November 2008   Signature Model guitars 'Guitar and Bass is a UK monthly magazine. In the December issue is a list of their top 50 signature guitars (both electric and acoustic), described by them as the best of all time. My Martin Simpson Signature Model comes in at number 32. It's one of only two guitars listed that isn't produced by the big guitar factories.

 

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20 September 2008
 

Parish Hall Talk

My forthcoming talk at Whitley Chapel in aid of the Parish Hall (see news item 9 Sept 08) is now almost sold out.

Anyone planning to come and hoping to get tickets at the door could be disappointed. If you want to attend but don’t yet have tickets, please call Kate Clarkson on 01434 673946 and let her know.  I wouldn’t want you to come any distance only to find you can’t get in.

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9 September 2008
 

Following my talk to the Whitley Chapel WI earlier this year, I’ve agreed to give an expanded version as a public talk in aid of the local Parish Hall. The hall is a most worthwhile cause, very well used and the hub of the local community. It’s particularly in need of funds because extensive (and expensive) improvements are now in progress.

I’ve called my talk ‘The Art and Craft of Guitar Building’. In it I’ll be talking about the processes involved in guitar building, how I quite accidentally became an instrument maker, and some of the difficulties and setbacks I encountered.

As well as pictures of myself with early instruments (and hair) I’ll be showing slides of various construction stages. I’ll also bring a completed guitar together with examples of work in progress to show and discuss. And of course I’ll be taking questions at the end of the talk.

And I plan to have snippets of recorded music as musical illustrations.

The talk takes place on Saturday 4th October at 7.30pm.

Tickets cost £12.50 (£5.00 under 16). Wine and fruit juice will be on sale; a snack and a glass of wine or juice is included in the ticket price.

While this is just possibly more likely to attract local rather than national or international interest, all are welcome. To be sure of a place, you can book ahead by calling:

Kate Clarkson on 01434 673946.            Tickets will also be on sale at the door.

 Whitley Chapel parish hall is a few yards from Whitley Chapel crossroads. The address is:

Whitley Chapel Parish Hall
Whitley Chapel
Hexham, Northumberland NE47 0HB

All proceeds in aid of Whitley Chapel parish hall.

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7 April 2008

MS prototype

I’m putting the finishing touches to my latest prototype instrument, a Martin Simpson model with several experimental features.

It has an Adirondack soundboard, modified soundboard bracing, African Blackwood back and sides, and a Madagascan rosewood neck.

My usual policy is to introduce only one change at a time, giving me a good idea as to the effect it has on the sound. Introducing so many means it will be harder to say which of the changes makes a particular difference. But on this occasion, enthusiasm overcame logic.

I have admittedly built all these features into previous guitars, but mostly only once. And conclusions drawn from a sample of one are unreliable.

I should have an idea of how this guitar will sound in a couple of weeks.

MS signature model with African blackwood back and sides and Madagascan rosewood neck

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5 April 2008 David Wilson has been lacquering my instruments for around 25 years. If lacquering is a black art, David is the magician.   With increasing environmental and health awareness, lacquer has changed over the years and application techniques have had to keep up. Instrument finishing being such a specialist branch, lacquer manufacturers aren’t much help; finishers have to work out the new techniques for themselves. David excels here, mostly because he cares so much about his results.   The latest change to the lacquer was the most dramatic, when mid way through 2006 all lacquer became 2007 compliant. The new lacquer is acid catalyst melamine as before, but is much more environmentally friendly. Simply sprayed onto furniture it can probably be used in the same way as earlier lacquer; sprayed onto guitars, flatted and burnished, it behaves very differently.

Because his existing system gave rise to all sorts of problems, David spent long and frustrating hours sorting new techniques and methods. I can vouch for this, we had frequent long phone discussions about air bubbles, lacquer pitting, lacquer not drying, not hardening, generally just not behaving itself. Not that I had much to contribute, I was mostly the sounding board for David’s ideas.

 

 

Finishing instruments is still tricky, still requires absolute concentration and care, but the heartening end to the 2007 compliant lacquer saga is that David is now getting better results than ever before. It’s a credit to his expertise, patience and determination. David finishes and re-finishes other instruments too. His reputation is such that those wanting the best work sometimes travel hundreds of miles to reach him. A bass player himself, he also builds electric basses. As with all his work, these are works of art, absolute perfection.

David can be reached on +44 (0) 7951 710626

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1 April 2008 One difference between the old and new lacquers is that the new 2007 compliant lacquer  is less tolerant of the lemon oil I used on fingerboards for many years (see my news item 11 July 2006). If overspill isn’t quickly wiped off the new lacquer, it can mark it permanently. I’ve been looking for a suitable replacement ever since, trying various nut and vegetable oils. Fingerboard oil should ideally waterproof the fretboard without completely permeating it, should leave a pleasant matt gloss, and should not damage lacquer at all. I’ve recently come across ‘Squirroil’, an exotic (and unfortunately expensive) oil which fits the bill perfectly. Made from the scent glands of grey squirrels, it is both inert and completely non toxic. It is also environmentally friendly in that it is a completely recycled product; grey squirrel carcases (culled because of their threat to native UK red squirrels) would otherwise be incinerated. Squirroil is available from www.verminproducts.com/squirroil4u in 5oz and 20 oz bottles. It can also be obtained from Martin Simpson’s product range at www.martinsimpson.com .

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21 January 2008

W.I. Talk

I recently talked to the local Whitley Chapel Women's Institute about guitar building. They were thoroughly involved, asking questions throughout the talk and many more at the end.
I'd taken some side bending photos to use as part of my presentation, and while they're not strictly news, here they are.
 
I start by quickly bending a side to approximately the correct shape on the electrically heated bending pipe. Then it goes into the Fox bender (old version, heated perfectly satisfactorily by three light bulbs) for around 30 mins, before the power is switched off and the side left in place overnight. The next day the side should be close to the correct shape but I take it back to the bending pipe to get it exactly right, so the slightest pressure holds it snug against the mould.
 
The wood is damped for the first two stages (though not soaked) and if necessary, also damped for the final stage.

Here are the sides joined at the heel and tail, and then in the mould ready for fitting the back. 

 

Audition

Whilst Rens and Martin Simpson seem not to be following on up their musical collaboration (news item 30 September 2007),  Martin fell in love with and bought the New World guitar. He plans to use it at home and for writing songs rather than playing on stage.

Martin playing New World guitar

Rens walking above Devilswater

Neck shaping

 Again, not really news, but here are pictures showing how I shape a guitar neck.

 Neck marked out, shaped first with spokeshave, then with rasps

Shoulders taken off with rasp

Neck taken to final shape with fine file

 

Neck sanded smooth, working down through the grades

Looking at these pictures brings home to me how time consuming a method this is, when all factory and many luthier made guitars are shaped by (sometimes CNC controlled) routers. Along with most other aspects of my guitar building, this system can appear unnecessarily slow and painstaking. But there are distinct advantages to building this way. I can easily adapt each process to give the specification asked for by the customer. Also, I’m watching the wood and how it works so I can  make allowances for, and adapt to, different wood characteristics. There’s another less direct benefit. The time spent working with and looking at the wood, and concentrating on the instrument I’m building is often the time when I have ideas and insights into construction and design.

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