• Used Custom Orsino for sale
• Ken Nicol and Les Hilton. Key to the Highway
• Will McNicol: Composing in Two Hours
• Heather Cartwright
• Australia. It's very nice and it's very big.
• Used Walnut Mandolin for sale
• John Smith at Trowbridge
• John Smith New Tour Dates
• Martin Carthy: New Album and Tribute Concert
• The Life and Songs of Martin Carthy
• Tristan Seume
• Hiscox Cases

• Sam Fender
• Custom Mandolin and Custom Ukulele going to Hawaii
• Remi Harris. Dm Arpeggios. Can I read Music? & More (Q+A)
• Janice Burns and Jon Doran. Bonny Woodhall
• Toby Hay. New Music for the 6-string guitar
• Toby Hay. Celyn
• Bob Fox and Stu Luckley: The Bonny Gateshead Lass
• Granny's Attic. Cold Blows the Wind
• Granny's Attic. Lovely Joan
• Billy Watman and Richie Carr
• Custom Guitars 8: Mandolins and Others
• Jo Milne and Steve White. Race to the Rise
• Aluminium

"Community Composition, creating a piece of fingerstyle guitar music in two hours based on your suggestions"

Will was given the tuning and rhythm and chose the "Hummingbird" theme for himself. Those were his parameters. Ready steady, go.

Well done Will.

Will is planning more on Nylon strings very soon. Watch this space

Will's website

Here is Heather's solo recording from the afternoon we spent "at the pub".

Heather's website

Sam is becoming quite a regular customer. He now has three Fylde mandolins, plus an Octavius Bouzouki that we made for him to record his latest album, and he has borrowed an Arch Top bouzouki that used to belong to Martin Barre. I'm beginning to worry that I won't get that back.

By all accounts the Stadium shows are excellent.

A mandolin made from Pomelle Sapele and Sinker Redwood with Ebony bindings, and a Tenor Ukulele made from Bubinga and Cedar, with Tulipwood bindings. Specially made for two regular customers who are based in Hawaii but like to spend their lives sailing to even more exotic places.

It's always good to see them and hear about their latest adventures.

We meet some remarkable people, and share many things, but this is the first time we've even been treated to a proper Hula dance by a lovely Hawaiian lady in the office.

I sometimes think to myself what on earth Alex and Paul tell their partners when they get home. 

“Darling, guess what happened today?"

"Agghhhh, what this time?"

Remi explains it rather well in his introduction, he doesn't get enough time to make these "full length" YouTube videos.  But of course, that makes them all the more welcome when he does get the time. 

Towards the end, Remi says "and that makes it really easy". Yeah, right, of course it does.

Remi's website

Jon only collected his new Falstaff very recently, so it's great to see him getting to grips with it so soon.

Jon's website

Toby's last album was "New music for the 12-string guitar" so I might have to invent a new instrument before he records his next album.

"Like it’s 12 string predecessor, the concept for the new record was dreamt up by state51 (the record company). The idea was to ask Roger Bucknall of Fylde guitars to build a new custom instrument specifically for a guitarist to write and record music for."

The ‘Curlew’ custom 6 string is made from Macassar ebony and light-coloured cedar and is set up to play in Toby’s unique tunings. The album was recorded over three days in the Wood Room at Real World Studios. All tracks are live performances with no overdubs.

“It is a beautiful studio; my brother Tim engineered the session. It is a very honest album, just me, in a room, one guitar, a mixture of compositions and improvisations. We were invited to watch the football with Peter Gabriel and a few of his friends on the final evening, a memorable experience!”

The natural world is a recurring theme across these 12 tracks, with inspiration ranging from Hay’s time working for the Radnorshire Wildlife Trust, to his recent Masters in Music & The Environment from the University of the Highlands and Islands. Inspiration also comes from Hay’s connection to his local landscape, his home in the Cambrian Mountains, and his sheep dog Bear. But ultimately this is an album that explores the relationship between musician and instrument"

The inlay on this guitar inspired David Gray to get in touch and  order his own inlay. And a guitar to go with it.

And here is one of the tracks from the album.   I know the recording is excellent, and the playing is exceptional. but are we allowed to claim some credit for the tone of the guitar? It's an Ariel, a little customised but the main features are  fairly standard. I'm always very pleasantly surprised when I hear how good these simple guitars sound, how rich and well balanced they are.

The one significant change from the standard spec is that the back and sides are made from Macassar Ebony and I'm always pleased with the results this timber gives, particularly when paired with Cedar.  The added mass of the Ebony certainly helps, but I think that its fibrous nature helps filter unwanted overtones, leaving everything deep and rich.

Toby's website

If this doesn't get your feet tapping I don't know what will.  These two have played a massive part in my life, and this song in particular is very significant to me. I'm sure I must have "trod upon a few gowns" in my youth.

We wanted to be at this show, it's not often now that Bob and Stu get back together, I think the last time might have been at "my big party"

Bob's website

The band's New Album was recorded at a studio very close to our workshop, so we've seen George a few times while it was being made.
George uses his Falstaff on every track, and his Custom bouzouki on many of them.

We've followed the band ever since their early years at the BBC Young Folk Awards. Each of the three members has "other strings to their bow", which probably explains how they have managed to stay together.

Granny Attic's news page

And here is one of the tracks from the album although it was filmed quite a long time before at "an old warehouse in Leeds" . I'm fascinated by the camera work. "Trip Hazard! Trip Hazard!"

Granny Attic's website

We haven't heard much from Billy for a while - Covid was part of it, then University. He is now a full-time musician, and is currently filming a 70-lesson guitar course “The Billy Watman Method"

This video was a bit of an accident but all the more interesting because of that. It's important that you read the description and watch it all through. It's good to see Richie again as well, he was a student of Will McNicol and a regular at Ullapool before the pandemic.

Billy's website

A special guitar - bouzouki that we made to show at Ullapool last year.

It did its job of showing some unusual timbers and a form of instrument that isn't seen very often, but it didn't sell at the festival. I suppose that’s reasonable, it’s not the Ullapool Bouzouki Festival after all is it?

But it did sell very soon after, to Sean Holden who has half shares in the second biggest Fylde Collection that I know about.

He makes a nice job of the comparison between two styles of instrument

Cruel Folks website

There are some very unusual instruments in this month’s selection.  Some of them can never be repeated, my hands, eyes and diary won't allow it. Some things though, yes, we can still use the amazing woods, and I do still like a challenge.   

Link to the gallery

You might remember Steve from when he was my "main man" at Fylde all those years ago, we have a lot of history and mutual respect. He has spent no small part of the intervening years on cultivating exotic sets of facial hair.

But this time the story is about Jo Milne, his astonishing wife.  

Jo is the founder of the "Cure Usher" charity.  She has devoted her life to raising awareness of the condition which has robbed her of her hearing and left her with only 5% of her vision.  

Jo and Steve stopped by our workshop on their way to Jo's latest challenge- climbing Scafell Pike in the dark! As I am writing this, I am waiting news from them, as they should have completed the mammoth task and had some time to recover by now.

I feel rather honoured that they took the time to say hello enroute. They had no idea the timing was perfect for my newsletter. Or did they? 

Jo was being assisted by a team of 22, that's how serious this endeavour is, not many people attempt it even with full vision (I wouldn't!). The team includes of course physical help, medical assistance and a large component of media folk so I'm sure there will be lots of TV coverage.

Because of her failing eyesight, this may well be the last time Jo will see the sunrise and she is determined to make it memorable.

The idea behind this of course, is to raise money for a worthy cause.

Just Giving Link

Jo's website

This is another story about the UK supply chain.

We have been making our own truss rods for around forty years. We use at least fifteen different lengths so even if there was a suitable manufacturer in the UK, it would be very difficult holding enough stock of them all. The design is exclusive to Fylde and as with everything else, I'm constantly tweaking details of the design and methods of manufacture.

The principle part is a specially made aluminium extrusion. Every time I order this, I must pay to have a new extrusion die made as well as the actual metal. We are making far fewer instruments than we were in the past so this time, the new order was going to last many years, and I spent a long time making sure that any detail changes I needed would anticipate any future changes to the design.

When I came to place the order, I checked with several aluminium suppliers and found a very weird discrepancy between them.

I only really wanted to order about 250 metres. But it would cost less overall if I were to order 2400 metres. So, I did. And that is what the picture above shows. Talk about ordering "enough".