- This year at Ullapool
- This year’s Guitars
- Some visitors to the stand
- John Smith Concert
- Personal Selection Goodfellow for Sale
- Tristan Seume. Georgia on my Mind
- 13 fret Personal Selection Falstaff for Sale
- Clive Carroll plays “The Dutchman’s Pipe”
- Personal Selection Brazilian Rosewood Ariel for Sale
- Video of Will Playing the Rio Ariel
- New Website
- Used Instruments for sale
- Who won at Pool?
- A whisky that goes to Eleven
- And Back at the workshop
- A Double Bass?
- Megan Henwood and Gregor Philp
- Findlay Napier
- Si Barron. So Long Michael
- Heather Cartwright
- Chris McMullan. Shoals of Herring
- Biréli Lagrène. One Take
- Bob Whitley and Lee Mackenzie
- Archie Fisher Kickstarter
This year at Ullapool
Sam English was busy with his cameras to show everybody enjoying themselves at the Fylde display stand. There are always long periods of not much happening while the concerts are on, then everything become very busy and intense when the music stops. Some of the best times are when somebody drops by while nobody else is there and we can have a really good chat.
The Festival is now 25 years old and getting better every time.
Despite the challenge of tighter licencing laws and fire regulations, Richard Lindsay and his volunteers put together another splendid weekend, He deserves a medal.
We could call it “The OMO” – The Order of Magnificent Organisers.
The volunteers could have Little OMO’s
This year’s Guitars
We all worked really hard to have the best ever display of instruments. Ullapool is the only chance we get to show what we do. Two of them sold straightaway, including the rather lovely Ullapool Orsino, which raised lots of money towards next year’s event. The new owner is very pleased …
“It’s just as you described it – a truly lovely guitar and a great testimony to your skill and passion. The Claro Walnut looks and sounds amazing, and I have to admit I can’t stop playing it!”
Some visitors to the stand
Some of the artists who came to say hello this year .
Perhaps we could pick a few to form the Fylde Works Band. We’d also need a young good-looking singer with their own car. Please send picture of car.
John Smith Concert
John wasn’t intending to be the final act of the weekend but performing with Seonaid Aitken’s string quartet would have been impossible to follow so he was outvoted. It was another side to John that we haven’t seen before and of course they had a standing ovation at the end.
Then he brought on his own backing band of Clive Carroll , Sönke Meinen, Tristan Seume, Will McNicol, Adam Bulley and Chas Mackenzie to sing “May You Never” as a thank you to Richard Lindsay. May You Never stop.
Personal Selection Goodfellow for Sale
A sweet, lovely guitar. The Goodfellow model has often been a little overlooked, but it fills a significant gap between the Ariel and Oberon sizes and has always been popular with Blues players. Because it is small, the choice of timbers we can use is huge.
The back and sides for this one are made from Indian Laurel, I bought a small stock of this lovely timber a long time ago, then it disappeared from suppliers lists until recently, and when I saw it advertised again, I remembered “I have some of that” . Its’ properties are quite similar to Indian Rosewood, but the dark chocolate colour and the intense curly figure are unique. A truly beautiful wood
The soundboard is fine grained Austrian Spruce, a combination which produces a bright, clear tone. The bindings are Ebony with red borders.
The 45mm neck is laminated Mahogany with red lines
For Sale at £4400
Tristan Seume. Georgia on my Mind
Tristan demonstrating the Personal Selection Goodfellow.
His own main guitar is a Custom Goodfellow, so he was the obvious choice to demonstrate this one. It must be a huge advantage to have such long fingers!
13 fret Personal Selection Falstaff for Sale
We made a very similar guitar for Martin Simpson at the start of the year, and I really wanted to demonstrate it at this year’s festival – there isn’t anywhere better.
The 13-fret idea isn’t new; Martin talks about it at length in one of his videos. It’s a compromise between the tonal advantage of a 12-fret design, and the convenience of a 14-fret neck join. Also of course, it’s a good talking point!
The body is beautifully coloured Indian Rosewood, a little less deep than the standard Falstaff. The idea is to have more clarity and proper balance over the whole tonal range. The soundboard is Adirondack Spruce, known for its high stiffness to weight ratio which increases the dynamic range and “headroom” for those who want to play hard.
The timber has become known for its wider grain and irregular colour, and has often been used for those guitars that are sunburst finished, but my supplier dug deep and let me have a set that is wide grained but a wonderful clean colour.
This is a rather special guitar, and I decided that it justified a little extra subtle bling. The bindings and headstock veneer are Snakewood with red borders. The 45mm fingerboard has Abalone inlays, and the tuners are Gotoh 510’s
It’s for sale at £5900
Clive Carroll plays "The Dutchman’s Pipe"
Clive at his usual wondrous best, playing our lovely 13 fret Falstaff without even looking at the fingerboard
And the 13th fret didn’t confuse him at all. He is always keen to play whatever guitar we put into his hands, so we always try to have something special for him to test out.
This recording was interrupted several times, and Clive had to try and remember where he had stopped. It all worked out, Clive’s a special talent.
The guitar is for sale. I should had got Clive to do the estate agent thing, pointing out all the features and colours.
Personal Selection Brazilian Rosewood Ariel for Sale
This is the guitar that Peter Price is playing in the Ullapool video at the beginning of this newsletter
I’ve featured the wood used in this guitar several times while we’ve been making it.
The Rosewood is unusual, and now that it has been lacquered and polished, everybody who saw it at Ullapool, including other makers, agreed that it is quite beautiful.
The soundboard is exceptionally fine-grained Austrian Spruce, with a gentle figure.
The bindings and head veneer are Ebony with red borders. Marquetry purflings, 46mm neck with Gotoh 510 tuners.
An exceptional instrument that should command the highest price, but I know the market in the UK is restricted at the moment, and we made this guitar at least partly for our own purposes, to find out how the wood looked and sounded.
So I think its a massive bargain at £5900.
Will Playing the Rio Ariel
Will is playing his own arrangement of this famous tune on the special Ariel described above. As with Tristan, Will has an Ariel of his own so he was the obvious choice to demonstrate this guitar
Ive watched Will’s body language and expression develop over the years, its become part of his performance style, and as with Tristan, he has those amazing guitarists fingers! Where can I get some?
I’m very, very pleased with the sound of the guitar.
New Website
While you are reading this you may have noticed that the website has changed. Mike English has been working his little socks off to have it ready.
All the original information is still there but in a rather different layout. The newsletter should be easier to negotiate, and there is even a “search” facility which covers the whole website, which I’m finding very useful. so, I hope you will too.
There is still a little updating to be done but it’s “live” now. By all means let me know what you think, and particularly, point out anything we might have overlooked?
Used Instruments for sale
For second hand instruments, I don’t always have time to write about them in the newsletter, I just post them on the For Sale part of the website, so keep watch on that.
Each instrument is thoroughly checked over and any remedial worked carried out by us, the people that built the instrument in the first place.
We are getting more and more of these as our older customers ask me to help.
There is quite a variety, some are over fifty years old and haven’t always been well looked after, but we are best placed to sort all that sort of thing out before we sell them. Others are in remarkably good condition, which is lovely to see. I do my best to describe each one accurately
The last four instruments sold within a few days, and I’ve replaced them with five more.
So, if you are thinking of buying a second-hand Fylde, keep watch here.
Who won at Pool?
The annual After Show Pool match is a perfect relaxation after all the late nights and performance stress.
So, who won this year? Do you need to ask? It was me!! Obviously, I wouldn’t have mentioned it otherwise.
Mind you, I had an unfair advantage. I was drinking Diet Coke.
A whisky that goes to Eleven
It’s been a long time since I showed recent additions to my Single Malt Collection, Moira thinks I have enough. Enough? I’ve started to feel a bit faint.
I always like to take a nice selection to Ullapool with me, and I hide a bottle of Caol Ila in amongst all the guitar cases. No matter how hard I try, John Smith always manages to find it. That’s not really fair, I told him where it was.
This year I took six bottles of different Malts and came away with nine! Well, the remains of nine anyway, probably more like four.
One of them was given to me by Gordon Giltrap, and it had been given to him by Jim Marshall. Interesting, isn’t it, that Whisky strength is measured by “Volume”. This one goes all the way to Eleven.
And Back at the workshop
Remi Harris. Man of the World Tour
A Double Bass?
What do you call two King John Basses? A double Bass. Boom boom. Thanks Paul.
We see one of these maybe once in ten years and at the moment we have two in the workshop, both of them in really heavy Glass Fibre cases.
The other picture is of Stu Luckley, about to start a new tour with Bob Fox – some of the best acoustic music you will ever see and hear, don’t miss it.
Writing about acoustic bass guitars makes me think I should tell you all the major musicians we have sold them to – it’s quite a list
Watch this space
Megan Henwood and Gregor Philp
Megan is about to start a tour with Steve Knightley. She’s always a delight and we are really pleased this is happening.
Findlay Napier
Don’t do that Findlay!! You’ve broken it twice already!
Si Barron. So Long Michael
I should have featured Si more often; this video is nine years old. I really do need help to keep up with all the things going on out there.
It’s a great example of the sound of the Oberon, well played and nicely recorded.
Heather Cartwright
I get quite a lot of enquiries referencing Heather and her guitar, I really enjoy replying and saying that she is a regular at my local pub!
This is the first time I’ve seen her using a plectrum, I think its adding another dimension to her playing.
Chris McMullan. Shoals of Herring
Not just a Fylde Cittern, but a Fylde Mandolin as well, two for the price of one. Great singing as well.
Biréli Lagrène. One Take
I’m sure I’ve used this before, but it is rather good, I know lots of you enjoy his music, and I’m very proud that Bireli thinks so much of this guitar.
Bob Whitley and Lee MacKenzie
Another song about Anne Boleyn from Bob and Lee, this time using tenor guitar in a really appropriate setting. Who knew that the Tudors knew about acoustics and recording?
Archie Fisher Kickstarter
Archie Fisher: The January Man 1961–77 Box Set
‘Archie Fisher was the most naturally gifted musician I ever met. He just had that effortless quality exuding from every pore of his body.’ Barbara Dickson
‘The only three people that I’ve ever copied were Big Bill Broonzy, Davy Graham and Archie Fisher.’ Bert Jansch
‘He was the best of the best.’ Dick Gaughan
‘Archie Fisher inspired, encouraged and delighted me every time I saw him perform, as he did with so many other singers, players and writers.’ Jez Lowe
‘… he was a true and modest gentleman, and it was joy to be in his company and hear him perform.’ Ralph McTell
And he was a special friend of mine. Archie’s Fylde Guitars are all now happily living in their new homes including one in America, so his music will live on through them.
Then this week I heard from Archies partner Stephanie that Colin Harper is launching a Kickstarter campaign to issue a box set of Archie’s early recordings,
‘When Stephanie asked, I didn’t even need a second to say yes,’ says Harper. ‘I’ve worked on major archive projects involving the music of Bert Jansch, Dick Gaughan and Martin Carthy – and Archie Fisher is absolutely in that class. Indeed, Bert and Dick regarded him as a mentor. Within a week, I had sourced a ton of unreleased live and BBC performances and had negotiated licensing terms for commercially released material from Universal, BMG, Topic and Smithsonian-Folkways. So it’s existed on paper since January. In June, Steph and I, with Jenn Butterworth – a fabulous young artist influenced by Archie – filmed a video clip for the crowdfunding campaign. In October, it felt like the right time to launch it. We need £27,500 to make it happen – effectively, pre-selling around 400 sets at £65 each.’
The Kickstarter includes the video that helps explain it all. I think it’s wonderful project, let’s see how much we can help?
That’s all for now - lots more next month!
