General News

New Nathan Ball Guitar

There have been several seminal moments in my life relating to the instruments I have used over the years.

The first was around 1967/68 when I met the late great guitar maker John Bailey, he who built guitars for Bert Jansch, Roy Harper and dozens more at that time.

The very first time I saw Bert play was at the legendary cellar folk club Les Cousins in Greek Street. Seeing Bert close up was astonishing and life changing, not only his artistry but the wonderful guitar he was playing which he told me on the night was made by someone called John Bailey.

When I received my princely sum of £90 from my record company or was it £70, memory is a bit vague here but no matter. I sought out Mr Bailey and paid him a visit to his home in Wembley in the hope to purchase this dream guitar. John was a lovely man and obviously took to me, he then brought out a guitar that was the exact copy of the one he had made for Roy Harper, which was an order for a customer who had decided not to buy it.

John then offered it to me for the princely sum of £70. I of course grabbed it with both hands which helps when you play the guitar! I used that guitar for many years and was my pride and joy and can be heard on at least four of my albums.

We then move on in time to 1972 when I met Roger Bucknall who was then an amateur guitar maker later to become the founder of Fylde guitars and one of the finest guitar makers in the world, and one of my closest friends. Up until that time I was looking for an instrument as a back up to my Bailey. Roger’s instruments then became my main guitars of choice and still are up to this day. The rest as they say is history.

We then move on to the mid nineteen eighties when I met yet another guitar making genius Rob Armstrong whose guitars I used along with Fylde's helped to carve out my sound on stage and in the studio for years to come.

Mention must be made of another fine maker Roger Williams who made me some lovely instruments. Sadly, many of the above makers instruments were sold when times got tough financially...it's a story that is as old as the hills!

All this is leading up to the present day and particularly the year 2022 when in October of that year I attended the Ullapool guitar festival with my pal Geoff Olner. It was there I met yet another astonishing guitar maker Nathan Ball who was exhibiting his guitars, along with some other fine makers, the godfather of course being friend Roger Bucknall who has been associated with the festival for many years. The festival although small is regarded by many many myself included as one of the finest.

Anyway, back to Nathan Ball. Nathan is a lovely man, very humble and unassuming. I was looking at his guitars which are stunningly beautiful creations and really are a work of art let alone being lovely sounding instruments. Anyway, he asked if I minded if he filmed me playing one. I said no problem and later that day in an adjoining room camera and microphone has been set up for this purpose. Quite frankly I wasn't really playing that great but did my best and what was captured was OK.

I liked the man very much and I have always believed in encouraging young makers whenever I can, and Nathan was a case in question. At the end of that year my life fell apart when my beloved Hilary passed away.

As time went on and I started to move forward with grief Nathan came back into my life, either I rang him, or he rang me but no matter. Anyway, I wasn't pleased with my feeble performance at Ullapool and wanted to do Nathan justice by inviting him to my partner Sue's home to do some "proper" filming which we did but even now I'm keen to do more and maybe eclipse the earlier stuff.

When he arrived, it was nice to re acquaint myself with that Ullapool guitar. It didn't disappoint. During the course of the day, I was thinking of a way of commissioning a guitar from him that would fill a gap outside of my steel strings. I already have the ultimate steel string guitars made by Rog and they remain the pinnacle. It was then I had a light bulb moment...

Nathan along with making steel strings is a maker of fine classical guitars. I have had for some time now the desire to get a proper flamenco guitar. Low and behold here was the man to turn that desire into a reality!

Read on dear friends....

Once we had agreed on the timber that should used...(the traditional wood used for a Flamenco guitar is Cyprus pine for the body and either spruce or cedar for the top, I asked for cedar, my favourite wood for guitar tops) the next request was for a pickup and our choice there was a K and K which fits under the bridge and picks up more of the body resonance more than an under saddle one.

For the headstock I have always loved the look of traditional pegs like a violin, but the problem is keeping them perfectly in tune, but Nathan told me that one can get cleverly geared versions that look like the traditional style but are far more efficient.

So, several months have passed and finally the great man drove to my new place in the country to deliver the beast. On opening the case I was not disappointed; there it was in all its glory. On removing it from its case I was amazed as to how light in weight it was and on picking the first few notes I was astonished at the sound. It had a full warm bass sound, and the trebles just leaped out at you. On plugging it in the sound was just superb.

I find that playing a nylon string instrument somehow makes me play differently and I’m hoping it will inspire new tunes and influences the way I play on other ones.

I have always felt the need to spread a good word about young guitar makers as I did all those years ago with the great Rog Bucknall, in Nathan Ball's case that same enthusiasm (and that's an understatement) applies.

His craftsmanship is OUTSTANDING. You can see from the photos how incredibly detailed his inlay work is and the long hours spent is quite breathtaking! If you look closely at the inlay it looks like a painting, and the way goes from dark to light reminds me of a Gustav Klimt painting. The level of craftsmanship is truly exceptional.

So, what I'm saying here sounds like an advert for this extraordinary man's gifts, but it is purely an observation. Nathan Ball has a God given gift and I'm glad we connected way back in 2022.

A little bit of info on the man...Not only does he make great guitars he's also a brilliant guitarist and songwriter. Is there no end to this man's talents?

For anyone out there who wants a fine handcrafted guitar with an outstanding built-in piece of art do check out his website. www.thompsonandballguitars.com

More collectable items added to GG official shop

I have to say in all honesty that I haven't thought about this for some time, but my friend and record company boss Rob has, and to that end has created the opportunity to purchase items related to my past albums.

The web shop will contain a plethora of GG things to peruse including really cool hoodies, T-shirts, Tote bags, mugs and even a luxury Varsity jacket along with of course vinyls and CDs.

Items related to my Perilous Journey album are the latest to go live.

Perilous Journey Merchandise | Gordon Giltrap

Alessandro's visit

What a joy it was to meet up with my dear Italian friend Alessandro Corvaglia last month when he and his partner Raffaella visited us. It had been many years since we last met and the whole thing was quite emotional.

Memories are made of these.

Pics of Alessandro and I, and Sue, Alessandro and Raffaella

Alessandro wrote:

Experienced the Sunday I've been waiting for for months. And that will remain among the best days of my life forever!!

Ilminster Gig

A huge thankyou to all the staff, friends and audience that attended my concert at Ilminster Arts Centre.

I found it very healing after my personal journey over the past few years, finding love again, moving into a beautiful new home and basically getting back to being me doing what I was meant to do by sharing my musical gifts with whoever wants to listen.

A special and heartfelt thanks to my dear friends Val and Dave Bracher (picured) for looking after me so well whilst staying with them and it was good to play Dave's favourite old tune of mine 'Lucifer's Cage'.

It was also a joy to see old friends Ian and Jen Miles in attendance last night after such a long while.

An audience member called Peter, sent me this lovely message. I genuinely touched I was by his kind words:

I was at your concert last night at the Ilminster Arts Centre. I have been to many gigs over my 75 years, but I cannot think of any that I have enjoyed more than yours.

Listening to records does not convey your musical spirit or you amazing sense of humour! Loved the Bonnie Tyler and Rick Wakeman stories (we are big fans of him too).

Hope you carry on giving pleasure and love to people for many years more.