I've played the guitar for over 30 years, and have recently got my enthusiasm for it back. I plan to use this page to talk about things that catch my eye/ear. For now, I'll just list my guitars, gear and favourite players.

My guitars

My favourite 3 guitars are all 6-string steel strung acoustic guitars. In order of age (newest first):

1. Brook Torridge: a guitar that I recently had made by Brook guitars, a luthier local to me in Devon. It doesn't look fancy but is all the more beautiful for that: European spruce top (so currently quite pale); walnut back, sides and neck (the walnut tree was planted by Queen Victoria in Kew Gardens, and fell down during the big storm of 1987); rosewood bindings and purflings. It's non-standard, made to my spec. 12 frets to the body, 640mm scale length (which gets the bridge in exactly the right place on the sound-board), 44mm nut width. It's similar in size to a Martin 00/classical guitar. With the most lovely tone: great clarity and incredible sustain. The construction and set-up make it great to play for finger-style stuff. I'll get some pictures up soon.
   
2. Taylor 814CE: another really nice guitar, made in 1999. All purpose: good for rhythm/strumming, fine for finger-style (although it doesn't have the clarity and balance of the Brook). Mellow and mature tone.
3. Washburn Woodstock EA-40: I bought this guitar in 1984 and, with a bit of work a few years' ago, it's still playing fine. It's an electro-acoustic with a very slim body. So, unplugged, it is very muted. The electronics could do with updating, since the under-saddle piezo is a bit harsh; the on-board EQ is crackly. Nice bird's eye maple back: it looks nicer than it sounds. I don't play it outside much, but a good option when I need to play quietly in the house.
   

My gear

 I've accumulated a lot of gear to go with these guitars.

• Pickups: I've had installed the K&K Trinity Western mini on the Brook. This combines 3 transducers attached the sound board under the saddle, with a condenser mic on a goose neck in the sound hole. The 2 signals are blended by an external stereo pre-amp. The effect is as close to a true acoustic sound as I think you can get. It's better than the Fishman Rare Earth Blend that I have on the Taylor. This combines a goose-neck condenser mic with a sound-hole magnetic pickup. It's pretty good, especially for rhythm, but a bit muddy for fingerstyle.
• Amp: I use an AER Compact 60. The bee's knees. I also occasionally use a Tech 21 SansAmp external pre-amp/DI box, with the Taylor and Washburn.
  
• Picks: Wegen M150s. The bee's knees again: expensive for a pick, but the best tone you can get. Dunlop and Slick pick for the thumb.
• Odds and: D'Addario Phosphor Bronze medium (13s) strings.
  

Favourite players

And my favourite players. Two clear ones:

• Tommy Emmanuel: you have to see this guy to believe him. Go to youtube and see. Now: hurry. Or just watch this and weep.
  
• Frank Vignola: a wonderful jazz guitarist. And a very good teacher. And a nice guy. This is a lot of fun. Even better, Frank and Tommy together, in a Django classic.
  

More to come.