I was very sad to hear of the passing of Michael Chapdelaine. Michael was a truly beautiful musician and a true gentleman. 

I share some happy memories of hanging out and playing together in this video. 

Thank you Michael

I’ve had a lot of requests to look at some of my approach to harmonics - thank you to everyone who has been in touch. 

The reward for your patience is this new video where I look at the harmonic…

Archtop and flat top guitars - what are the sonic differences? I get this question a lot and what better way to answer it than with two instruments by one of the world’s finest luthiers - Kim Walker. 

There is…

Early 20th century Gibson acoustics with dead strings? I know many players have found timbral nirvana with the combination of a guitar that is around 100 years old and uncoated strings that were last changed during the Reagan administration. This…

It’s a little bit Nick Drake, a little bit John Martyn but mostly Michael Watts - this is a run through of a new original piece -  it may not be the definitive version but I like it and I…

The latest episode of Life On The Fretboard - my podcast for Fretboard Journal - is now life and my guest is the inimitable Wizz Jones - a lynchpin of the British finger style guitar scene since the early 1960s…

I first saw a picture of the new Fender Highway Series Dreadnought a few months prior to its recent release and I have to admit that the aesthetics left me feeling cold and alone. 

It is not a pretty thing…

I’ve had several requests to upload the theme music to Life On The Fretboard - my podcast for Fretboard Journal. I wrote this music one afternoon as I was editing on of the first interviews and I liked it…

Look at that, two very alluring Heritage guitars that I had in for review recently! 

Both feature P-90 pickups, the Pelham Blue number is from the custom range 

while the VERY SHINY black beauty is a standard. 

You can hear…

I was extremely saddened to hear of the passing of Al Petteway. I am grateful to have had the chance to hang out with him and he will be sorely missed. My thoughts are with those he loved and who…

The latest instalment of my podcast for Fretboard Journal is now live. In this episode of Life On The Fretboard my guest is the wonderful Italian singer songwriter Emma Tricca!  

I have loved Emma's work for years and it was…

It’s an old discussion - what are the sonic differences between two of the most popular acoustic guitar styles - the venerable Dreadnought and the silky Orchestra Model. Don’t they look good?

Now, I recently had two guitars here to…

The 1958 Gibson Flying V is arguably the rarest of the classic vintage instrument pantheon - only 81 of these iconic beasts were made. 

I was delighted to be invited by the good people at Gardiner Houlgate to check the…

Uberfrank guitars have been much on my mind since Fretboard Journal editor Jason Verlinde pulled my coat sleeve about these delicious looking offset electrics some months ago. 

As I was in the area on another assignment I reached out to…

Legendary guitarist and producer Will Ackerman is my guest for the latest episode of my Fretboard Journal podcast Life on The Fretboard.

Will Ackerman is a visionary composer, fingerstyle guitarist and producer. As the founder of Windham Hill records…

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…

Many years ago I was asked to appear on a radio show to comment about rare woods in hand made guitars. It didn’t go very well to be honest - the host was under the impression that I was a…

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…

Many thanks to Tony Polecastro for featuring my photography of Howard Feng’s Modified Dreadnought on his Acoustic Tuesday show!

I am very grateful for the support over the years - do subscribe to Tony’s channel if you are unfamiliar with…

I don’t know how many Nocturnes have been written for solo ukulele - I’ve certainly only managed one so far and it was the final track on my debut album Vetiver. 

I couldn’t pass up the opportunity to play this…

I’m very happy to announce that Episode 3 of Life On The Fretboard - my podcast for Fretboard Journal - has now gone live and my guest for the episode is the outrageously talented Alan Gogoll. 

In a beautiful conversation…

Back to Hawaii now, and one of the most intriguing and inspiring guitars I have played recently. 

This is Steve Grimes’ elegant Freehand model with its asymmetrical body, double cutaways and elliptical sound hole. What a thing!

Then there’s the…

The first video of Howard Feng’s blistering opening salvo under his own name certainly made an impression. 

Having trashed his hotel room so thoroughly in order to build our film set it seemed churlish to stop at just on video…

Peter Green’s guitar playing with John Mayall’s Blues Breakers and early Fleetwood Mac had a massive effect on me. 

As such it was a real pleasure to visit Bonhams London to look at three instruments from a large collection that…