they're the biggest part of my life

and as long as I've been playing I've always played a Maton

In the original MS500 I wore the frets out after flogging it for

10 years

and

we had an accident with it, it flew off the

top of the car and hit the road

and it came out of the case and anything

but Maton have restored it for me

so it's perfect again, totally playable,

and it looks like it did

when my father gave it to me in 1960

when I walk past it, there's my childhood

in that guitar, that's the guitar

I played every night, you know.

Now this,

this guitar and the one that came before this

big part of my life...

just because

without these guitars the songs wouldn't have come

and without the songs, people wouldn't come to see me play. It's all about the quality of the music

and this is my writing guitar, this is what I write on

What is the Legacy you'd like to leave?

The world is full of great guitar players, but

you know, I..

I try to stand out from the crowd by what I've got to say musically, and

my songs are all honest

and uh...

they come from a real point of inspiration.. and

basically i'm trying to entertain people all over the world

and I'm trying to get the younger generation to see that

what I do is real

it's a alling to me

and uh...

and I know, I've always known I've had to take my place

uh... in the line of players that extends way back to beyond Merle Travis

when i first heard Chet Atkins play

I knew at that moment that's what I wanted to do.

When Chet Atkins gave me the C.G.P.

it was a great honor and I was very moved

uh... but it is also a great responsibility as I come to realize that

i've got to do something with that because on my award it says

for lifetime contribution

to the art of finger style guitar. Now that was, uh,

11 or 12 years ago, you know

i'm trying to

leave a legacy of, first of all, good songs that's what I'm trying to write, good songs

That's my number one priority

and just trying to show the younger generation that

you know, you don't need a lot of pyrotechnics to turn people on, you need to have some good songs

and I hope that that's what I can give to them you know.

Tell us about the AP5 Mic/Pickup system...

now another reason why i play these guitars

is not just because a guitar is beautiful or great or has a wonderful action

that's all part of it of course

but it has the best electronics of any guitar in the world

Nobody has a pickup system

and a Mic system like this guitar

and it was Jean Larrivée who, I don't know a guitar builder who doesn't have

a great respect for Jean Larrivée,

Jean said to me quite frankly

"Building a great is a no brainer,

but getting the pickup right

is nearly impossible."

So, within these walls

you're doing the impossible.