Roland Vinyard,

"The Bard Rocks"

Brad Goodman J45

I did not intend to buy this guitar, but it is too good and was for too good of a price to pass up. When it arrived, I found it was extremely lightweight, and a little bit shallow-bodied for a J45, which robs a tiny bit of both volume and bass but makes the tone more balanced. Lutz Spruce top, fiddleback Mahogany body, Rosewood fingerboard and bridge. Lots of abalone, and the finish is nearly all that I could ask for . The tone is fully there.

Leach "Arctos" Cremona - sold

Custom-crafted, featuring a soundport, a folding "Voyage-Air" neck, a very dark Macassar Ebony back & sides and a Millenium Sequioa top. The top was salvaged from a deceased tree which stood on a college campus, it's center filled with cement. The mineralization of the cement and the massive weight of the tree contributed to the unique sound and amazing look of the top. In  a lower tuning it sounds almost resophonic.

Simon Fay OM

My "old age" guitar, made with a 1 13/16" nut, Manzer wedge, lower bout soundport, EVO frets, lots of Abalone set off by a tiny green stripe, Alessi tuners... It has a Sinker Redwood top, and Tasmanian Tiger Myrtle back and sides, ebony fretboard and saddle. the sides are doubled with an inner layer of Port Orford Cedar to transmit sound more efficiently to the back. It's sound is loud when you want it, balanced, very clear and articulate, with some woody  hollowness to the sound, strong but not over-powering bass, with just enough overtones to satisfy me.

MJ Franks Resonator

A one-of-a-kind body, larger than normal, but not too much, this has an Australian Blackwood back, sides and top, wonderfully figured. The gold resonator plate has lyre vents, a theme which is echoed in the inlay as well. This 13 fret model is the first Mike has made - but not the last. He plans to make others using the same body shape with the 13 frets. The frets are EVO and the tuners are locking Grovers. It has a wonder warm tone, definitely with the true resonator sound but with the harshness gone. And of course, it plays wonderfully.  It features a blue Abalone purfling and Tortoise binding..

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Hatcher "Josie small jumbo, 2017

 This features an extreme bearclaw Sitka Spruce top and "bacon" Padauk back and sides, with a figured Maple neck with a cross-grain Padauk center strip. Amenites include EVO frets, a soundport, custom orchid inlay on the headstock and at the 12th fret, and a carved "pillow" headstock, with Padauk on both sides. Macassar ebony fretboard , bridge and tuner knobs + African Blackwood bindings. EVO frets, too. It was designed to be an all around stellar performance guitar and it hit the mark.

Blackbird "Lucky 13"

Nope, not custom-made; there's others out there just like it (if you can find them). the model is the only carbon fibre guitar out there that I know which has 13 frets to the body, a soundport, yet no cutaway. There are other things it is happily lacking - braces, for example. It doesn't need them either. It never seems to need tuning and doesn't react to changes in humidity. It is my smallest guitar and mostly is used in situations where carrying a more expensive guitar would worry me - canoeing, camping, lending to others to play. Heck, if I didn't worry about the pickup, I could paddle a canoe with it. Though I prefer the sound of my wooden ones better, a fellow I've been playing with for decades thinks it is the best guitar he has ever heard or played. Beauty is in the ear of the listener.

Sexauer LOO  THIS IS FOR SALE

Made without molds by California's Bruce Sexauer, you'll never see another like it. The top is Adirondack Red Spruce, but the back - Southern Magnolia. Headplate, bridge, and bindings are Amazon Rosewood with a Koa stripe. This is a 13 fret model, with a sound port, a Manzer Wedge, EVO frets, hide glue construction, dovetail neck joint and a varnish finish. It ends up as an amazingly well-balanced guitar, smallish, but has ample bass . It is used most often in solo work.



McAlister Baritone - THIS IS FOR SALE

Custom handcrafted by Roy McAlister of Washington State, this baritone is most often tuned B to B. It features a radical Bubinga back & sides and an Adirondack Spruce top, with Celtic inlays in the fingerboard. It plays just beautifully and sounds great in any position on the neck, though it's the round and deep low end that sets it apart.

John Kinnaird 000 - regretfully sold

Custom handcrafted with a Ziricote back & side and an Adirondack Spruce top, Curly Ash bindings & neck with a custom Celtic inlay, and Ziricote pyramid bridge, this 12 fret OOO by John Kinnaird of North Carolina has lush and warm overtones and sounds especially good on those slow pieces.

1931 National Duolian

This has all the funk that you could ever ask in one guitar. It ain't pretty, but it's seen it all.In 1931, these sold for $27.50. In unchanged condition, it would be 100 times that today. Only this one lost the "Duco" finish somewhere along the way. And at the same time, it acquired so much mojo that it could stand on that alone. The old Blues players liked them because they were cheap and didn't break easy in barroom fights.And they were loud.

Goodall Jumbo

Hawaii-made of a rare Fiddleback Mahogany back & sides with a Port Orford Cedar top, it does everything really well. Play this and you realize why James Goodall's reputation is so stellar.

Apollonio 12 string

Custom handcrafted by luthier Nick Apollonio of Maine, this 12er has a Myrtle back and sides and Port Orford Cedar top, both American woods. The Neck is Maple, also American, and it features a sound port, and an Ipe (Lapacho) fingerboard and saddle. Stainless Steel frets.  It has that great 12 string sound and it more than pulls it's own weight when performing solo or recording..

Guitars

The Bard loves guitars. When you play, you feel better afterward. A guitar is a work of art that helps create other works of art. There is no instrument so beautiful; some say they mimic a woman's curves. Guitars don't care about politics, religion, the economy -  all the stuff folks get het up about. They don't care if you play another guitar. Music, tone, rhythm, harmony, along with an incredible range of sounds and emotions - it's all right there, and way easier to lug around than a piano. They can be simple to play and yet you will never be able to master all they are capable of doing. Unlike people of the opposite sexual persuasion, they are never high maintenance, don't ask you where you were last night, no license needed, are always ready when you are in the mood, and they never make a sound unless you want them to. And a guitar has a history, a long tradition of being a "people's instrument".


Here's his collection: