News

December 2011: Here's my arrangement of "The Coventry Carol" in DADGAD played on my little Caucasian Spruce/African Blackwood "Féileacán". Have a Cool Yule and a great New Year.

 

August 2011: Mark Williams in America just sent me this video of him playing his song "Dig My Way" on the "Daithi" I made for him at a recent house concert. Mark has just released a new CD and is hoping to be able to come and tour in the UK soon:

 

 

July 2011: July's edition of Acoustic Magazine (Issue 55) has an article in it about the Road Trip project.  Following the success of last year's Road Trip I have made two guitars that from now until December will be going on Road Trip II around the UK being tried out by members of The Acoustic Life Forum. You can find out more about it here.

 

 

June 2011: In March I completed a baritone harp guitar "Fangorn" designed to be tuned in DADGAD intervals but tuned four steps down, together with four sub-bass strings. You can read more the instrument on my Harp Guitar pages and listen to sounclips there. Here is one of me playing my arrangement of the Beatles "Strawberry Fields" in C B Ab Eb Bb F Bb Eb F Bb tuning:

 

 

March 2011: To mark my 50th guitar I have a new model "Féileacán Jubilee". This has the same body as "Féileacán" but a shorter 630mm scale length, slotted headstock and 12 frets clear of the body. The guitar illustrated is Engelmann spruce/Sapele and you can listen to me playing my take of Laurence Juber's arrangement of "Yesterday" on it in DADGAD tuning.

 

 

December 2010: Happy Christmas - here's a couple of Christmasy things, first my version of "Gaudete" played on "Féileacán" and then American singer-songwriter Mark Williams song "Born in the Night" played on the "Daithi" I made for him.

 

August 2010: I have remodelled my "Butterfly" model to a smaller shape and re-named it "Féileacán" - the Gaelic for Butterfly. In size it is similar to a Martin O guitar and is a great responsive fingerstyle instrument that can also be strummed. You can listen to me playing Ken Nicol's "I.H" in DADGAD tuning Capo 3 on my own multi-scale Caucasian Spruce/African Blackwood model:

 

 

April 2010: I have made a guitar that over the next year will be going on a Road Trip around the UK being tried out by members of The Acoustic Life Forum. You can find out more about it here.

 

 

(Photograph by Keith Chesterton)

 

 

Here's a video of me introducing and playing Samhain Taistealai:

 

 

January 2010: After selling my first Harp guitar to Dale Campbell I've finally got around to making myself another one. This one is Grand Concert sized and is called Samhain Fada Lahm - he has a Lutz Spruce top and mahogany back and sides. Here's a recording of me playing my own composition "Winter Sun" on him:

 

 

Here's a video of me "struggling" to play him:

 

 

October 2009: I have just got back from The Irish Centre in Camden, watching Tad Sargent play at the Saturday concert at the Return To Camden Town Festival using the guitar bouzouki I made for him. Fabulous gig - Tad has real talent and is one to watch for the future:

 

 

July2009: I have added Doolish, a six string tenor, guitar to my range. Find out more here:

 

 

June 2009: At last I'm a luthier ! With guidance from master maker Colin Symonds I have made Eggbert - a Heiber 8 course lute copy in European spruce with African Walnut bowl, neck and peghead. Here's a recording of me playing Eggbert.

 

 

March 2009: I have added a multiscale Taropatch Harp Ukulele, Ferdinand to my harp guitar range:

 

 

January 2009: My first Harp guitar Jacob has found a new home with British acoustic guitarist Dale Campbell. Watch a Youtube video of Dale playing Jacob:

 

 

 

15th September 2008: I just got back from the Cheltenham Acoustic Gutar Show where I finally met up with harp guitar maker Stephen Sedgwick where we got to compare harp guitars - his was fabulous looking and sounding and bigger than mine:

 

 

Dale Campbell - an upcoming young player - made this video of his visit to the show which has clips of him playing Stephen's and my harp guitars and a travel cittern of mine:

 

 

The prize guitar was presented by Gordon Giltrap to the happy winner Mike Snowden:

 

 

I took nine instruments for display including the prize guitar:

 

 

Joe Bardwell played a demo for me with his Daithi guitar together with a fabulous Manchester fiddler Emma Sweeney (who has played with the Mike McGoldrick Band). They were fabulous and it was the first time I got to hear the guitar with the K&K pickup - it was fabulous sounding:

 

 

 

 

Kevin Brown - a great slide player that played a Masterclass made my and Martha's day by playing the lap-slides:

 

 

 

Cheltenham Acoustic Guitar Show, 13/14th September 2008.

 

Along with other top British makers I will be exhibiting again this year at the Cheltenham Acoustic Guitar Show at Cheltenham Town hall on 13/14th September. If you are attending then please drop by and say hello. In September 2007 I exhibited here as my first show for handmade guitars. There are a number of these events in the US but nothing like them in the UK and this was the first of its kind. This was the vision and creation of three individuals - Phil Davy, Paul Hayden and Matthew Haynes and had such a lovely atmosphere that I wanted to help this show develop and become an annual fixture so I offered to make a guitar that could be used to help promote and advertise the 2008 show and that could be won by one of the guitar playing public attending the show. The guitar is a Samhain Cheltenham model in European spruce and curly Narra and was the prize in a competition run by Guitarist magazine and will be presented to the lucky winner at the show: