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A tuneful new addition

This is no ordinary guitar.
This is no ordinary guitar.

 

We have a new addition to the family… a lovely guitar – but not just any old guitar. This one was custom made and is very very special.

It all started when webmaster John went to a folk festival without me. (That is always a mistake, she says, smiling.)

John met a man who makes guitars out of… wait for it – hardboard.

It’s all the brainchild of Felix Byrne – a musician and designer who wanted guitars that combined his ecological ideals with his musical needs.

He couldn’t buy one – so he built one. Now he’s making them for other people as The Hardboard Guitar Company

He uses low impact sustainable materials – for example he achieves the lovely finish on his wood by using an eco-friendly stains and oils – not a smelly high gloss varnish. The face of the guitar is Leylandii wood, which is very common and so easy to grow it’s almost like a weed at times. It can become a terrible  nuisance, but the timber makes for a very pretty guitar.

 

Felix signs every guitar - inside the body before he puts it together
Felix signs every guitar – inside the body before he puts it together

The neck of the guitar is detachable and the head fits inside the body so that the whole thing can travel on a plane as carry-on luggage, which makes webmaster John very happy. It gets expensive keeping guitars in multiple countries.

Ready to travel
Ready to travel

Of course, when you set out to make an entirely new guitar, you need tools. Felix didn’t buy them – he made them out of hardboard and plywood, recycled lawnmower and washing machine parts and with the same attention to detail and aesthetics that he puts into his guitars.

Inside the workshop - hand made tools for making guitars by hand.
Inside the workshop – hand made tools for making guitars by hand.

It was wonderful to spend some time in the workshop understanding how John’s new guitar was made.

And the entire business of building the guitar resulted in just one bucket of rubbish – all of which can be composted or used in a fireplace.

So little waste - even when the tea-bags are included
So little waste – even when the tea-bags are included

So now John is spending his evenings getting to know his new guitar. It has a lovely sound.

And it looks so pretty sitting next to the bookshelves. I can’t play guitar, but I don’t need to in order to enjoy having something so wonderful in the family.

John plays the first few notes. Felix resisted the temptation to play it... John was the very first person to do that.
John plays the first few notes. Felix resisted the temptation to play it… John was the very first person to do that.