Fret-King
Fret-King is a UK manufacturer of stringed instruments and musical accessories, originally conceived by guitar designer Trevor Wilkinson in the early 1990s. The company has manufactured a number of electric and bass guitars, notable for their distinct appearance and non-traditional aesthetic.
Since 2008, the Fret-King brand has been owned by UK musical instrument distributors John Hornby Skewes and Co. Ltd. (JHS), and is based in Garforth, Leeds.
In 2010 Wilkinson oversaw the introduction of the Fret-King Green Label series, a run of instruments that were constructed entirely in the United Kingdom and designed to compete at the upper end of the market. Models in the Green Label range included the Corona, the Country Squire and the Europa Bass. The Green Label was soon followed by the Blue Label and Black Label series, both of which were constructed outside the UK.
Appearing in 2012, the Stvdio and Atelier ranges were one-off Fret-King instruments, designed and constructed by hand by Wilkinson and his team in Southport, UK.
Fret-King has designed signature model guitars for a number of artists include Jerry Donahue, John Etheridge, Gordon Giltrap, John Verity, John Jorgenson and Elliott Randall.
Manic Street Preachers guitarist James Dean Bradfield is a notable exponent of Fret-King guitars, and regularly plays a red Ventura 60SSH live and in the studio.