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Michael Watts

  • HOME
  • ABOUT
  • MUSIC
  • IN CONCERT
  • ONLINE LESSONS
  • TABLATURE
  • LUTHIER STORIES
  • LIFE ON THE FRETBOARD PODCAST
  • VIDEO INTERVIEWS
  • WRITTEN INTERVIEWS
  • DEMO VIDEOS
  • THE BLUE GUITARS
  • GEAR REVIEWS
  • CASIMI GUITARS
  • KOSTAL GUITARS
  • GETTING TO KNOW YOU
  • MAILING LIST

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Jun 28 2023

MORE HOWARD FENG MODIFIED DREADNOUGHT

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…

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May 12 2023

NEWS FROM MAUI

Yes, I admit it, I buggered off to a tropical paradise with scarcely a look back. 

Honestly, it doesn’t take much - an email from one of the world’s greatest luthiers with the subject Come To Maui will do the…

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Apr 7 2023

GETTING A HUGE ACOUSTIC GUITAR SOUND!

I am often asked how to create a huge acoustic guitar sound in the studio - in particular for full band mixes. There are several tricks that I employ and I reveal them in this lovingly crafted video just for…

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Sep 18 2021

The Guitar YouTuber's Dilemma

Here's something a little different! This recording was inspired by a voice message sent to me by my friend Brian Truesby  which I believe neatly encapsulates the thought process that goes into every video I make.

I know I won't…

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Apr 24 2021

Some Thoughts on Practice - Working on Improving

Practice - it's a huge topic for every musician and everyone approaches it in their own way. 

I'm often asked to recommend ways to make practice more effective. I have found that nothing beats discipline, intent, focus and a little…

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Dec 31 2020

Coming up in 2021!

Thinking back over the past year I am tremendously grateful for the vocal support and appreciation of my growing audience. 2020 did not go to plan for any of us but knowing you were out there helped me to keep…

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Jul 9 2020

McNally Guitars Review - The Guitar Magazine August 2020 Issue!

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 

Apr 1 2020

Luthier Stories Series 1 Blooper Reel!

The first series of Luthier Stories took me all over the world from Texas and California to South Africa, Scotland and Surrey! It's been a blast, as well as a thinly veiled excuse to hang out with some very dear…

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Mar 31 2020

Interview with DA Musical HQ - Berlin

It was a real pleasure to talk with Dominic Adelbert of DA Musical Radio in Berlin today for a live stream interview where we look at all sorts of different things from inspiration from non-guitarists, modern luthiery and sustainability, and…

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Mar 19 2020

Backstage with Tommy Emmanuel and Jerry Douglas

It was a joy to catch up with two giants of the acoustic music scene Tommy Emmanuel and Jerry Douglas at Royal Festival Hall in London. The guys were in town for the Transatlantic Sessions concert and I was dispatched…

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Feb 27 2020

Archtops for the Fingerstyle Guitarist - With Sean McGowan

Throughout my life as a player the archtop guitar has held a brooding and slightly intimidating mystique. Now, as I'm learning how to appreciate the subtleties and nuances of these beautiful instruments - built with an intent and technique far…

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Feb 21 2020

Catching Up With Rosie Heydenrych - Turnstone Guitars

One of the joys of a visit to the Turnstone Guitars workshop is a cup of tea and a chat with Rosie Heydenrych, the luthier behind all these beautiful instruments. 

This time we filmed it (it's been a while!) as…

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Feb 10 2020

Cypress with Rosie - Some beautiful new Turnstone Guitars!

It's always a pleasure to visit Rosie Heydenrych of Turnstone Guitars - all the more so because I can be pretty sure that due to her constant explorations of English woods she'll have something for me to play that I've…

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Jan 20 2020

The 5am Tango on a Gibson L5

I was back at Surrey Studios this week to record The 5am Tango - which will be one of the 9 tracks on my next album HYLAB. I was really looking forward to this session as the good people…

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Jan 8 2020

More Vintage Guitars Than is Strictly Fair...

It's been an exciting start to the year for me and I sincerely hope for you too!

Thank you to everyone for your messages over the holiday period. It was wonderful to hear from you all!

I've been busy in…

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Dec 19 2019

The Story of Celandine

The response to the launch of the transcription for Celandine has been amazing and I'm both happy and humbled that so many of you have dedicated your time to learning this piece of music. Thank you.

As seen on YouTube!

…

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Nov 29 2019

Panning for Jazz Gold

One of the things I have been looking forward to most about the process of creating this next album HYLAB is the chance to learn more about recording in contexts away from the acoustic guitar. It would not be unfair…

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Nov 6 2019

Album Recording Diary Episode 2 - The first Session

And we're off! It's official, the first recordings have happened and I am very pleased with the results! 

I spent a wonderful day back at Surrey Studios last week with the dream rhythm section that is Rex Horan (Double Bass)

…

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Oct 28 2019

Hanging out with Willy Porter in Camden!

I was first introduced to the music of Willy Porter by Jason Kostal several years ago and I've been looking forward to meeting the man himself in person ever since. Willy is currently on tour here in the UK and…

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Oct 11 2019

Album Recording Diary Episode 1 - The First Pre-Production Meeting

It has been a busy month that has seen me complete the writing process for my next album HYLAB (Have You Left Anything Behind). With all the pieces demo'd to some extent I met up with producer Jack Vasiliou of…

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Aug 14 2019

Hanging out with Ben Walker in Brighton

Ben Walker has been one of my favourite players for a while now and it was a pleasure to finally get to meet him at his studio in Brighton this week. 

Ben's beautiful new album Echo has just been released…

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Aug 5 2019

1957 Gibson ES5 Switchmaster - Triple P-90 Goodness!

It's funny, archtop guitars have been much on my mind of late. Maybe it was performing on Linda Manzer's Iceberg at the closing ceremony of the Group of Seven exhibition in London...

Or discussing the joys of good archtops with…

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Jul 29 2019

Jason Kostal - The Importance of String Choice

Luthier Jason Kostal is rightly recognised for his attention to detail at all stages in the guitar making process and during my recent visit to his workshop in Phoenix Arizona we had a chat about the importance of string choice…

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Jul 21 2019

Designing a Guitar with Martin Simpson - Rory Dowling (Taran Guitars)

Over the past few years Rory Dowling of Taran Guitars has been working on a very special new design with legendary UK guitarist Martin Simpson! Yes, really!

Taking inspiration from a 1930's Martin and Rory's Tirga Mhor design this…

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Jul 10 2019

1935 Gibson Super 400? Yes please!

I spent a wonderful morning at ATB Guitars in Cheltenham this week and amongst the frankly superb (even for someone as jaded as me!) inventory I found this beautiful Gibson Super 400 from 1935, the first year of production.  

It…

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