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David Taylor
 Being a working musician playing 'blue Celtic pop grass' in local band
Magnetic South, the need for an acoustic guitar which had voice in between
my fat bottomed Scott Wise acoustic and my small bodied blue grass 808 Maton was a practical one.
Although years of working artistically in wood and wrought iron had put me
in good stead, this guitar building experience set the bar higher than any
thing I have done previously.
Building a guitar is not for the faint hearted, it is exciting and
scary, joyous and frustrating but the rewards for patience and attention to
detail are great.
Like the Japanese Samurai sword, which represents the zenith in the metal working arts, the hand made guitar (and any quality hand made instrument for that matter) represents the ultimate expression of beauty in form and function for the wood worker.
Now, the process of producing a 'good' sounding guitar is not over once the
construction is complete. As any acoustic musician will know a guitar has to
acquire its 'voice'. This takes time and more importantly playing. When I
first strung this guitar up I was a bit disappointed by its lack of punch in
the mid range, although it had amazing sparkle in the top end and a focused
full bottom right from the start. In general a 'fresh' guitar lacks the
warmth and complexity of timbre that seasoned instruments acquire and this
was the case with this guitar. Having said that, it has now developed very
nicely through extensive playing over the past year or so and now I look
forward to every set of new strings.
Speaking of strings- I have recently changed over to a slightly heavier
string .013 Elixirs. They are expensive, especially if you break strings
like I do, but have made a noticeable improvement to the sound and they stay bright for ages.
I can honestly say that I do have an emotional relationship with this instrument that is growing and changing with time and playing. It
has my soul in it now.
The opportunity to be a part of this instrument making group, sharing
knowledge, enthusiasm and friendship is a rare one and one I will value
always.
My thanks to Alan, Maurice and the 'Guitar Guys'.
Email David
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