It's always fun to have more or less free rein to make what we think will fit the brief.

We know Troy so well. He has ordered quite a few rather unusual instruments from us and he is always really enthusiastic about anything we make for him. This one was built to replace another fan fret 12 string that originally belonged to Gordon Giltrap. Gordon now has that guitar back and Troy needed a suitable replacement.

This time it’s an Oberon - Indian Rosewood and Sitka Spruce for strength, with a scale length of 629 mm on the treble and 648 on the bass.

The neck is laminated with Maple and Ebony and has carbon fibre inserts.

On a fan fret, there is always one fret that is actually square to the fingerboard edge. It's usually around the fifth fret, and it defines how easily the guitar will suit the player. On this guitar, the "fan” isn't extreme, so the square fret is more or less at the 12th fret, and the bridge and nut are both at reasonable angles.

We will be watching out to see if Troy manages to use this guitar with Nightwish. Orchestral Metal, should fit in very nicely.

Troy's Website

Toby didn't write this for this summer in particular!

We are lucky at work because the building is well insulated and we have a dehumidifier running all the time. The doors are always in the shade so we can open them and run the big extractor fan if we need to

This might be a good time to remind you about proper humidity control for your guitar.

Summer is normally the dampest time of year, when the hot air can hold more water, NOBODY needs a humidifier in the summer.  Don’t be fooled by adverts.

I'll try and remember to talk about winter conditions when the time is right - maybe we need someone to write a tune called "The Winter the Sky cried for Sun” 

Toby recorded this for the Fylde Charity Album in 2019. How time flies!  

Toby's Website

Two tunes by Andy Cutting which happen to be among Ben's favourites.

He is really enjoying his new guitar. So far, he's only playing it acoustically and hasn't felt the need for a pickup . Ben has another instrument on order, this time not a guitar.

More news about that next month

Ben's Website

Frank was a fixture in New York acoustic music and knew everybody, I think his most well-known piece was playing his Ariel on "Three flights up" with Nancy Griffith.

He also had a Goodfellow which he used is in some later recordings , this was at the time when orders were discussed by telephone, which was never easy to New York, one of us had to stay up late or get up early.

One of the comments in this video refers to his " Slot head Martin" - look a little closer please! The bass player is working hard, great sound.

I don't know much about this recording.  I know Chris, he's a great player and singer and came to visit us recently.  Sam is mostly a fiddle player who also owns a nice Fylde Guitar ( where is it?).   I like the  whole feel of the performance, but I know nothing about the singer or the song. Maybe somebody can help?

Chris' Website

Sam's Website

The first thing I remember about James is that he gave me a bottle of his very own personalized Whisky. That's the sort of customer we want.

The second thing is that he played in a trio with our old friend , the bass player Jon Thorne.

James's guitar is rather special:

"One aspect of the Fylde I really appreciate is that the sound doesn’t disintegrate. If I push it, it responds, with clarity. I took it into a v high end guitar store in Stockholm, and it was more than comfortable around the ancient Martin’s and the more local luthiers.  

I have a new album with Domino out later this year, a 25yr retrospective, so I hope we’ll have some more  video available then "

Thanks James.

James' Website

Very much a one-off instrument, made for Rory McFarlane in 1993.

Rory was the bass player for Richard Thompson’s band in the 1980’s, then with the iconic Home Service. He also toured with Nigel Kennedy and played on three of his Albums. He tells me the highlight of those tours was on a small light aircraft between Barbados and Mustique, with Nigel, his Violin, and this bass. 

Did you know that Nigel Kennedy has a Fylde Acoustic bass?  …  I'm tempted to make the obvious joke about fitting it under his chin, but I won't. Oops, I just did.

Rory was introduced to me when he was playing  with Howard Lees and Christine Collister.  

I remember him draping a silk scarf closely over the neck near the nut of his electric bass to provide a little damping on the open strings.

He had to stop playing due to hand problems a few years ago and is now sadly retired.  He is disposing of all his instruments.

This is basically a long neck "King John”,  but deliberately made with a shallow body. Rory was never going to use it as a pure acoustic, so it's fitted with a Headway pickup and onboard controls.

A lot more comfortable to play than the usual huge King John.

It has a Mahogany body and a Cedar top. The fingerboard is Rosewood

We've made a few adjustments and some tiny repairs. New strings and bridge pins.  It's a little "worn" but overall in good condition and plays and sounds really well

It even has its own, fitted hard case which is very unusual for an acoustic bass! 

We could turn it into a fretted bass, but really, it's so nice as it is, I'd rather not

It's very difficult to put a price on it, so I'll suggest £1600 and see what happens. SOLD

Will has just told me that he and Tristan are meeting up again about now, and you know what that means! More music!

Tristan's Guitar Workshop in Brittany is getting closer

Will's Website

Tristan's Website

Once upon a time, it was quite normal for touring musicians to be offered "dubious" sleeping arrangements, usually at the home of the organisers. If the organiser was a single man, well, you can imagine. There are some stories that I cannot repeat.

One artist in particular would always opt to sleep on the floor, because that way, it felt the same every time.

Then somebody invented Premier Inn and everything changed.

Wayward Janes's Website

Probably one of the most well known songs ever. Interesting how the simplest arrangements of notes can be the most effective but obviously helped along by the quality of the playing.

Jack does a splendid job on this.

Jack's Website

The pictures aren't of the actual mandolin we have for sale, but it is just as nice!

 For Sale now,  £1295 plus case etc

Bad news I'm afraid. Despite valliant efforts in the UK, Poland and elsewhere, production of the excellent Hiscox cases has ceased permanently.

Having a UK based case maker made a huge difference to many guitar makers, and of course Violin and Cello makers It meant we didn't have to worry about being able to find a reliable supplier, because we had one on our doorstep!

We have good stocks for the time being and have formed good relationships with other suppliers, so the journey continues!!