b'Richard HawleyIt was John Smiths fault. I blame him. We were on tour together somewhere out in the land. He was playing his beautiful soul out, opening up for me, armed with a weapon of mass construction. I found out one night, in Johns hotel room while we were drinking and playing, that it was called a Fylde.it sounded so good in his hands it made me wonder if I could reach other heights with something similar in mine. John gave me this guy (Rogers) number, so yeah in the end I called him and we got to thinking about a guitar. At the same time, me and a lot of our brothers and sisters were mourning the loss of the dear soul that was Mike Waterson, and we always will. It turned out Roger knew Mike very well and Roger had some ancient Brazilian Rosewood Mike had left to season in the Lake District . you can see whats coming here Im sure. So, I asked Norma and the Waterson family for their permission to use the wood and they kindly agreed. In the end I got a Fylde Mike Waterson custom Falstaff. It seemed fitting to name it after that great man. I play it every day. Im sure Roger feels theres something missing inside him now though because he put a piece of his soul into that little guitar. A big piece, Mikes there too, and a little bit of me gets left behind every time I put it down as well. Its a beautiful thing we did back there, its a powerful talisman. Its shown me so many songs. Its insane. And it hasnt stopped revealing them to me either. I have two other Fyldes to keep it company, theyre both the smaller Alexanders that Roger makes that I take out on the road. One is in standard tuning and the other is in Tennessee highly strung tuning. They are beautifully made and theyve all helped me learn how to go further . thank you Roger you dear man . Im still going to thrap you in a pool tournament mind . but thats another story.9'