Your support helps us to tell the story
In my reporting on women's reproductive rights, I've witnessed the critical role that independent journalism plays in protecting freedoms and informing the public.
Your support allows us to keep these vital issues in the spotlight. Without your help, we wouldn't be able to fight for truth and justice.
Every contribution ensures that we can continue to report on the stories that impact lives
![Kelly Rissman](https://static.independent.co.uk/static-assets/support-us/kelly-rissman.png)
Kelly Rissman
US News Reporter
Most of us just dream about giving up the day job to pursue our passion – but Jim Fleeting actually did it. “I’d been working in IT for seven years, eight hours a day and thought I couldn’t spend the rest of my life doing something I had begun to find tedious,” says Jim, who is now a luthier (a maker or repairer of string instruments).
“So at 28 I jacked in my job – got my wife to quit hers too – and we left Stoke Newington and jetted off to America where we explored and toured and I studied at the prestigious Roberto-Venn School of Luthiery in Arizona.
“We’d been saving like mad to buy a property in London but still couldn’t afford one and used that cash to keep us going. When we returned, we still had enough to put down on a property in Yorkshire…That’s how expensive London houses are.”
So what inspired him to make guitars?. “My first ambition was to be a rock star: I played bass when I was younger, touring all over London and playing in clubs like the 100 Club and Ronnie Scott’s. But when I enrolled on a guitar making course at Merton College I knew from my first lesson that this is was it – what I wanted to do for the rest of my life.
“I suppose I could have continued with my career in IT, made money and ended up with a nice car and the house and the holidays. But instead, I decided to do something that really made me happy and when I am working the hours just fly by.
“I never wanted to make the same guitars that everyone else makes – so everything is to order, although no job is too small. I also restring and recondition old violins.
“But making a bespoke guitar is something really special and nothing can beat being in an auditorium with a guy on stage rocking away on a guitar you’ve built. That’s just an amazing feeling.”
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Comments