Hunter Valley, New South Wales
Handcrafted boutique instruments with a passion for native Australian tonewoods, exotics & reclaimed timbers.
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Handcrafted boutique instruments with a passion for native Australian tonewoods, exotics & reclaimed timbers.
Oculus Guitars Australia is the workshop of Hamish Mitchell — a locally born luthier from the Hunter Valley with a passion for pushing the boundaries of what Australian timber can achieve in a high-end instrument.
Specialising in native Australian tonewoods, alternative tonewoods and exotic species, every instrument is conceived, shaped, and finished entirely by hand. Hamish sources salvaged and reclaimed timbers wherever possible — preventing waste, supporting local communities, and showcasing the extraordinary character of wood that would otherwise be lost.
Oculus builds have found their way into the hands of local musicians, Australian touring artists, and global professionals playing the world's biggest stages.
From the eucalypt forests of NSW to the rainforests of Queensland, reclaimed from local communities, and complemented by the finest exotic tonewoods the world has to offer — every species chosen for its character, resonance, and story.
Oculus specialises in nitrocellulose lacquer finishing — the same material used on the finest vintage instruments of the 1950s and '60s. Nitro breathes with the wood, ages beautifully, and allows the instrument to resonate more freely than modern polyester alternatives.
Hamish offers both vintage-correct nitro — matching the exact formulations and application methods of the golden era — and aged relic work, crafting instruments that wear the marks of a life fully played.
Professional photography of finished instruments is in progress. Each build deserves to be seen properly.
In the meantime, follow along on Instagram and Facebook for build progress, new commissions, and work coming off the bench.
Every Oculus model is a distinct proposition — a considered instrument built around a clear tonal identity, a specific player, and an unwillingness to compromise on execution.
Standard
The Old Boy Standard is the definitive Oculus instrument — a single-cut carved-top electric that draws its lineage from the great single-cut tradition while refusing to simply repeat it. Hand-carved top, set neck construction, and deep body resonance give it the warmth, sustain, and dimensional feel that define the form at its finest.
Every Standard features a highly figured top drawn from the Oculus Private Stash — pieces selected for their exceptional visual character and acoustic quality — finished in rich nitrocellulose burst treatments that showcase the figure and deepen over time. The slim 60s D neck profile keeps the feel fast and familiar, while the signature white resin inlays inset with Gold and Copper vein give the fretboard an identity unlike anything else in production lutherie.
A humbucker at the bridge and P90 at the neck cover enormous tonal ground. Hardware exclusively from Aldridge Empire — Brass, Duralinium, Aluminium, Stainless Steel, and German Steel. No zinc alloy anywhere on the instrument.
Nano
Where the Standard is the full expression of the Old Boy platform, the Nano strips it back to the essentials — a smaller body, shorter scale, flat top construction, and a directness of character reminiscent of the great Les Paul Junior and Special tradition. Lighter. More immediate. Every ounce of tone, none of the excess.
The flat top construction removes the carve and brings the Nano closer to the wood. Shares the Standard's slim 60s D neck and the signature white resin inlays with Gold and Copper vein — the same authored identity, a different conversation.
Aldridge Empire hardware throughout. No zinc alloy. A guitar for players who want the Old Boy voice with the raw immediacy of a Special.
The Mondo is Oculus's offset platform — a design shaped by the resurgence of the offset body in modern lutherie, and informed by the pioneering design work of Dennis Fano, whose rethinking of classic offset proportions brought the format back into serious instrument conversation. The Mondo carries that spirit forward with more mass, more authority, and a character that reaches comfortably into baritone territory without losing the offset's inherent openness and harmonic bloom. Available in both standard and baritone scale lengths.
In baritone configuration it becomes something genuinely singular — extended range with full-body offset character, a combination that suits film composers, ambient players, and heavy-music guitarists equally.
Built for precision — a modern super strat platform designed for high-gain performance, technical playing, and extended range capability. Available in 26.5" baritone scale, it delivers the tight, focused low-end response and percussive string definition that modern metal and shred players demand.
Where the Old Boy is about warmth and tradition reinvented, the Katana is about velocity, clarity, and authority under fire. Contoured, balanced, and built for players who live in the upper register and the lower tunings simultaneously.
An Ibanez RG-inspired super strat platform built primarily for 7-string and baritone configurations at 27" scale. Featuring a Devil Tail headstock and a thin U neck profile — designed for players who travel deep into low registers without sacrificing playability, speed, or ergonomic refinement.
The 27" scale provides the tension and low-end definition that extended range demands, while the thin U neck keeps access fast and familiar. The Devil Tail headstock gives the Pilgrim an unmistakably authored visual identity — immediately recognisable as Oculus.
Oculus's take on the double-cut T-style — reimagined with a set neck, full body binding, headstock binding, and block inlays that elevate it well beyond its reference point. The comfort and openness of the classic T-body silhouette with the resonance, warmth, and sustain that set-neck construction brings.
Available across a wide range of custom finishes and tonewood options. Every build carries the signature white resin block inlays with gold and copper vein, Aldridge Empire hardware, and zero zinc alloy anywhere on the instrument.
Additional Oculus models are currently in development. Each will carry the same commitment to Australian tonewoods, authored design identity, and uncompromising construction that defines the existing range.
Commission a Custom BuildBoutique effect pedals and high-gain preamp circuits, hand-wired to the same uncompromising standard as every Oculus instrument. Every pedal is treated as both a musical tool and a design object — authored, collectible, and built to perform.
The Warp Rat is built in collaboration with Wyong Road Electronics — the rest of the lineup is solely an Oculus Guitars production.
A precision aggressive overdrive and boost built for tighter low end, sharper pick attack, and articulate gain shaping. Fast, clear, and authoritative — framed as a premium boutique object with occult serpent imagery and black-and-gold presentation.
A modernised octave design built around separate voice architecture rather than a flat recreation of a single vintage circuit. Harmonically enhancing saturation path, multiple octave voices, and a more layered, musical relationship between classic octave character and modern usability.
A prestige germanium harmonic overdrive occupying the premium boutique space with a sense of ritual, grandeur, and collectibility. Rich, amp-like, dynamic, and emotionally satisfying under the fingers. Cathedral tracery, stained-glass influence, and limited-edition presence — No. 1/50.
A dual overdrive and cascading gain engine designed for stacked textures, layered drive behaviour, and commanding tonal presence. Two fully independent channels — each with its own drive, volume, tone, and boost — combine into one theatrical, regal statement piece.
A boutique noise gate that treats a normally utilitarian category with genuine seriousness. Fast, precise, and disciplined — preserving attack and feel without crude chatter or blunt gating. Sleek, architectural, and minimal in presentation. A precision tool for players who demand control without compromise.
A flagship dual-engine fuzz platform built around authentic boutique circuit DNA on both sides — SOL and LUNA. Each engine is its own protected tonal world before combining into a carefully voiced post-mix section. Nuanced, source-faithful, interactive, and premium in both sonic and visual identity.
A standalone boutique fuzz derived from the Concordia platform, focused on direct input interaction, transistor character, and expressive fuzz behaviour. Touch-sensitive, intimate, and player-first — classic fuzz energy handled with boutique refinement. Also functions as a transistor-auditioning and development platform.
A Rat-derived distortion expanded into a full boutique instrument by combining aggressive distortion DNA with a separately generated sub-octave path and active summing architecture. Extreme, thick, and alive — with Skaven and warpstone world-building making it one of the most identity-rich pedals in the lineup. In collaboration with Wyong Road Electronics.
Three circuits. Three legends. The most revered high-gain preamp DNA in the world — hand-wired into pedal format and built for the stage.
Exceptional note separation even at extreme gain. A precision instrument for lead players who demand definition in a dense mix.
Where the Nocturne cuts, the Ursus crushes. A wall of low-end authority and high-saturation gain that rewards open tunings and heavy hands.
The most versatile of the trio. Chewy mids, massive dynamics, and a gain voice equally at home crushing rhythms or singing leads.
Boutique amplifier platforms built around big-iron authority, pentode articulation, and a distinctly authored British-modern voice. The same seriousness of craft that defines every Oculus instrument — now applied to the amplifier.
Oculus Amps is not a collection of faceless circuits or faithful recreations of existing designs. It is a family of amplifier platforms conceived with a coherent identity — articulate, harmonically rich, dynamically responsive, and built around real feel rather than spec-sheet theatre.
Where most boutique amplifiers chase vintage nostalgia or sterile modern precision, Oculus aims for a middle path: amps that feel alive, authored, and musically addictive, while offering practical control and professional-level authority.
Circuit authenticity over trend-following. Meaningful voicing choices over option overload. Premium physicality from chassis to transformer — because the build is the tone.
British authority, pentode articulation, harmonic depth, percussive low end, and a modern-but-organic gain feel.
Big iron, disciplined voicing, meaningful controls, and amplifier platforms that feel authored rather than copied.
Aluminium chassis, overspecified transformers, grounding discipline, and conservative thermal thinking — boutique feel without boutique fragility.
5879 Pentode Front End · Fixed-Bias Push-Pull
The flagship Oculus platform combines premium British-derived authority with a more textured, articulate front-end character than typical all-triode high-gain designs. Built around a 5879 pentode preamp architecture — a core Oculus voice signature — feeding a fixed-bias EL34 push-pull output section with overspecified iron throughout.
The tonal lineage draws from the harmonic richness and dynamic touch of Dr. Z, Bad Cat, and Matchless — bloom, dimensionality, and a front end that breathes with the player — combined with the firebreathing power, voicing authority, and percussive low-end discipline of Dave Friedman and Mike Fortin's finest work. The result is not an imitation of any of them. It is a platform that occupies its own space — premium, alive, and unmistakably Oculus.
Covering rich rock gain, tighter modern voicing, and a broad range of expressive lead and rhythm applications — all while retaining harmonic depth, dynamic composure, and the tactile feel that separates a truly great amplifier from a functional one.
Classic Rock Authority
Rich, articulate, and harmonically rewarding. An 80s / 90s high-gain rock sensibility that delivers sustained authority while staying open enough to preserve texture, dynamic nuance, and the feel that makes a great rhythm tone come alive.
Modern High-Gain Discipline
Greater saturation, tighter low-end control, more percussive attack, and rhythmic immediacy — while retaining clarity and boutique harmonic integrity. Era 2 is not a small EQ shift. It is a genuinely different amplifier personality with clear modern intent.
A future 30-watt sibling platform built around a 5879 front end feeding an EL84-family output section. Not a smaller clone of the flagship — a related platform with its own distinct identity, voiced for chime, bloom, immediacy, and power-stage participation.
Intended for players in indie, rock, and expressive edge-of-breakup territory — sharing the Oculus DNA while shifting toward premium Matchless / Dr. Z / Bad Cat tonal territory.
"Amplifiers that feel bold, dimensional, tactile, and confidence-giving — rewarding precise playing while sounding rich and inspiring when pushed hard."
Oculus Amps — In Development
Register Interest"I want every guitar I build to tell the story of where it came from — the country, the tree, the hands that shaped it."
— Hamish
Hamish has been refining his craft in the Hunter Valley, developing an approach that sits at the intersection of traditional lutherie techniques and a distinctly Australian material sensibility. His clients range from bedroom players to artists performing in the world's largest venues — united by a shared appreciation for instruments that are genuinely one-of-a-kind.
Every Oculus instrument is built to order. Get in touch to discuss your vision — from a simple custom spec to a fully bespoke build from the ground up.
Alternatively, reach out via Instagram DM or Facebook message. Hamish personally responds to every enquiry.
