The guitar I take greatest delight in playing daily was made by my good friend Ken Franklin at Franklin Guitars, who has become a remarkable luthier in his own right. Ken's attention to detail and artistry are probably as good as you might find anywhere. Instead of being numbered, this guitar of Ken's is named "Stewart". and is a beautiful Mendocino Coast Black Walnut body with an Adirondack Red Spruce top. The nut width is 13/16" slightly wider than the typical steel string, but perfect for my hand. It makes a lovely rich sound with bare fingerstyle or bright and clear with a flatpick. The binding and headstock are trimmed with Curly Maple, and the tuners are Gotoh 510's and very smooth. It's a double x brace inside with solid molded Poplar linings, and its light weight and deep sound amazes everyone who hears it or plays it. Here are more pictures of some of the lovely details.
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In 2006 I bought "Stewart", my Franklin guitar. 12 years later I started playing ukulele, and Ken told me that he had a little of the same walnut he used to build my guitar. So for a Christmas present, I received "Junior", a tenor ukulele made in the exact same style as "Stewart". A wonderful instrument to play, and I do often. I've actually learned more about guitar from playing this lovely ukulele.
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Yes, I like to play bass now. This is a beat up but lovely sounding German Scberzer 1/2 bass. A Craigslist score with a shorter scale than mose 5/8 or 3/4 basses. I like it because of its small size and partability, but also because of its big voice. The nylon coated steel wound rockabilly strings it came with are easy on the fingers, andhave held up amazingly over the years. Someday I'll get new strings.
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The guitar I've had as my previous main player is a Guild D-50 dreadnought that I bought new in 1977, and had Ken Franklin recently refret the lower neck, and reset up the nut and bridge with new bone, a far better sound now than with the original factory plastic. A heavy but durable and reliable old warhorse with pictures below.
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