When electric guitar renegade Matte Henderson recommends a guitar builder to me I sit up and take notice! The man has impeccable taste and many of the instruments he has commissioned are pretty much exactly what I would have chosen…

Since I uploaded the latest video in my Michael Watts Plays... series I have received several messages asking for more details about Bog Oak (and its many other names).

A Bog Oak guitar yesterday

In this latest episode of my…

British guitarist Martin Simpson is more than just an award-winning internationally successful musician. He is, to my mind, pretty much the epicentre of the modern luthier-built acoustic guitar scene on both sides of the Atlantic.

In fact, I'll go one…

I have spent an enjoyable couple of days in the company of this OMC model by British luthier Jamie Swannell. 

That's quite fetching isn't it?

This is the first example of Jamie's work that I've played and I'm grateful…

Long-term readers will be well aware that I need very little excuse to spend some time with a Turnstone guitar. As such I was very happy to be asked to review one of Rosie Heydenrych's E series (all English…

It was a joy to catch up with one of my favourite guitarists, the mighty Graham Coxon (Blur) alongside Miles Kane (The Last Shadow Puppets) and Nic Cester (Jet) to talk about their new supergroup The Jaded Hearts…

I started my One Take Performance series as a way of keeping in touch with pieces that will feature on my second album HYLAB as and when I am able to complete it. 

I did actually listen back to the…

Rosie Heydenrych of Turnstone Guitars can always be relied upon to bring me something I've never played before and in this case it's a gorgeous TM model in the fashionable Bearclaw Alpine Spruce but also, apple!

And why not? Apple…

Hello everyone,

I've been pretty ridiculously busy this past couple of weeks but I finally found the time to get in front of the camera for a one-take performance of Between Streets on my Gretsch White Falcon.

A Gretsch White…

It's been an interesting couple of weeks...

When Guitar Magazine editor Chris Vinnicombe told me of Guitar.com's grand plan to hold a huge on-line guitar festival featuring some of the biggest names in the six-string world I thought he'd lost…

I've had a lot of emails asking about my thoughts on Moon-Harvested Alpine Spruce or "Moon Spruce" as it's more commonly known. That's hardly surprising as it's regarded by many as the ultimate spruce choice and often means a significant…

The latest episode in my "Michael Watts Plays..." series is out now and it features one of my favourite Fanfret guitars on the planet - this mighty Casimi C3 Signature in African Blackwood and Moon-Harvested Alpine Spruce. 

Take a look!

…

It wasn't supposed to happen like this.

I had other plans for today.

I was planning to make you a beautiful in-depth analysis of my evolving approach to nail care with quotes from players from Tarrega and Pujol to Miles…

Recent chats with luminaries in the world of fan fret guitars such as luthier Michael Greenfield and Paul Heumiller of Dream Guitars got me thinking about fan fret instruments again. So much so that I arranged to spend some quality…

This morning the postman was on form! In amongst the usual stuff was this gorgeous creation, a Passerelle designed by my friend Kaki King and handmade in Bronze by luthier Rachel Rosenkrantz who you need to check out. Now. Seriously.

…

Since I began my Instagram Live video series I have had more requests to chat with Paul Heumiller of Dream Guitars than any other figure in the modern acoustic scene. I was very happy to sit down and talk guitar…

I have had the pleasure of playing several beautiful Taran guitars over the years but one model has been on my list for a while - The Oreval. This is Rory Dowling's biggest guitar and I was intrigued to find…

I've been thinking about redwood, I've been thinking about tone, I've been thinking about Koa and the world's biggest necklace etc... Apologies to the great Bob Dylan there...

Seriously though - Redwood can divide opinion amongst fingerstyle guitarists and over…

I was very saddened to hear that Judy Dyble passed away this week.

Judy was the original singer of Fairport Convention, one half of seminal folk duo Trader Horne and an integral part of what would become King Crimson…

The latest issue of The Guitar Magazine features my review of an instrument by Ciaran McNally - Check it out, I hope you'll enjoy it!

It's very pretty...

Until next time, Stay Tuned!

Michael 

Al Petteway is a giant of the world acoustic guitar scene. A Grammy-Award winning instrumentalist, Al's work is familiar to many from his albums of original music as much as his collaborations with Ken Burns and Dream Guitars of North…

I hope you'll join me on Saturday 6th June for a live Instagram chat with a giant of the acoustic scene, the mighty Tony Polecastro! Tony will be familiar to many of you as the host of Acoustic Tuesday…

Chatting with super luthier Michael Greenfield about any subject whatsoever is one of life's real pleasures. Here, in all its rough and ready glory is an hour of exactly that - from the advantage that a solid foundation in guitar…

In a recent chat with Jason Kostal he told me about a fascinating project he'd undertaken to create an instrument for 39th President of the USA Jimmy Carter!

President Carter with his new Kostal OM

The guitar is made from…