BTW,
@Mapleman54 , what is that beautiful maple-bodied classical by your fireplace?
It’s an English guitar, designed by me, built by Robert Welford in Cambridge in 1998. Thank you for spotting it in the pic! I have a long love affair with maple, and in English guitar building it goes back to the Panormo family who used it in a lot of guitars- the sorts of things played by Sor, Aguado, and all the European guitarists who came to London in the 1820’s.
This one is in English Sycamore and on a sunny day the sunlight goes right through it! I’ve used it probably more than any other guitar I own. It has a beautiful quarter-sawn Brazilian f/board, and Rogers machines made in Leicestershire. Scale length is 65.5 cm., the extra bit to give a bit more bite in a rosewood dominated world. Total success! The guitar is smooth, punchy in the treble, and welcoming to play! The purfling on the cutaway is a work of art!!
The photos show a collection of maple..Guild A500 ‘63, the Welford, and a Ted Thompson acoustic (L’arriveé apprentice). The other 2 photos are my Welford collection with maple standing out. I could go on…
