There's probably already been a Mudcat thread on this at some point but..

I've been on a bit of a quest for a new acoustic guitar for bluesy fingerstyle playing. It came to an end recently, with the purchase of a secondhand Guild F-50 jumbo.

But along the way, I played an Elysian jumbo guitar, all hand-made by the Blackheath-based luthier Matthew Carter.

I came very close to buying it. The main thing that stopped me was the price (it was out of my budget) and the feeling that it didn't quite have the bassy, beefy whoompf that I really wanted from a jumbo guitar.

In all other ways it was the nicest guitar I've ever played. It was the most balanced and articulate tone I've ever heard; amazingly clear and loud. And "woody", in a way that made the large Eastman dreadnought I tried for comparison sound totally plastic.

Anyway, it's made me think that next year, I might, possibly, commission a luthier to make me a guitar, if my income over the next six months can justify it.

I'm keen to hear of any recommendations/reviews anyone might share of British guitar-makers. Particularly British guitar-makers that might specialise in jumbo shapes, or fat 1930s style designs.

Atkin guitars, for instance, look particularly interesting from that point of view...