Fancy a night out? PHIL HARE GIG

I just wanted to alert you to a great night of guitar playing that PHIL HARE puts on annually in March Town Hall. This year’s line-up (apart from the excellent Phil himself) is:

ANDRE KRENGEL & ROLAND KRAUSE , TOMMY LOOSE , BEN SMITH & JIMMY BREWER and MARK SOMERS 

Saturday 21 October 2017

Doors open at 6.45pm for a 7.30 start

More details here 

--------------------------------------------------- 

You’ll remember that a few weeks ago I re-fretted Phil’s Signature guitar? Well, here’s one of Phil’s latest videos playing that guitar, complete with new frets.  Absolutely wonderful!

When Phil came over, he took a liking to a one of my really early (1978 at the London College of Furniture) classical guitars that was languishing in my workshop. So, I gave it a once over and passed it on to him. And here it is! Thanks for posting this Phil; great to see the old girl getting the attention she deserves.

Phil Hare re-visited

Phil Hare came over recently and it’s always a real pleasure to see him. He bought his Hare Signature guitar over for some fret work and a general service. Phil’s had the guitar for 6 years now, played 100’s of gigs on it, taken it abroad etc. so it was more than interesting (from the luthier’s point of view) to have it back on the bench. Apart from the obvious wear and tear of a life well-played, everything was in order.

Phil didn’t want an adjustable truss rod, just two lengths of carbon fibre. I ran the CF from the head, right into the neck block, so I was interested to see how this constructional detail was working out. I was extremely pleased how true the fretboard was throughout its entire length, which in turn meant that all the guitar needed was a partial re-fret as the fretboard itself didn’t require flattening.

So here is the amount of wear that a fret gets in 6 years of regular playing.

 Fretboard ready for the new frets

 

And one guitar ready for action.

Phil also gave us a copy of his latest CD “The Twilight Tone”- Now, we’ve seen Phil live a number of times and his virtuoso playing and good humour make for a great night out. However, listening to him on CD you can fully concentrate on just the music and it brings it home to you just how good a musician and songwriter Phil is. A real bonus for Amanda and I is that he only uses his “Nava” on the CD and it’s a real pleasure to hear one of ours being played so beautifully.

If you want to treat yourself, you can buy a copy direct from Phil via his website- or go out and see him!

Guitars!

I’ve just noticed that Phil Hare has uploaded a couple of new videos. As always, his playing is brilliant, but what I like from the “Nava” perspective is how the guitar sounds. What the videos demonstrate is how well my guitars are balanced across and up and down the fingerboard and also that there is still a decent sound even with the 6^th string tuned down to C! Cheers Phil!

Talking of the Phil Hare guitar- I’ve finally got the neck and fingerboard on Chris’s Hare and have started to carve the neck. I’ve been a bit under the weather lately and haven’t been quite as productive as normal; I’m grateful that all of my client’s are patient with me.

Oh, and Alan’s Model 1- waiting for the French polish to fully harden before the bridge goes on.

Phil Hare update

Phil has been out and about with the new guitar, and there is a very nice comment on the Acoustic forum by Fliss, who saw him at the Raven Folk Club, “Oh, and yes he had the Gary Nava guitar - it looks and sounds stunning! I love the shape of it, the newness of the top which is still creamy white, and the aesthetic details such as the shape of the headstock (echoed in the fretboard end) and although I'm not a fan of bling, that rosette is very pretty!” Thanks Fliss!!

If you’re interested, here are a couple more videos that Phil made.......

Phil Hare Signature guitar; finally completed!

The Phil Hare Signature guitar has finally been completed. Phil picked it up earlier in the week and his reaction could not have been any better; I think that we are both very pleased with the outcome.

Well, they say a picture is worth a thousand words; not quite sure how many a video is worth? Without further ado; here is Phil, the all-purpose guitar hero, with his all-purpose guitar!

Hope you like it!

Over the next few days, I’ll be updating my website with some more details about this guitar, its price etc.