For the past 20 years Jereme Clingan has been creating, fixing, modifying and building guitars and amps. Take a glimpse into the craftsmanship of his team at Clingan Guitar Tone and the enjoyment he gets when working on his trade.
Tucked between two coffee shops in the quiet backstreets of Collingwood, Melbourne, Clingan Guitar Tone brings a unique approach to guitar, amp and pedal sales, service and creation. Blending a passion for new technologies and old-school techniques, Clingan Guitar Tone maintains a deep respect for the Golden Era of the 1950’s and 1960’s while appreciating the advancements of today’s musicians.
Read on as Jereme tells the story behind his business, passion for guitars and why he and his team enjoy wearing Hard Yakka work gear
“I grew up in a small country town, spending my free time in workshops trying to quell a subconscious need to understand how all things worked. In my teens, the guitar became king. While my friends were practicing, I’d be fixing, building, and modifying with varying success. It wasn’t long before I knew that’s all I wanted to do. In 2012 with a single workbench and a handful of tools, I opened a tiny shop-front in Collingwood to provide old fashioned service in a setting that wasn’t someone’s “back-shed”. I started dabbling in guitar building when I was in high school. 20 years of building, modifying and fixing. By treating every job as an opportunity to perfect my skills and show off my craft, word-of-mouth has always been a crucial part of my business."
"My favourite instrument are definitely guitars. I enjoy getting to know the eccentricities of every different guitar, but the Fender Stratocaster is the one I find myself coming back to. Creating guitars requires knowledge across multiple disciplines. From woodworking, to structural engineering, to electronics plus you’ve got to make it aesthetically pleasing. My absolute favourite part of creating amps is seeing it completed for the very first time. Creating effects pedals is a process of classic electronic design, careful component selection and lot of trial and error to shape the sound exactly how you want it. My favourite sound to create with foot pedals is fuzz pedals. From what is a simple circuit, I am always staggered by the sonic complexities that fuzz pedals produce."
"Music influences the way I create and design instruments. At live gigs, I find myself drifting off and coming up with all kinds of crazy concepts. My favourite bands are anything from the late 60’s or 70’s. The Beatles, Led Zeppelin, The Stooges, MC5, Early AC/DC, Grand Funk Railroad to name a few. Not to mention a healthy dose of Soul, Blues and Funk."
"Working with Hard Yakka has been a very rewarding and proud experience. We always strive to work with the best tools and materials we can. It only makes sense to partner with a company that’s been synonymous with hard work and high-quality workwear for the last 80+ years. When purchasing our work gear we look for clothes that have great quality and durability and they have to look good too."
"Hard Yakka invokes memories of my childhood in a set of coveralls in my dad’s machinery shop, covered in dust and oil, pretending I know what I’m doing.
The advice I would give someone who wanted to get involved in our trade is to ask many questions, read as much as you can, but most of all get stuck in. Experimentation is the only way to find the next new sound."
