An incredible 6 months

As you my or may not know it's been an incredible six months for my family and myself.
My wife gave birth to our beautiful son Oscar in February a whole 2 months earlier than planned and from then on it has been a whirlwind.
Unfortunately Oscar was born with a complex heart condition which required open heart surgery to correct, but all did not go to plan and we sadly lost him in July.
We have been on a roller coaster ride since Oscars birth as he spent his entire life in different hospitals but we are determined to turn our tragedy into something positive to help other families like ours.

So we have now embarked on a series of fundraising campaigns the first of which is a coffee morning to be held here in my workshop with all money raised going to Oscar's Adventures charities.

In addition to this first event we are also planning an acoustic open mic night later on in the year and a children's story book. Watch this space for more updates on these events.

To find our more about the charities we are supporting and donate in memory of Oscar you can find everything you need to know by clicking here or visiting our facebook page.

I hope to see you on the 13th  to enjoy a relaxed cuppa and delicious bite to eat in aid of some amazing charities that are extremely close to my heart.

a resonator and small jumbo guitar

A couple of new ones...

First up is the return of the Terz guitar, in a 14 fret resonator form. It'll be all sycamore; back, sides, top, neck and binding. The cone is hand spun by Beard Guitars in the US of A and is the smallest one they make. Cramming everything into such a small body is an interesting challenge but great fun!

Next is a custom guitar shape; a small jumbo in... mostly cocobolo. The soundboard is Sitka spruce and the neck is laminated lacewood, back sides, fingerboard, bridge, headstock veneers (front and back) and laminations are cocobolo. To buck the trend the bindings are ebony.

The neck is joining the body at the 13th fret, there will be a sound port, only 16 frets... should be a nice one!

well after a long journey in the back of at least 3 vans the Terz guitar eventually made it up to Lanarkshire so I can show it off for all to see here. As you might expect from such a small bodied guitar it responds very well to a light touch- no heavy strummers please. Its great for gentle fingerpicking whilst on the sofa watching TV its new owner assures me! I have another Terz in the pipeline for early next year.

...And so on to the next one. I've been working with guitarist Paul Brett to resurrect an idea for a harp guitar from the late 19th century. What makes it different from usual harp guitars (if there is such a thing!) is that the extra bass strings are played with the thumb of the left hand. Paul was keen to take inspiration from the original design and use environmentally sound materials so we settled on oak for the back and sides as per the original, Sitka spruce from a naturally fallen tree, sycamore for the neck and neck dowel, bog oak fingerboard, bridge and head veneer and English walnut binding. The body is based on my 12 fret Cilgerran model. Hopefully it'll be finished by the end of the week so I'll put up a couple of completed pics.

In between working on the terz and other guitars I've managed to find the time to finish a guitar I started late in 2010! I was building it to demonstrate methods and techniqes alongside Richard who was building his own. He finished his in 2011 (see a few blogs down) and I... didn't. The Rhossili got left behind whilst I worked on commissions and repairs but its all finished and sounds and plays lovely.

The soundboard is Sitka spruce,
Back and sides are Claro Walnut
Neck is Sapele
Fingerboard, bridge pins and headstock veneer are ebony
Bridge is Indian Rosewood
Binding is figured maple
Tuners are Grover sta tites

This Rhossili brings my total number of stock guitars to two and is also for sale at £1300. If you would like to come and give it and its stablemate (well, cupboardmate) a european spruce and mahogany Cilgerran a play you are most welcome.

The Terz is nearly done, body and neck are finished and buffed ready for assembly, bridge and setup

That's all for now, I'll post up some nice pictures of the lovely little Terz when its finished, and when I have decided on a fitting name for it! Also a little taster of a guitar I've been working on over the last few months, should be finished by then.

Richie