My Guitar: Kevin Blackmore and his misbehaving instrument

Fans of Buddy Wasisname and the Other Fellers may best know Kevin Blackmore a.k.a., Buddy himself for his punchlines, but they also know he has a great way with a tune.

Blackmore's guitar isone-of-a-kind, hand-crafted by St. Anthony instrument builder Lloyd Luther, who showed up at Blackmore's house in Glovertown one day with an instrument modelled on a 1931 Martin folk guitar.

That was nine years ago. Since then,Blackmorehas taken it near and far.

In the latest instalment of Central Morning's series My Guitar, Blackmore talks about how Luther fashioned the instrument as a replica of a 1932 Martin folk guitar.

"It's very lightweight," saidBlackmore, cradling the guitar that is made frombalsamfir, making it quite different in feel than the more traditional spruce.

"But the really interesting part about this guitar is that he had used mahogany from submerged lifeboats [that] had been submerged for 50 years in St. Anthony," saidBlackmore.

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The back came from another submerged lifeboat, this one from Battle Harbour.

The finish on the guitar was done byClarenville'sKip Strong, although that happened only two years ago.Blackmoreleft the guitar unfinished because of the quality of the sound he got from it.

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"The sound of it unfinished was like a bell," he said in an interview.

"If you put a finish on an instrument, you're going to take down some tone. You're going to sacrifice that."

Having been in saltwater for so long, much of the guitar has resisted taking on the finish. Blackmore said the result is that "they want to misbehave," which has led to a "cranky" performance at times.

Still, Blackmore would not have it other way: "It has a tone like no other guitar I've ever heard."

Listen to Blackmore's interview with Central Morning by clicking the audio file on the top left.