TNAG/CVE's Kim Sherman considers John Baxendale one of the best kept secrets of the guitar world. Not that she's trying to keep him a secret, mind you. We just can never keep his guitars around long enough to promote them, and it's rare for them to come up on the used market!

John got started working on guitars young, first working for his father, noted luthier Scott Baxendale, before striking out on his own and gaining loads of valuable experience through repair and restoration work. He holds a deep respect and passion for the Larson Brothers' and Martin guitars of the late 1800s and early 1900s, and he cites Norman Blake and Tony Rice as primary musical inspirations. From Size 2 to dreadnought, we think he crafts some of the best handmade traditional guitars around. We discuss the ethereal, hard to pin down aspects of guitar tone and sound, what he’s got planned for guitar No. 100 (we have dibs!), as well as his plans for an L-00 model.

Learn more about J.C. Baxendale Guitars: http://www.coguitar.com/

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J.C. Baxendale Guitars on CVE

Available now: J.C. Baxendale D-42 Lefty

Reach out to Kim to discuss a custom J.C. Baxendale: [email protected]

Featured musicians: Carl Miner, Bill Cooley