Here is the one I know a lot of people have been waiting for: a mini Luthier Stories episode featuring Howard Feng and his Modified Dreadnought.
This guitar has caused quite a stir already - the photography alone made it…
Read moreJul 21 2023
Here is the one I know a lot of people have been waiting for: a mini Luthier Stories episode featuring Howard Feng and his Modified Dreadnought.
This guitar has caused quite a stir already - the photography alone made it…
Read moreJul 7 2023
It was a pleasure to join faculty and students at Newark College for their 50th anniversary celebrations last week. I was invited to give a workshop with students of the Guitar Making School who impressed me with their ingenuity and…
Read moreJun 10 2023
It is not uncommon for collectors of fine guitars to try their hand at creating an instrument at some point. When I first met Howard Feng, some ten years ago, he was just beginning to assemble what was to become…
Read moreMay 25 2023
Following on from the Grimes Beamer model I showed you last time, here is another beautiful guitar design - the Grimes Freehand Parlor. This one is made from Brazilian Kingwood and Cedar.
This asymmetrical body with a 14-fret neck makes…
Read moreMay 12 2023
What a way to start my time in Hawaii. The Grimes Beamer model is a twin-soundhole full-voiced instrument originally based on a guitar that Steve Grimes repaired for Hawaiian slack key legend Keola Beamer in the 1980s.
The Beamer is…
Read moreMar 24 2023
If there was the slighted question mark in my mind about this guitar it was the use of Tasmanian Blackwood on the back and sides. I’ve had limited joy with guitars made of this wood in the past but this…
Read moreMar 3 2023
During my recent visit to Colorado for the Rocky Mountain Archtop Festival I got the chance to spend time with one of my favourite guitar builders - and people - Michael Bashkin. Next week will bring the premiere of the…
Read moreJan 28 2023
Cris Mirabella never intended his for his exquisite archtop jazz guitars to be flung into DADGAD and used as fingerstyle machines but they really do work for me!
Here's a case in point - a sensation Mirabella Crossfire New…
Read moreAug 17 2022
Another extraordinary instrument that I found in the new home of The Blue Guitar Collection is this Ken Parker acoustic archtop - just gorgeous!
Just wow!
This was only the second time I had ever seen a Ken Parker acoustic…
Read moreJul 29 2022
It was a privilege to be asked to contribute to the SUNFLOWER GUITAR appeal for Ukraine - a humanitarian endeavour by Linda Manzer, a dear friend and one of the world's finest guitar makers.
Heartbroken at the suffering caused…
Read moreMay 7 2022
It was a real pleasure to work on a new video project for Elixir Strings! In this video I look at 80/20 Bronze and Phosphor Bronze NANOWEB strings from the player's point of view.
Read moreMay 5 2022
Do you have a love/hate relationship with certain tone woods? I have to admit that I do, and in particular the more vitreous members of the rosewood family can be hard work for me.
If there is one wood that…
Read moreApr 30 2022
The name Ciaran McNally may be a new one to many of you but this young luthier based in Armagh Northern Ireland already has a huge amount of experience as an acoustic guitar maker having worked for both Lowden and…
Read moreMar 17 2022
Jan 22 2022
I am regularly asked for my thoughts on the differences between acoustic guitars from the USA and the UK and rather than get bogged down in minutiae I find that a direct comparison is often the most useful way to…
Read moreJan 14 2022
Since I played my first notes on a Casimi acoustic guitar back in 2014 I have been inspired, awestruck and not a little obsessed with the sound that Mattias Roux and Matthew Rice of Casimi Guitars manage to pull out…
Read moreJan 5 2022
Recently I've had a lot of emails asking what happened to the Clara Archtop that Luthier Thierry André and I had been working on for the 2020 Holy Grail Guitar Show in Berlin.
80 Year Old Sinker Cedar anybody?
How…
Read moreOct 10 2021
It's always a joy to spend time with my friend John Stubbings - John is the author of one of the most beautiful books on the acoustic guitar that I have ever read The Devil Is In it - if…
Read moreSep 29 2021
The Modified Dreadnought acoustic guitar was created by the luthier Ervin Somogyi (Oakland, California) in the late 1970s at the request of several artists recording for Will Ackerman's nascent Windham Hill record label - most notably Daniel Hecht who…
Read moreAug 13 2021
Linda Manzer's Wedge design is an elegant ergonomic solution to the challenge of playing a large-bodied acoustic guitar.
Not to be confused with The Manzer Wedgie - a playground manoeuvre also invented by Linda some years previously - The…
Read moreJul 14 2021
I'd like to share this new piece with you - It's called Birdseye and while it's still a work in progress to some extent, I managed to pull off a take during some long-overdue time spent with loved ones in…
Read moreJul 14 2021
Maple is a wood that divides opinion amongst acoustic guitarists with almost surgical precision. "It's too bright, There's no bass, it's too trebly, it's sterile" etc are accusations often levelled at this superb wood.
Cheerfully I say unto you "Bollocks".
…
Read moreMay 15 2021
I have made no secret of my admiration for the work of luthier Michihiro Matsuda (Oakland CA). Since first meeting him in 2009 I have been regularly left dumbfounded by the extraordinary elegance and startling lines of his instruments. As…
Read moreApr 2 2021
Ok here we go! Quilted Mahogany from The Tree is the rarest and most expensive tone wood in the world. Its striking figure and rich colour makes The Tree immediately identifiable but what is it like to own a guitar…
Read moreFeb 26 2021
Ordering your first custom guitar is an incredibly exciting experience as well as a considerable investment in time, emotions and money. With this video I want to give you the tools to get it right by asking the sort of…
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