NGD Francis Milsom OM

If you've seen the classified section, you'll know Francis is having a clearout. I was very taken with the looks of his maple b&s OM. It's been months since I bought a guitar and the GAS got hold of me, and I bought it. And I'm very glad I did.

Here it is on Francis' website

I picked it up last Saturday. It's been ages since Sharon and I had any time away, so I thought I'd combine the collection with a weekend away in North Devon. And I'm very glad I did that too. It's a lovely part of the country, and one I'm not very familiar with.

Any road up, I got to Francis in the mid morning and he made us very welcome (as did his wife and two dogs), and I played the guitar I'd bought for the first time.

It was exactly as I'd hoped. Clear, bright trebles. Heavy on the fundamentals and not as light on the harmonics as I'd feared. In fact it's a beautifully balanced guitar. Projects and sustains well. Nice to play with a slightly larger neck than I'm used to but soon got familiar with.

It's nicely put together and has been played in (Francis tells me it was his 4th guitar and it was made in 2009) with a lovely honey coloured top that sits well with the very pale maple B&S. Handsome is the word I'd use to describe it (I am, after all, a Cornishman!).

The headstock is very elegant to my eyes. The tuners work backwards compared with my other slot heads, and I was surprised that this didn't phase me at all. It really seemed very natural when I restrung it (of which - more later).

While I was there, I tried some of his other guitars, and was similarly impressed with those. The thing that struck me most about Francis' guitars was that they were very well balanced across the strings. Nothing bass heavy about his dreadnought (not the cutaway dread he's just finishing - that one didn't have strings on it on Saturday), or tinkly about the parlour. They all seem to project well. I tried the OOO as well and it was extremely obvious that they were built by the same man. They all share a character which I find hard to describe. They're all nice to play. But of the ones I've described so far, I was glad I'd bought the maple OM.

Then I tried the Jumbo (based on a Gibson J185). Wow! Immediate smile. Plectrum out. Open chords. It has some serious Oomph that guitar. But, again, well balanced across the strings. I could easily have given that a home, too (if it wasn't for the pesky tax man I've just had to pay!). I was so very, very tempted. Really, really tempted. But I knew that whatever the price, I would have been stretched to buy it at this time of year, so I didn't ask the price. It is a fantastic guitar.

Back to the one I did buy, though. I took it back to the guest house (where we were the only guests) and played it after dinner until I went to bed. So I gave it a really good going over. It's really fantastic, though I found after I'd got home and A/B'd it with my Brook OO and my Martin HD28 that I'd have liked a little more in the bass for some songs. But it was fantastic for other stuff. In fact I thought the bass was, perhaps a little more subdued than it should be.

So I thought "I wonder whether the strings make a difference?". Francis told me it was strung with D'Addario 12's. I have a cheap little Sigma that benefitted from Ernie Ball Aluminum Bronze strings, and I decided to try some on Francis' OM. You see, I didn't want a deep, dark bass response. The sharpness of the tone of this guitar is great and very different from anything else I've got. So I bought a set of said Ernie Balls, and I fitted them last night. Perfect. The bass livened up immediately, I got the balance back, but the projection is much better.

I can't play jazz guitar very well, but I think this guitar would be well suited to it. It sustains better than an archtop, but has that same attack that some people can make the best of with fast runs and 4 string chord comping. (You see, I know the words, but I can't blooming do it).

I always have problems getting round to recording stuff, but I'll do my damndest over the weekend to get a couple of tunes recorded and I'll post up something just to illustrate what I'm talking about.

So I'm Mr Chuffed, me. This is a cracking guitar at a cracking price, and I got to meet the really lovely Francis. Oh, yes, by the way, Francis was extremely accommodating about fitting strap buttons and sourcing a case for the guitar. This was a really easy purchase.

Thank you, Francis. I am delighted with your guitar and to meet you. I hope to see you again in the not too distant future.