The Wilderness Years

Where was I? 1982 ish.

I started visiting Dartmouth UK in the late 1970s staying with friends. Needing to get out of 'The Rat Race' for a while, I moved there in 1983.

A short sabbatical culminated in my being drawn to the 'Outdoors' lifestyle & a very kind & wonderful man called 'Pat Deacon' took me under his wings & nurtured my talent for 'Destruction by Chainsaw'. I'm only joking, I've planted far more trees than I have felled. Pat's skill in imparting understanding & an empathy for the broad subject of Forestry resulted in my being accepted as an Instructor for Adult training by the Forestry Commission's awarding body FASTCo. In 1990 I started teaching at the 'Dartington Forestry Training Group' here in  South Devon, as well as courses run all over Devon, Cornwall & even at the 'National Forest Centre' in Leicestershire.

Writing, running Music workshops, Gigging & Recording were never very far away & as promissed, I will have something to say about these in the future.

I was very blessed to get my 1970s Fender Stratocaster customised by the aforementioned John Diggins of Jay Dee Custom Guitars. Very low profile 'Fat' frets, increadibly Low action set for 8 thou" gauge strings (Effortless to play). John fitted one of his 'Hooligan' pickups in the bridge position & I was able to play very fast & impress myself on several occasions.

Now, as every guitarist knows, it's very difficult to get any one guitar to do a bit of everything, either the action, tone, or some other feature leaves you wishing you could do what the other guy is doing, whilst standing on his head! (Not you on his head!)

I had a very long serious think about what a modern professional guitarist needs from his instrument.

The basics, like Intunation & chosen action/fret size are a given, but other factors have come to my notice when trying other people's guitars;

1) Instability in tuning   

2) Bridges/Trem units that cause strings to break at the Saddle  

3) Michrophonics from Pickups & poor Mounting techniques  

4) Poor tone from wood & Pickups & lack in variety of tone or poor Harmonic relationship between Pickups  

5) Buzzing from electrics (String Buzzing can be cured on most guitars)  

6) Tuners/Machine Heads that offer varying degrees of blister on your fingers due to a reluctance to rotate  

7) General reliability issues when used & restrung every day for month after month.

I haven't mentioned weight because those who want wood with good tonal qualities will sacrifice a little in the way of fatigue when it comes to weight. I have yet to weigh the first two 'Electric Lady' guitars, but I can say they weigh less than my 'Swamp Ash' Stratocaster.

There is no sexist tone to what I'm about to say, it is a fact that (According to BBC Radio 4) on a Global scale, more women are purchasing guitars than men and in the same way that Golf Club manufacturers market their smaller/shorter clubs as a 'Lady's set', I suggest that the slimmer waist on the 'Electric Lady' may be a winning feature where comfort for the majority of guitarists are concerned. The fact that some will be made with a 'Glittery Pink' finish may help in this regard too. 

With these points in mind, in 2002 I approached Chris Eccleshall, Master Luthier, with a concept of guitar design that would champion all of the above issues along with some quality wood that had been selected from the 50 acre woods I manage at Dittisham on the banks of the river Dart.

Chris' reaction & vital contribution to this project will be documented in the next instalment. Part 3 comming to a computer near you very soon!

Peace to all that have the ability to empathise with their fellow man!