York-based copywriter and marketing professional builds handmade analogue amplifiers in a digital age

Colson of York launches with The Three Sisters of Ainsty, an inaugural series of one-off hardwood guitar amplifiers made by hand on the outskirts of York

Colson of York, a new boutique guitar amplifier workshop based in Bilton-in-Ainsty, on the outskirts of York, has officially opened with its first completed series, The Three Sisters of Ainsty.

Founded by Drew Colson, the business brings together a mix of natural materials, analogue sound, woodworking and design at a time when working life is becoming faster, less personal and more digital.

Drew has spent much of his working life helping technology businesses explain what they do. Now, from a small workshop and music room on the outskirts of York, he is building physical objects made from hardwoods and traditional electrical circuits, something that needs much less explanation.

A change of pace
Before starting Colson of York, Drew had already made one major change of direction. After years living and working in Essex and Hertfordshire, he returned north, to a village outside York with his partner, looking for a different pace of life, more space and a stronger connection to the place around him.

He then left a senior role as head of marketing for a group of digital agencies and became a freelance copywriter and marketing consultant, working with consumer electronics, engineering, e-commerce and B2B technology firms. That freelance career has given him independence and variety, but Colson of York marks another shift, from screen-based work into something more physical, traditional and hands-on.

"Digital tools can be incredibly useful, and I use them in other parts of my working life," says Drew. "But I wanted Colson of York to be about something physical and lasting. Old timbers, analogue circuitry and speakers built in the last century, all tied together into objects that have been made by hand."

The Three Sisters of Ainsty
The first series, The Three Sisters of Ainsty, comprises three completely unique handmade analogue guitar amplifiers named Maria, Charlotte and Emily. Drew created them from shared boards of Yorkshire sycamore and sapele, with just enough of each timber to complete the three cabinets. When the amplifiers are placed side by side, the grain continues across the three.

These are professional electric guitar amplifiers, designed to be played, but the cabinets have a presence closer to handmade furniture, musical instrument craft or functional art than standard guitar equipment. The hardwoods show visible grain, spalting, burrs, colour and figure, making each amplifier materially and visually unique.

Wood, grain and local history
The Yorkshire sycamore was felled near Harrogate, spalted, air dried and seasoned for more than fifteen years, almost ten of them by Drew personally. The sapele came from an independent hardwood specialist in York. Two of the amplifiers also include timber repurposed from Drew's 1815 Georgian house in Bilton-in-Ainsty, giving them a direct connection to the fabric of the place where they were built.

The Three Sisters of Ainsty are related by layout and materials, but each has its own cabinet design, character and voice.

Maria, the eldest sister, carries the strongest local material history. Alongside Yorkshire sycamore and sapele, her cabinet includes a piece of old oak timber reclaimed from Drew's Georgian house. Her base is made from slatted pine repurposed from the rear door of the same property.

Charlotte, the middle sister, is the most restrained and balanced of the three visually. Her base is also made from slatted pine repurposed from the rear door of Drew's house, giving her a subtle yet direct connection to the place where she was built.

Emily, the youngest sister, is perhaps the most visually striking. Her Yorkshire sycamore has some of the strongest spalting in the series, with a large natural burr giving the cabinet a distinctive face.

Music, science, marketing and making
Drew has played guitar for decades, and has owned and tested dozens of guitars, amplifiers and music rigs. He still performs in bands, and hosts open mic nights and musicians' jam sessions in and around York. He has built a range of valve, digital and analogue amplifiers before launching Colson of York in June 2026.

Before moving into marketing, Drew worked in quality assurance and R&D, including the confectionery, FMCG and pharmaceutical sectors, and studied organic chemistry at university. He later studied marketing, built a career across digital agencies, e-commerce, engineering and technology firms, and also studied mechanical engineering, partly from curiosity.

Alongside that, he has always made, repaired and adapted things by hand, including cars, instruments, furniture, old buildings, practical household projects and, eventually, amplifiers.

"As a musician, I've spent years chasing that feeling you get when an amplifier really responds," says Drew. "I wanted something that worked naturally with guitar pedals, felt alive under my fingertips and had a real presence in the room. It's the difference between listening to a violin, for example, and listening to a recording of a violin. With Colson of York, I've been able to bring together guitars, analogue sound, natural materials, science, design and precision, all things that I'm interested in."

Built with care
Colson amplifiers are built individually in very small numbers, with no production line and no outside cabinet-making team. A single amp can involve more than 30 hours of Drew's hands-on work, spread across days, weeks or even months of cutting, sanding, setting, soldering, finishing, testing and refining.

The cabinets are finished with a professional wood wax finish, chosen to protect the timber while leaving the natural feel of the wood intact.

"I'm not trying to scale this into a faceless factory," says Drew. "The point is that each amplifier is an individual. The wood changes, the cabinet changes, the story changes, and the final voice belongs to that one amp alone."

The Three Sisters of Ainsty are now available for sale. The series will never be repeated.

For more information, visit www.colsonofyork.co.uk

Colson of York
Bilton-in-Ainsty
York Road
York
YO26. England
contact: Drew Colson
www.colsonofyork.co.uk
email:press1@colsonofyork.co.uk

Colson of York amplifiers are built by me, Drew Colson, in Bilton-in-Ainsty. That's a village on the outskirts of York, England.

And when I say built by me, I mean exactly that. I don't have a team or an outsourced cabinet shop. No production line either. Just me in a small workshop with a lot of hardwood, hand tools and a soldering iron, and more clamps than any normal person should own.

Each amplifier takes time. Lots of it. If I added up the hands-on work, one amp can easily take 20 hours, spread across weeks, and sometimes months. That's before you account for glue setting, finishes drying, parts arriving, listening and testing time, tweaking, and the occasional need to stand back, scratch my head and have a think.

That's why Colson amplifiers are made in very small numbers. This is slow, detailed work, and there is only one person doing it.

This release was published on openPR.