Kinkades "light"? Damn right they are, that's how they're supposed to be! I've heard it said (not by Jonny Kinkead, but by another UK luthier whose name escapes me) that a guitar is at its best when it only just stands up to being played. That's taking things to extremes of course, but you can see the point.

I've had a 1984 Kinkade Kingsdown (roughly OM size) since 1990, and have heard few other guitars that come close to it for sheer tonal richness. Yes it's light, but it's had its fair share of being thrown in and out of vans, and at age 20 this year there's never been any sign of any structural weakness.

If I were you, Richard, I'd get yourself one of those flexible mortgages where you can skip a few months' payments, and get yourself back down to Bristol!

I'm fairly sure I have had the good fortune to meet Raggytash's Kinkade dreadnought, surrounded by concertinas in the attic-room of its previous owner, not a million miles from Stoke-on-Trent. Would that be about right, Rags? If ever a guitar could sound like a church organ, that's it.