“I knew which guitars were good. I knew that vintage ones were great and that the modern guitars weren’t so great, so I had to work out why that was the case.”

In the 90s,  Joe worked as a film camera operator, shooting music videos. He had always played guitar in bands and after a change of direction started restoring an old '62 slab 'board Fender Jaguar using the knowledge of woodworking and automotive lacquer repair he had learned during his school days.

He was soon recognised for his work restoring old lacquer during his time on London's Denmark Street. He then realised that he could very easily build and carve the guitars' bodies and necks. He became enamoured with the effect that the original techniques and materials had on the sound and next sought out to recreate the pickups. Before he knew it he had tackled every process needed to make a whole guitar and so, in 2004,  Joseph Kaye guitars was born.