Illustrated Talk by luthier Collin Morison

As the 1st of our sorties into non-playing events at the society, we were pleased to welcome local luthier, Colin Morison, to talk about his excellent range of classical guitars.  Some members own guitars made by Colin and these were brought along on the night.  The ages of Colin's guitars present were 1999, 2002, 2004 and 2 days old!

The society was pleased to welcome a number of guests to the meeting.  It became apparent that many of these guests were builders or guitar aficionados themselves.  No sooner had Colin started when questions from audience members began to fly.  Colin handled them all with a confidence and interest developed from the experience of building some 120 classical guitars. A demonstration guitar with the back removed complemented the descriptions as well as many photos from Colin's archive.

The highlight for many was the opportunity to hear all of Colin's guitars being played.  Peter Stewart volunteered to play the guitars and he chose one of his own compositions.  All members of the audience agreed on the quality of the tone produced by each and a commonality of sound, which was very balanced.

The break saw the room turn into a hubbub of conversation, as everyone shared ideas, experiences and opinions.  Colin very kindly allowed some audience members to play his new guitar, even though it was destined for a customer.  Many of the audience lingered to ask questions and compare notes.  All in all, the night was very successful and was an encouragement to follow this format of event in the future.

Special thanks to Colin for travelling up from Angus.  Also thanks to Peter Stewart for travelling from Glasgow.  And thanks again are due to the Northern Hotel for their hospitality.

Peter Stock

Chairman - NESCGS