I have been making “Single Malt” guitars for nearly twenty years. The unusual timber I have been using for the soundboards has nearly gone, and I’m not likely to be able to get any more, but the whisky soaked and aged Oak for the back and sides can come from lots of places, and there is plenty of other timber I can use for the soundboards, so the project is entering a new phase.

About three years ago, I was having a conversation with Richard Hawley along those lines, and he mentioned that he had contacts with the Jack Daniels Company. I had some misgivings about using different wood, but opportunity only knocks once, so after some complications, a very large, very unsuitable box arrived from Tennessee, with just enough wood to make one guitar, and about a hundred bridges.

I decided to make just one guitar for a charity auction. Because I didn't have an "interesting timber" for the soundboard, I used some Sinker Redwood, with a charred sunburst. Nice, isn’t it? It fits with some more of this newsletter as well.

It took a lot of organising, but at the end of last year, the guitar was auctioned at the Scottish Music Awards, and raised several thousand pounds for the Nordoff Robbins Music Therapy charity that will go towards changing the lives of vulnerable and isolated people. I'm hoping to find out more details soon.