It's funny how things turn out. Although I'd been aware of his work after watching a mind-bendingly good perfomance on a Casimi classical guitar, my first meeting with the South African guitar genius Derek Gripper was in a beautiful apartment…

Ok here we go! Quilted Mahogany from The Tree is the rarest and most expensive tone wood in the world. Its striking figure and rich colour makes The Tree immediately identifiable but what is it like to own a guitar…

African Blackwood! Heavy, powerful, rare, eye-wateringly expensive and deeply elegant but surely there is more to this exotic tone wood than just a Brazilian Rosewood substitute? 

Delicious...

With a ferocious Casimi C3 Signature fan fret in hand I explore some…

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!

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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…