Luthier Jason Kostal is rightly recognised for his attention to detail at all stages in the guitar making process and during my recent visit to his workshop in Phoenix Arizona we had a chat about the importance of string choice…

Over the past few years Rory Dowling of Taran Guitars has been working on a very special new design with legendary UK guitarist Martin Simpson! Yes, really!

Taking inspiration from a 1930's Martin and Rory's Tirga Mhor design this…

The desert is a weird place. And there's a lot of it. Especially in-between Phoenix and Spring Branch... 

It was this desert that Jason Kostal and I would traverse in an epic 1000 mile road trip through Arizona, New Mexico…

As far as I'm concerned there are few things in life as pleasurable as playing a new guitar for the luthier who made it. In this case the instrument in question was a beautiful small body TS model in Bog…

Like all good things, my Luthier Stories series has grown completely organically over the past few months. It's been a real pleasure and a privilege to spend time with some of the finest guitar makers in the world. I knew…

This may be the first time you've heard the name Mark Gaiero but I can promise you it won't be the last! 
I met Mark during the final days of his apprenticeship at the Somogyi Guitars workshop in Oakland California…

I've just returned from a wonderful trip to Oakland California, where I had the chance to catch up with my friend Leo Buendia who, like Michi Matsuda, Mario Beauregard, and Jason Kostal before him apprenticed with Ervin Somogyi. 

Since…

This wonderful instrument is the first Casimi Guitar, it even predates the company's logo so there's nothing on the headstock and no label! It is what was to become the Casimi C2 model and is made from Cocobolo on the…

I've loved Linda Manzer's work since first meeting her in 2009 and had harboured a secret hope that at some point I'd get a chance to play her astonishing Iceberg harp guitar having seen it exhibited as part of the…

Last month I spent a truly magical few days in Cape Town South Africa with Matthias Roux and Matthew Rice of Casimi Guitars. We had a lot to cram into that short stay and I came back to the UK…