Taylor 814CE (left), Ovation Folklore (right)
The 814CE is my new stage guitar. Taylor are currently making some of the finest guitars to come out of America and are renowned for the nice feel of their necks and the quality of their workmanship. This has a spruce top and Indian rosewood back and sides. The Fishman Onboard Blender system that this comes with makes it ideal for live work. The Ovation was bought in 1978 and was my main guitar until I found the Fylde. The pickup system was years ahead of its time and the unusual 12 fret extra wide neck make it great for finger picking. The quality of its tone far exceeds that of most Ovations and stands comparison with my hand made guitars. www.taylorguitars.com
Fylde Falstaff I bought this guitar 2nd hand in 1989. I've admired the distinctive English sound of Fylde for a long time and when I found this it was in a poor state. Richard Bartram from Ely has done a lot of work on it and made it even better than new. It has a spruce top and rosewood back and sides and is fitted with a Headway pickup. www.fyldeguitars.com
Fylde Orsino 12 String I bought this new in 1985 and it is a sister guitar to the Falstaff I acquired later. It has the same body shape but a cedar top and mahogany back and sides. It has a very rich, clear almost harpsichord like sound.
Sakurai Classical This was hand made in Japan by M. Sakurai supervised by top luthier M. Kohno. The quality of the workmanship is stunning. When I saw it in the shop in 1976 it was love at first sight.
