Fylde founder Roger Bucknail had a childhood interest in guitars and built his first one in his father’s garage, but he took a roundabout path through an engineering career before devoting full-time to guitar making in 1973. His brand name was the location of his first shop – on the Fylde coast of Lancashire.

Fylde was at one time England’s largest maker of acoustic guitars, but when Bucknall relocated to Cumbria in 1996, he downsized to concentrate on custom and high-end instruments. He personally hand-carves and fits every neck, builds the guitar soundboards, bends the sides and oversees the work of his four assistants.

The Fylde Alchemist is a 9/10 version of the Magician, a popular model with Celtic musicians, and it was designed for those players who felt the 17-inch wide, 5-inch deep Magician was a bit unwieldy. The Alchemist is also the base model for Gordon Giltrap’s signature Fylde.