subtle'
inlays and a bound ebony
fingerboard & head-face.
Here is a workshop picture of the only " in
between " model - Mk I headstock on a
Mk II body
( Mk 1.5 !)
I've recently
been sent a couple of pictures of Electra
'Look-a-likes'.....
One by BC
Rich and the other by Wayne
Charvel !
Click above
for a couple of pix.
If you go to 'The
Comments Page' there are e-mails
from some owners of "Royal
Guitars".
The main
Innovations
of the Electra models (apart from the holes) was the use of a 3 or 5 way slot style pickup
selector going through a slot in the guitar body rather than being mounted
through a scratch-plate, & we understand that the Electra Prototype
was
the 1st guitar to use this system - which by the way, took a while to sort out.
If you know of any guitars pre mid-1986 that have this system - it would be
interesting to know !
Also in
1986,
"Royal Guitars"
asked
David White
to make a 'P90'
type Pickup, The Cool
Classic, that would fit into a
humbucker surround, so it could be used as an easy replacement in humbucker equipped
guitars if required, as a standard 'P90' type pickup needed special routing. A
picture of the original prototype is in the HARDWARE section on this
site amongst other pickups and equipment. It's interesting to note that 'some'
manufacturers are making rather a 'song and dance' about this "new"
pickup they've recently designed..... just goes to show that the 'big boys' get
their ideas from the 'little guys'... who always lose out !
Another innovative idea was putting the bridge humbucker pickup on "the
Angle", first on the Electra Mk
II, making the design look more distinctive
and 'rakish', and also giving the guitar an individual, in fact
unique, tone.
Obviously, single coil pickups had been used in this manner for many years
before, but once again it is believed that this method of using a humbucker on
the angle was done first by "Royal Guitars" in mid
1987. If you know
of any production guitar that used this before then - please drop a e-mail as it
would be interesting to know. Almost every guitar manufacturer in the
world now uses this system on some guitars in their range. It's amazing how one
guitar in an exhibition in 1987 can influence a whole era of guitar manufacture.
A further innovation that it is believed was pioneered by 'Royal
Guitars' on the original
Electra model is the "STEPPED"
or 'offset'
fixed neck joint which allows for a very smooth and well contoured 'heel' to
match in with the offset 'horns' (upper and lower
bouts), of the Electra
and then also the Medusa
guitar models, apart from the Medusa Junior which has a "tongue" type
joint.
Other models of " Royals " included : -
The Electra
Bass, The Medusa Special, Medusa Junior , Medusa
Bass,
The Magenta ,
The Chimera and The Razorback
Guitar and Bass.
Electra
Magenta Medusa
(
Picture taken in 2003 )
also
The 'Bolt on Neck' types of Royal guitar, were generally custom variations of standard designs.
All " Royal Guitars " were renowned for their performance and playability and through the years many innovations conceived at " Royal " were used by other companies both large and small worldwide.
Some
"
Royal
" owners of note have been
: -
Eddie Allen :
Marty Wilde & The Wildcats,
Guitarist Magazine and now
Fender Europe Demonstrator.
Royal DCS
Junior.
Paul Day :
Regular Columnist and
Reviewer for many
UK & European magazines.
Royal Medusa Custom
& Magenta.
Jay
Pepper & Pepsi
Tate :
Tigertailz. Electra Guitar &
Electra Bass.
Rob
Trottman & Jim Hinder :
Onslaught.
'Warbird' Guitar
& Medusa Bass.
Simon
Jones :
The Turkeys,
has played with David
Bowie, now with Dollar
Shot.
Royal
Magenta, Razorback
& 'Ultra V'.
Mitch
Harris :
Napalm
Death.
The White Angel.
The Last
Show
!
"Royal
Guitars" were last shown at The British
Music Fair,
held at Olympia, London
in 1989.
We are hoping to be able to get some 'black and whites' that were taken
there.
Please 'pop' back sometime and have a browse.
*
* * * *
Apart from the guitar construction side, he and his wife Lyn owned and ran a small music shop, rehearsal and 4 track-demo studio and electronics repair facility where 'solid state' amplifiers, combos & PA, bass, guitar & HiFi speaker cabinets were also built.
THE SHOP - THE SHORT WAY . THE SHOP - THE LONG WAY !
Kevin
and Lyn took on a business partner in 1987 - Nigel Sattin. He had previously
helped out in the shop for a 12 month period, and in 1987 he took over running The
'Shop' and dealt with all the 'business aspects' of "Royal Guitars"
including promotion and marketing. In 1987 the company
became - Regal Guitars UK Ltd.
The guitar production was moved to an Exeter industrial estate. The 'Shop' was closed in 1988, Nigel Sattin moved to Cornwall and Kevin and Lyn
moved the guitar production to Wales.
Unfortunately due to progressive disability, which started when he was sixteen, the business had to be closed in 1989, when he was 29 years old. Kev, Lyn and their three girls still live in Wales.
Music
Kev has played in
several little bands over the years, mainly blues based, nothing too
serious,
so the music can be enjoyed for what it is - the less " grief
" the better.
Three
favorite Players..... Andy
Powell, Carlos Santana &
Gary Moore
( in
Blues mode.)
( SRV, Walter Trout and Billy Gibbons too
!)
( See - Personal )
Amplification
Favorite
Amplifiers
1959 Gibson GA 10
AND
Marshall
JCM 800
Any
wants ?..... A Nice
Fender Dual Showman Reverb Head, Twin Reverb,
Deluxe Reverb or Mesa/Boogie Mk 1 Head or Combo.
Favorite Guitars
1960/61 Gibson SG Junior In cherry.....rather battered and in serious need
of a re-fret and re-spray -
probably vintage white
and which
is missing a tremolo unit.
(If anybody's got one - please drop an
e-mail.).....
.....in the 'absence'
of an
original
1967 Gibson Flying
V in cherry with Maestro tremolo.
One day - perhaps.....You
never know !!!
Another is a surprisingly excellent
(Korean)
Squire " St**t " in gold -
worked on a bit,
which blows away most 'proper' ones of
all vintages with ease.
and
A Tokai '58 Flying V, which is pretty tremendous too !
He has
still got one
of his " Royal " guitars made
in 1989 - Betsy - a
Black Double Cutaway Junior
with Rosewood fingerboard, dot inlays, white
scratch plate and an original late '50s Gibson P 90 pickup.
So - somewhere out there, there are quite a few " Royal Guitars ".
Any
wants ?.....A Cherry
1964/67 Gibson Flying V with Maestro Tremolo - of course,
otherwise
a Gibson Cherry SG Standard (Type
1) or Gibson 'TV' Double-cut Special and maybe a nice
'50s/'60s Fender Stratocaster reissue either Sunburst with Maple neck or
Vintage white with Rosewood fingerboard.
( They're all tremendous...
if you can find a good one.)
The
1st " Royal
". An Acoustic 6 string (with the
maker)
made in 1981 - For
Jo.
(which she still
has.)
Picture of the 1st " Royal " Electric - " Pearly " (Whereabouts unknown.)
( Both the above guitars were with the " Chilcott " logo.)
The
Last " Royal " (
with the maker ) made
in
1989 - A Black Electra
Custom for Robert.
( which he still
has.)
Unfortunately, there have been
very few pictures
taken of the guitars he made, so if anybody has any pictures, information,
reviews, articles or history details of any " Royal
" Guitar or
Bass, please get in touch. Additionally, if there are any
" Royal " or "
Chilcott
" owners who would like to
make contact please e-mail the
address below : -
E-mail : -
kev_royale@yahoo.co.uk
* * * * * * * * * *
HISTORY
Part 2
Kev still takes a keen
interest in all aspects of guitar design and construction, restoration, customization
and
repair and at present has several new guitar designs on the
'drawing board'.
Please see the Royale
Guitars
Section
with Andy Powell's
New Signature Angel
Flying V 001
(above left).
She was the First Royale Guitar... now affectionately known as "PC"...
short for "Problem
Child".She has a Champagne
Pink finish on the
body which changes colour in stage lights through Gold,
Copper, Bronze, Pink
and Pale
Pink
in certain lights. On
stage this works very well and is very effective. There is nitro-cellulose
lacquer over the top of the colour
Beside her is the Last Royal
guitar made, (above right) an Electra Custom
in 1989...
with the Famous Holes.
She was finished in a 2-pac colour and a 2-pac lacquer which is much more
durable than 'nitro'.
At 15 years old
in this photo and even being used all the time over the years, she is in great
condition... finish included.
Andy Powell's Signature
Angel Flying V
002
called "Chamille"
is below.
Essentially, Chamille
is the same as "PC"
but has a few minor differences.
She has a smoothed heel type neck joint for better access and has a Cherry
Stain with 'nitro'
top coats as well.
"Chamille"
E-mails
are welcome - address just above.
( We will endeavor
to reply to all e-mails as soon as possible.)
* * * * *
2005
New Models of Royale Guitars
New Models of Royale Guitars
are on going... and the first of these - The Swordstress prototype - has been
finished.
Please click on the link to have a look...
Links to others like: The
Huntress and New Elektra
MKII will be available shortly.
also
Ongoing Repair
and Restoration
Sections available soon.
Kev
is currently working on a Custom Elektra Guitar
for Colonel Robert Morris
and
The Blue Angel for Mitch
Harris of Napalm Death.
A New model... The Widowmaker is currently on the bench as well.
* * * * *
Kev also has a keen
interest in Amplification and Effects
design (both valve and
solid-state) and
Speaker Enclosure design
- Guitar, PA, Pro, Studio and HiFi.
Please see the Amplification
Section...
...where there are also some nice pix of some cool kit !
* * * * *
Now, nearly 25 years since the First and over 15 years since the Last 'Royal' was made, Kevin's guitars are becoming quite collectable and very rarely come up for sale.
A quote from
a Shop Owner in the UK when asked:
"My
only awareness of a Chilcott was a rather excellent Les Paul style guitar which
a friend of mine took with him to Ireland when he moved there. They are very
hard to come by as you know. This model had a vine inlay up the fingerboard and
was a one off in white. I hope you are successful in your search, but I fear you
may be waiting a long time to source one of these esoteric guitars."
A quote from
a Royal owner looking for another one in the UK:
"I called (a shop) regarding secondhand Chilcott and Royal Guitars...
They said they've had a some in over the last 2 years
but could not be more specific but they said they'd put me on a waiting list.
He informed me that there are people that collected them... I said yep I know
:-)"
* * * * *
In June 2005, Kevin and Lyn were inducted into:
The Independent Country Hall of Fame
A Link to The Independent Country Hall of Fame is on the 'Links' page.
SET-UP . ROYALE GUITARS . LINKS
Thanks for Visiting - Please Call Again.
"*"..... "Made By hand" : - All the guitars are predominantly made using hand-tools, the necks are shaped with a draw-knife, rasps and sand-paper. No 'over-arm' routers and No CAD programs or CNC machines are used.