the guitar master

Clapton's Guitar: Watching Wayne Henderson Build the Perfect Instrument by Allen St. John
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

We learned about Wayne Henderson over two decades ago (1998) by seeing some of his instruments displayed in the Visitors Center Museum at Grayson Highlands State Park. We finally got to see and hear Wayne at Merlefest last year (2019) when he presented and played an amazing workshop and old time music jam session as part of the festival. At some point, the story of Eric Clapton's Henderson guitar came up, after which i started looking for this book. Just the other day i found it on our local library book sale shelf and i nabbed it!

"Clapton's Guitar" is a somewhat rambling but interestingly and warmly told, well written tale of the making of two guitars by Wayne for Eric Clapton. But even more, it is a story of Wayne Henderson, one of the greatest guitar builders in the world. The reader can't help but feel and experience the colorful persons in this story, especially Wayne. And as a bonus, this story is full of interesting information about the history, theory, and building of guitars. As a non-musician, i really enjoyed learning so much about guitars, and other stringed instruments. But the real center and jewel of this story is Wayne himself. I hope to meet him at Merlefest THIS year (2020) and maybe stop by to see his shop on my next camping trip to Grayson Highlands.

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Wayne Henderson's instruments, Grayson Highlands State Park visitors center, July 1998