Anne Waterson's Guitar

I've made quite a few guitars of this style now, and each time I feel like I'm turning a new page, and looking forward to the work more than usual. This guitar was even more of a pleasure - not only is it made from wood that I bought from Mike Waterson of "The Watersons", with a rich story to it, but also, I've made it for Mike,'s wife, Anne. If I hadn't spent so much of the last forty or fifty years making guitars, I would have pursued certain friendships a lot harder, and this is my way of remembering the small but important friendship that Mike and I did have. The back and sides are Brazillian Rosewood, almost black in colour. I asked Michael English to pour extra light into the photographs so that we could see show the deeply hidden colours. As a result the pictures are not "accurate", but you get the idea. The bindings are burr yew, ( oh what fun those bindings were) and the neck is Cuban Mahogany, both from "Mike's wood" Fortunately I was able to get proper documents for this timber so its all legal. The top is Englemann Spruce, which didn't come from Mike, it was one of those pieces that was absolutely gorgeous, but not quite big enough for a larger instrument. This has been one of the happiest, and saddest guitars that I've ever made.