b'Tristan SeumeSometime during the mid-2000s, I met the man behind the Fylde company, Roger Bucknall, at the now-legendary Ullapool Guitar Festival. To me, Fylde had been a make of acoustic guitars spoken of in hushed tones and endorsed by an elite few; legends with surnames like Simpson, Giltrap and Carthy. I had played a couple of Fyldes in the past, in those high-end guitar dealerships I regarded in my youth as art galleries, and placed them firmly aloft with the very best instruments any of the worlds finest guitar makers could offer. (I use the term guitar maker carefully; given how much Roger despises the name master luthier. He is a modest man.)After some chatting and one or two light ales, we discussed the possibility of him building me a guitar. The Brazilian Rosewood Fylde Falstaff he created remains, in my opinion, one of the best guitars on the planet. And it lives at my house. I felt like I had all I ever needed. But it never ends there, does it? Subsequently, Ive amassed a small collection of Fyldes, including a bouzouki, a mandolin, a couple of other guitars and what I believe is the only 5-string banjo Roger has ever made. Ive got it bad.I like to surround myself with people I admire, respect and who keep me on my toes intellectually, so Roger and I have become great friends over the years. He manages to juggle a variety of appealing character traits: hes clever, adaptive, generous, avuncular and curmudgeonly and appreciates several other interests of mine; cue sports, whisky and talking bollocks.Fittingly, Im writing this in a caf in the Lake District, allowing my aching muscles some downtime after the last two days traverses of Crinkle Crags and Helvellyn. Roger and I also share an appreciation of the Lakes, although we differ in two ways: Firstly, Roger lives here while regrettably it remains to me a home from home and secondly, we are somewhat differently motivated in respect of climbing to the summits.I am currently awaiting the completion of my seventh Fylde, a banjola, that Roger grudgingly accepted the challenge of building for me. Already the owner of an Octavius bouzouki, I suggested the banjola, my seventh Fylde, be named Septimus. Roger was typically lukewarm on the idea, presumably because as far as I know, Septimus doesnt appear in any of Shakespeares plays thus subverting his trend of the using the Bards characters names for his instruments. As usual, the customer is always wrong. 12'