Derek Brandon

Simeon Daley moved from Looe in Cornwall to Nashville, Tennessee, in 1995, but not before achieving some fame at home. "When in England I used to attend the Edale Bluegrass festival," said Simeon. "I was there every year from 1990 to 95, when I moved. I also used to attend the Harrisons bluegrass workshop weekends." Simeon didn't waste his time at Edale:  "I won the Edale Banjo Contest back in 1994... that was when the Johnson Mt boys played Edale. I didn't get to many festivals as living in Cornwall I had a fair way to travel so I had to limit myself to the Edale festival once a year but I still got to know quite a few Bluegrassers such as Pete Wraith, Kevin Garret, Bob Winquest & the Harrisons, to name a few.

Since moving he has achieved a several things. "I went to work with a guy named Charlie Derrington," explained Simeon. "He was the guy that put Monroe's mandolin back together when it got smashed. I studied under him in instrument repair for about two years, getting to know some of the big names in Bluegrass and even worked on their instruments!" Gibson eventually bought Charlie out so he was hired to spearhead the project that would turn into the 'Gibson Bluegrass Showcase'. "Charlie told them that if they wanted him then they would have to hire me or he wouldn't go, so we were both hired," continued Simeon.He explained how he went to work in the banjo department and in a year had both streamlined the resonator building operation and improved the quality at the same time. "From there I went on to the newly formed 'Repair Shop', he said. "This was a facility where you could take your Martin guitar to Guilchrist mando for repair at Gibson." Simeon eventually ended up running the shop as the demands on Charlies time were getting greater. Again after around a year, the position of Head of mandolin production came available; an opportunity for Simeon. "I had built a few mando's back in Looe so I said I would give it a go. It had always been a dream of mine to build mandolins for a living & now was my chance. I ran the mando devision for two & a half years in which time I took production from four instrunets a week to four a day with 1/3 less workforce." It was in this time that he and Charlie re-tooled the whole mandolin operation. "We got to the point where I was building, as Stan Jay from Mandolin Bros said, 'Some of the best mandolins to come out of Gibson since the twenties'!"

After 2.5 years of running the mando devision and with very little thanks for doing so, Simeon quit and opened up his own shop. He continued, "For the last two years I have been consintrating on repairing. I now have most of Charlies old customers & a few more high profile musicians as well. I get instruments sent to me from all over the States & now get people like Dan Tyminski, Ron Block,Sam Bush, Brian Sutton, Roland White, Jimmy Martin, Ronnie Bowman, Butch Bauldassari ( to name a few ) coming out to my house (where my shop is located)." Next year he plans to build more mandolins and perhaps some guitars "under my own name," as he puts it.

Daley's Instruments & Repair.
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1 Jan 2003