Skip to main content

The award-winning Canadian actor Stuart Hughes, a member of Toronto’s acclaimed Soulpepper Theatre Company, knows what it means to pay attention to detail.

It has driven his work in stage productions of The Crucible, Twelve Angry Men and The Misanthrope and in films like The Cinderella Man and Good Will Hunting. A passion for the particulars guides his off-screen choices, too, according to the lover of bespoke clothing, accessories and musical instruments.

“When you are buying custom, you get what you want,” says the 56-year-old Hughes, who, as the child of a music teacher, played violin and French horn in his youth and now lives with his wife and young child in downtown Toronto. So what does Hughes want these days? More custom-made banjos.

He had a grandfather who played the instrument, but he plucked it hard and the sound had grated on the young Hughes. It wasn’t until a few years ago that a chance encounter with a banjo-strumming actor on the set of the TV series The Firm changed his mind and sparked a serious interest.

He now has five banjos in his personal collection, all of which he custom-ordered through luthiers in the U.S. and on Canada’s West Coast when he discovered that he liked different aspects of various pre-made models. Earlier this year, he decided he wanted one more: a fretless banjo, popular among musicians from the Appalachian region of the U.S., which are usually no-frills affairs. Hughes wanted an extraordinary version, made from the best materials and crafted by hand.

He found a maker in Jeremy Nicks, co-founder of the Canadian School of Lutherie in Toronto.

“Most of our customers are men in their forties or older with an interest in music who have achieved some degree of success in their lives,” says Nicks. “They don’t mind paying top dollar for an instrument that will be unlike any other instrument they are likely to find in a store.”

Nicks uses premium and reclaimed Canadian woods in all the instruments he makes. The saddles of his bespoke guitars, meanwhile, are carved from abalone shell and antlers found on the grounds of his family’s Manitoulin Island property. Depending on how much time he spends on it and what materials he uses, a Jeremy Nicks guitar costs anywhere from $3,000 to $10,000.

Brightcove player

“For the most part, our customers are collectors,” Nicks continues. “They are not necessarily professional musicians, although we have some. I can’t name names, but they are prominent. They are usually guys with a real love of music who play on the side of their day-to-day jobs.” Guys like Hughes, for instance.

While he doesn’t play professionally, Hughes recently played a banjo in Soulpepper’s production of Spoon River, which closed at the Young Centre for the Performing Arts in Toronto earlier this month. “That was a steep learning curve for me,” he says. “I don’t normally sing or play in front of other people.” By his own admission, he doesn’t play the instrument expertly under any conditions, but he’s still eager to get his hands on the fretless Nicks is fashioning for him. “I hope I can grow into it.”

It’s being made from torrefied Canadian curly maple, and its handle will be carved to look like a violin’s, which is a personal touch, given Hughes’s history with that instrument.

Nicks found inspiration for the scroll in a snail shell, which he photographed and enlarged on a photocopier to better study its form. After classes are done at the lutherie school, he sits behind his workshop desk, apron on, and painstakingly carves the curlicue pattern into the wood, one stroke at a time.

Bespoke instruments, as Hughes sees them, are heirloom pieces. “I have a daughter and I am hoping my banjo collection will go to her,” he says. “If you find the right [artisan], what you get is of such a high quality that it usually lasts longer than anything you’d buy in a store.”

More musical must-haves

Sculpted Music Stand

Paul Lemiski is a fine woodworker in Acton, Ont., specializing in hand-carved music stands made from domestic woods such as curly maple and exotics like wenge and bubinga. All of Lemiski’s stands are made to order and can be shipped worldwide. $4,000 through www.canadianwoodworks.com.




Nova System Pedalboard

The limited-edition Nova System effects board from Danish company TC Electronic features 60 exclusive preset sounds and an analogue drive block with digital control. Only 1,200 have been released. $525 at specialty music stores across Canada and through www.tcelectronic.com.


Watkins Dominator Mark 1 Amplifier

The makers of electronic gear used by Jimi Hendrix, Pink Floyd and the Rolling Stones have reissued a limited edition of the iconic rock amp first released in 1956. Each of the 100 hand-built Mark1s are signed by Charlie Watkins and closely follows the circuitry of the original (with a few modern safety updates). $2,850 at The Twelfth Fret in Toronto (www.12fret.com).