This guitar is a commission sale. If you have a high-end or vintage guitar you are interested in selling please contact us.
 
Mainland UK buyers ONLY. Delivery by specialist courier only. Prices start from £55 depending on location - please inquire. 
 
Here for sale we have an incredible Gerald Sheppard Guitars Minstrel Grand Concert Acoustic Guitar in Natural High Gloss finish. Now defunct, Gerald Sheppard Guitars were of course the work of Gerald Sheppard, an ex-engineer who turned his hand to lutherie in the early 2000s after dabbling in repairs, refinishing and some building for many years prior. Now that Gerald has shuttered the company to focus more on his guitar playing, there is limited information available online, save for the glowing reviews from many satisfied customers and fans of his excellent work. 
 
This Minstrel Grand Concert was originally purchased in 2013, with information collected by the original owner showing that the guitar was completed in 2010. Naturally, an all-solid construction is employed and comprises an Engelmann Spruce top, Malaysian Blackwood back and sides, what appears to be a Mahogany neck and 20 fret Ebony fingerboard with matching bridge. The body is double bound, with purfling to the front and rear faces as well as a backstrip. An attractive Abalone & multi-stripe rosette tastefully adorn the top of the instrument. A Bone saddle and nut are fitted, along with a set of Gold Gotoh 510 sealed tuning machines with Ebony buttons. 
 
The Mahogany neck plays beautifully, with a profile which might be described as a 'D' shape filling the hand nicely for a sizable but not cumbersome playing experience. The nut width is fairly substantial, facilitating ample string spacing for accurate fretting. The 'shoulders' of the 'D' profile are shallower than a typical 'C' shape, meaning that although the neck is a little on the large side, it feels smaller than it is. The Ebony of the fretboard is of very high quality, with a tight grain pattern and nice dark colour which feels supremely luxurious under the fingers. With the exception of small dots at the 7th & 12th, there is a distinct lack of fingerboard inlays. Instead, the Ebony is left unfettered, with some very fine binding work along the bass side edge used to mark the frets. 
 
The acoustic voice of the Sheppard Minstrel Grand Concert is rich and sophisticated, working well in any musical context. The Grand Concert body size is well known for its best-of -both balance between an even frequency response for fingerstyle and powerful depth for strummed chordal playing. This Sheppard Minstrel GC exemplifies these traits beautifully, rewarding soft fingerstyle playing with a smooth and even response whilst retaining a sparkling bright top-end. The Malaysian Blackwood back and sides are similar in appearance and tonal characteristics to Rosewood, adding warm depth & character to the sound which works beautifully well for strummed passages. The Engelmann Spruce top projects very well, with a wide and sensitive dynamic range which feels exceptionally responsive to the player's touch. A fabulous instrument, which with Gerald no longer making guitars will only become more exclusive with age. 
 
This guitar is a commission sale. If you have a high-end or vintage guitar you are interested in selling please contact us.
 
Mainland UK buyers ONLY. Delivery by specialist courier only. Prices start from £55 depending on location - please inquire. 
 
Please be aware that for international buyers import fees are not included in our postage and packaging cost, this only covers the cost of the guitar being sent to you. Import fees will be charged by Customs upon the guitar's arrival in the recipient country. Due to Brexit, this also applies to EU buyers. We advise checking the total import cost with Customs as this is not information we are able to accurately provide.