John Smith & Fylde Guitars: Down the YouTube rabbit hole leads to great things

[Methos1979]

Any John Smith fans out there?

YouTube can be a huge time-suck. But it often yields treasures previously unknown. Tonight was such a night. What started as a quick look led to finding out The Milk Carton Kids (a favorite of mine) have been recording the pandemic 'Sad Song Comedy' sessions for charity. Basically 5-10 minute sessions where they have a guest on which is usually a musician they've toured with and they do a quick, often humorous interview and then they perform a song 'together' (virtually, of course) where they harmonize and play. So awesome. A few of note (so far) are Roseann Cash, Molly Tuttle, Sarah Jarosz, Melody Poole and John Smith.

I'd never heard of Smith or Poole so I delved deep into John Smith and discovered a great talent who's music I really like. Watching/listening to videos and I see a couple interesting guitars I don't recognize. A further deep-dive into the world wide web and I find out about Fylde Guitars. I don't think I've ever seen one mentioned here. Anyone here own or ever run into a Fylde guitar in the wild?

Mr. Smith owns several and the most recent one is a very interesting custom with Brazilian rosewood. I love the single circle inlay on the fretboard. I'm listening to a John Smith YouTube Mix that has yet to have a week song some 30 songs in. I still have to check out Miss Poole but that will have to be another evening. Also discovered a great thing called The Crypt Sessions - lots of great acoustic guitar players/singers.

Meant to post this in the General section. Mods feel free to move or leave.

[varmonter]

I dont own one but I too looked into
them.. Flyde is a well respected luthier.
I have seen nothing but good comments
on these guitars..

[Nick84]

I sold my Eastman E1D to John Smith! I couldn’t believe it when the actual John Smith turned up at my house.

He was playing his Australian tour and needed a guitar with no rosewood in case there were issues with cites.

We discussed amplification and he is a real gear head! Fylde guitars do all his setups and mods on his guitars. They are really well respected over here in the UK.

[BluesKing777]

Not sure why this thread is moved to the Amplification section?

Fylde Guitars seem very interesting - I have never been near one....I also have been down the Youtube rabbit hole.

They have some fabulous guitar names! The Alchemist! The Magician! But those models have narrow nuts. Do I want a Goodfellow? A Falstaff? Kidding! Of course I want one.

Site:
https://www.fyldeguitars.com/

Some videos:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JZt6yWQW_kY

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZlgIeXY0HlQ

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zAOAIlWuLYA


BluesKing777.

[JayBee1404]

I’ve seen dozens of Fyldes, and played a fair number. Fylde are one of the top British builders, and Roger Bucknall, the owner of the shop, is a highly respected builder. Fylde guitars are especially revered by the folk-music fraternity here - Martin Simpson is a player, amongst many others.

I’ve never owned a Fylde guitar, but I have owned two Fylde mandolins - they were excellent, beautiful instruments.

https://www.fyldeguitars.com/

[varmonter]

The video of the Fyled factory tour
was terrific..thx. The owner seems
a fascinating man. Genius comes to mind.
Now of course I want one.
The wood he had was incredible.
"You can never have too much wood"

[Andy Howell]

John Smith s a great player and songwriter. Worth checking out. Have a look for his performances on E Town.

Fyldes are outstanding and I’ve owned several. They definitely have a sound of their own and this may in part be due to the zero fret. I call it a British sound - lol.

Roger Bucknall is arguably the most well known UK builder alongside Bown and Sobel. Impeccable craftsmanship.

[JustMunkee]

John Smith is a phenomenal musician, one of my favourites. Seen him play live a couple of times, both were amazing gigs, silence from the audience as he wove spells around them. A really quiet guy afterwards though, always at the merch stall signing, lovely and friendly.

[PeterG_1960]

As we're in the amplification section I'd urge anyone interested in amplified acoustics to check out John Smith's appearance on That Pedal Show on you tube. He is a massive gear head. Also there is an excellent interview with him in the latest issue (#46) of The Fretboard Journal

https://youtu.be/8-UnSRXlG8I

[Methos1979]

Originally Posted by BluesKing777

Not sure why this thread is moved to the Amplification section?

It didn't get moved here, I accidently posted it here!