Though not all readers will recognise his name, it’s likely most of us have heard John Diggins’ craftsmanship –from Paranoid and Iron Man by Tony Iommi and Black Sabbath, to Slade booming out ‘Super Yob’ Christmas anthems on Top Of The Pops, along with any wonderfully dynamic slap bass from Mark King of Level 42. Fired up in the 50s by the genius of Leo Fender and Les Paul, John –who would later become known as ‘Jaydee’ –made subtle improvements to classic guitar designs for many top musicians to play.
John’s roots serving musicians’ custom needs began in the post-war skiffle craze. Deprived of American guitars, as all UK musicians were at the time, he set about making his cheap European guitar playable in his woodworking classroom at school. He then had a military career and travelled the world as a musician in the army.
I first met John while he was carrying out his apprenticeship at John Birch’s Birmingham workshop in 1974; he was then the woodworking genius behind some superb one-off instruments. John Birch had made the first 24-fret SG after Iommi’s requests to various big guitar companies were declined, and John Diggins swiftly built the famous ‘Old Boy’ for the musician on his kitchen table following an invite to join Black Sabbath as guitar tech on their 1975 US tour; the lacquer was still soft when it hit the road. This model would go on to become Iommi’s main guitar and, eventually, John would also develop the blade pickup, which didn’t fade as the strings were bent away from conventional polepieces.