Ben Walker's Guitar

I’d almost lost track of this guitar, I’d assumed it was featured amongst the “galleries” but I’ve recently found out that I’d missed it, so here we are.

We made it in 2013 for Ben Walker, who went on to use it at the 2015 Folk Awards with Josienne Clarke. We were in the audience listening to the oohs and has from those sitting nearby. They won the “Best Duo” award that night.

It’s basically a Falstaff, with a cutaway, but made with Cocobolo back and sides rather than the usual Indian Rosewood. Plus - the main feature of the guitar, fan frets: long strings for low notes, short strings for high notes. This can be viewed as a gimmick, but it’s not, the player has an extra dimension to explore, and the swing of the left hand on the fingerboard is particularly comfortable.