Cyndy Burton, Jeff Elliot, Stephen Sedgwick and John Doan

The phone rang. It was Jim. 'Look, could you get that Panormo finished by Saturday? John wants to play some newly discovered Sor pieces on it! As you're coming anyway you could bring the guitar with you...' As it turned out the 1832 Panormo (French style; ladder braced) sounded grand especially with John playing it (The Sor pieces turned out to be freshly written rather than newly discovered). When I walked in John was playing a harp guitar made by Stephen Sedgwick. I hadn't seen Stephen for over ten years but he's aged better than me. His harp guitar sounded wonderful too. He and John were deep in conversation with Jeff Elliot and Cyndy Burton about harp guitars and guitar making generally. Jeff is one of the worlds finest guitar makers and builds with a simple elegance and a respect for the tradition of the guitar. I first heard one of Jeff's guitars many years ago at the Wigmore Hall played by Julian Bream, and it was lovely to meet him and Cyndy, albeit briefly.
Jim got a bottle of Madeira out from somewhere and we all marvelled at the fact that it was made ten years before the Panormo.
John Doan is not only a fine player but a great guy as well and talks about the guitar with huge enthusiasm. We spoke at length about the relationship between player and maker. Some players just don't get it (believe me, I know) but it was clear that John had a great respect for the makers he has worked with. If you get the chance to hear John play; grab it.

The Cordefactum Guitar Makers Fair in Belgium has been one of the most enjoyable guitar events I have attended and credit should be given to the team from CMB who organised it. CMB is a prominent instrument making school in Belgium and the standard of work on display was fine indeed.
After tunnelling our way under the English channel, and cruising up the N16 through France and Belgium, the calm 18th century elegance of the Casteel d'Ursel was something of relief. It was filled with guitar makers from all over Europe. For me this was a grand opportunity to meet some new makers and players and to renew old acquaintances. Marc Peirelinck (I was at the London College of Furniture with Marc in 1985) was there as he is one of the tutors at CMB. We discussed guitars, old times and more guitars...


Good also to catch up with James Lister, who is currently one of the tutors at Newark. James had some handsome guitars with him including one with eye-catching kingwood back and sides.
A new face to me was Pete Beer who had some fine guitars on view. Pete pointed out a pike in with the carp in the still waters of the moat...
One of the highlights of the festival was the quality of the lectures and performances. I missed Fabian Zenon but heard many good comments the following morning.
The classical guitar makers lecturing throughout the 3 days were Andreas Tacchi from Italy, Gernot Wagner from Germany and Paul Fischer from the UK. Gernot and Andreas both gave an insight into their personal methods of working; Gernot Wagner has been one of the guitar makers to pioneer the use of laminated or 'double' tops. Paul took a different approach and spoke of the development of 20th century English guitar making. Starting with Dolmetsch at the end of the 19th century, Paul then spoke of his time with the late David Rubio, before concluding with the contribution made by some of the UK instrument making schools such as the London College of furniture and Newark. Andreas spoke of the importance of top selection and the way in which he selects logs up in the mountains and then evaluates the timber. He also spoke of measuring the speed of sound in spruce, a topic that interested many present.

Leaving Belgium late on a mellow Sunday afternoon we had a somewhat unplanned foray into Gent and then coasted back down the almost empty motorway. The soft evening sky looked huge above the flat land of northern France; the channel tunnel felt like a spaceship and Kent was dark and wet. We arrived back home past midnight and I found myself drawn into the workshop, fired up and full of ideas...

The guitars for CordeFactum Guitar Festival in Belgium are pretty much finished and so the frenetic activity in the workshop has abated slightly. This gives me time to start preparing for the next batch of guitars . Both guitars are being built for guitarist/composers but are very different instruments. The guitar for Richard is a 7 string guitar in spruce and rosewood. This is the third guitar that Richard has commissioned and is a development of the previous ones. The other guitar is a Hauser model for John; spruce with Amazon rosewood. Richard, living 30 minutes away has visited the workshop and played a part in the selection of timber for his guitar. John, from the other hemisphere must trust me to select the wood for his guitar.
The picture above shows the selection of the spruce top for Johns guitar. I spent hours going through my stack of soundboards, and the pleasure of handling this material is something I never tire of. You use your eyes first, checking for straightness of grain,absence of defects such as resin pockets or knots, and you also note the number of growth rings and the variation of them across the board. At this point I am also evaluating the weight of the wood. Wood from different trees,different growing altitudes or different regions will vary considerably in their characteristics so soundboards really can vary. Testing for stiffness, by gently flexing the wood gives you more information, as does tapping the timber and listening to the wood resonating. I also split one corner of the soundboard to assess 'runout' or length of grain. In the end I selected a top that is from my August 1999 pile. Amongst its other qualities it has a crisp quick tap tone which was the deciding factor for me.
So, now on to select neck wood...

Time is a valuable commodity at the moment with much going on. The exhibition guitar is now complete and ready for its first coat of polish. The picture above shows the fingerboard being prepared for gluing. Now I take a deep breath and start to polish...
Guitars coming and going at the moment. Louise from Norway dropped by with her 1981 Sakurai for some repair work. On Sunday Iain took delivery of his new cedar/Indian rosewood guitar. I first met Iain 19 years ago when I was working out of my first workshop in Ditchling Road. I did some polishing and fret work on his Spanish made guitar and then out of the blue in 2009 Iain phoned again requesting a few more adjustments and the desire for a new guitar. An inherently musical player, he gets a fabulous sound from the instrument which delights me. He was delighted in turn by the responsiveness and power of this particular instrument.

(Malcolm Maxwell, Florian Vorreiter, Jim Westbrook and David Whiteman)

Another visitor to the workshop this week was Canadian based luthier Florian Vorreiter. Florian had come over to draw FE 18. He didn't have one of his own guitars with him but he showed me some fine looking photographs of his work. It is always interesting to talk to fellow guitar makers and exchange ideas.

Cocobolo (Dalbergia retusa)

A stunning set of cocobolo found its way into my workshop recently thanks to fellow guitar builder, Frank Cousins. Frank started building guitars in my workshop a few years ago and has completed a fine spruce/Maccasar ebony instrument and is well under way with several others. Frank has also been laying down stocks of fine timber for future guitars and recently acquired 2 sets of this spectacular cocobolo, and graciously offered me this one. This is fresh timber and is now slowly drying in my workshop but one day will make a stunning guitar.

The anatomy of a guitar

This was the view of my workbench a few days ago, just before I closed the box on the blackwood/spruce guitar. This is one of 2 strutting systems that I use and it could be seen as half lattice, half fan. I have made good progress with this guitar since the picture was taken; the back is glued on and the guitar is now completely bound. After the weekend I shall fit the neck and complete the fingerboard.
Also nearing completion is the cedar and rosewood guitar which will shortly be burnished up and strung. The Weissgerber restoration is complete save for stringing, but that will happen next week. Earlier on in the week I had a visit from Martin with a couple of guitars of his that needed some adjustment. The weather has been so dry this year and I have heard of a number of humidity related problems recently. Fortunately Martin's instruments only needed some minor action adjustments, but it was good to catch up with someone I hadn't seen for years.

The clamps have been out in force this week, with much progress made on the exhibition guitar. The exhibition in question is the CordeFactum Guitar Festival in Puurs, Belgium in May. I shall post some more details in the very near future. I am very much looking forward to this event as there will be lots of guitar makers there, and there will be much to learn and to be inspired by. I am looking forward to seeing Marc Peirelinke after 20 odd years; Marc and I were students at the London College of Furniture and both of us continue to make guitars professionally.
The workshop is hectic this week. I seem to have used all the tools I possess and progress has been rapid. Today a top largely strutted and a heel carved. Tomorrow the bracing on the top will be completed. For me this is the part of guitar making I love the most, as the delicacy of the struts and the potential of the whole soundboard wholly absorb me.