Richard Durrant and his radical new classical guitar

There were Gibson's Les Paul and Gretch's Chet Atkins, and a number of jazz greats had models made in their honour. And Fender has a whole string of specialist dedicatees for their various Stratocasters, of whom Jeff Beck was an early example.

But no classical guitarist has been famous for having one named after him. But now there is the Richard Durrant Concert Model by St Albans luthier Gary Hearn. Durrant will be playing it on October 7 at the Assembly Hall in Worthing in his performance of Rodrigo's Concierto Di Aranjuez with conductor John Gibbons and the Worthing Symphony Orchestra (2.45pm).

The occasion will include a foyer exhibition of Hearn's various guitars for Durrant, including this new instrument, of which the lack of a conventional round soundhole near the end of the fretboard is the outwardly distinguishing visual factor. A replica has been produced by Hearn and is available in Guitar Junction, one five music shops that sell guitars in Worthing.

Everything except the size is bigger about this guitar and the concept challenges the constant restricting factor in the suitability of the guitar to the concert hall, which is volume. The sound of the Richard Durrant Concert Model is larger, the tone brighter and richer than the best classical guitars, and the sustain longer-lasting.

It does have a sound hole of sorts, as does the violin family with 'f' holes. It is a beautiful leaf stencilled out on the upper bout, which is the top-right part of the body. But, explained Durrant, it amounts only to a golf ball in area. The volume created by the special patented frame, which is non-traditional douglas fir on top with rosewood back and sides that are thicker than standard. The fingerboard and tuning knobs are ebony and the neck mahogany. It is altogether heavier than the normal classical guitar.

How is this extra carrying power created inside? Strutting on the underside of the body top (which is the part of the classical or folk guitar that normally appears in the lighest tone of wood) is normally the key to a guitar's sound. And Hearn hit on a uniquely sympathetic and ground-breaking structure when he watched a mug of tea standing on a rubber car floor mat vibrating strongly in sympathy with the car engine ticking over. The pattern on the underside of the rubber mat was replicated exactly on the surface of the tea, totally without interference.

Stand a guitar up in the corner of a room and the wider part of the body, below the "female waist", is bottom-most, if you'll excuse the expression. Inside Hearn's guitar is an open wooden shape, like a stringless tennis racket head, stood the same way up as the guitar. This frame is clued to the underside of the guitar top.

But within this open frame, instead of any normal interlocking lattice of touching crossmembers, Hearn's crossmembers weave over and around each other, never touching within the fame.

The focal point of the guitar's sound production, the bridge, is therefore surrounded underneath by an almost free-floating springboard which responds to the sound without creating any of the normal interference patterns. The sound is all completely in phase with itself, and even. No elements of the sound are confused and that is because they have greater unrestricted movement and so exit the guitar more freely and directly.

A more flexible approach to the nut, at the tuning end of the fingerboard, means it is built completely in tune.

Durrant recalls the moment he first set sight on the guitar: "I was at Guitars On The Beach at Shoreham, a kind of two-night summer orgy of guitar playing, and Gary, more or less a complete stranger me, came up and said to me he liked the way I played and would I have the guitar that he had in his hand?

"He's a radical thinker, as well as a visionary, and it took him 10 years to develop.

"His system of design works so well. The guitar is happy with itself. It makes you feel you're playing through some kind of dream sound compressor. And when I used it outdoors with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra in Stanmer Park in June, the orchestra couldn't believe the way it looked and nor the sound engineer the way it sounded.

"For me, it's changed everything. I hear all the music I play in a different way. It's totally inspiring."

See this website for preview interview with Richard Durrant of the Worthing Symphony Orchestra's upcoming Rodrigo concert.

Richard Durrant will appear after the concert at his CD stand and the exhibition, to answer questions and sign autographs.