Nick Drake guitars

The late, great English guitarist, singer and song writer Nick Drake (1948-1974) is an artist surrounded by mystery, due in no small part to his early death at the age of 26 from a suspected overdose of prescription drugs. In addition to his physical and mental illnesses, and little known life away from the spotlight as a wanna be late 60s early 70s 'pop' star, numerous questions arise on a regular basis in regard to the guitars he used for recording, performing and composing. This blog will attempt to bring some clarity to the subject, based on both contemporary records and the testimony of friends and colleagues. A small number of photographs also survive of Drake playing or holding guitars, plus various websites and blogs make reference to this complex issue. Utilising all this material, including a detailed discussion during 2013 on the Acoustic Guitar Forum, an outline of what is known, and what is not known, is presented below in a roughly chronological manner, though there is naturally some overlap and ongoing confusion. To date, the following guitars have been mentioned as being used, or handled, by Drake at various stages during his life:

1. Levin LS-18 Super Goliath Dreadnought. At the age of 18 Drake purchased one of these largish acoustic guitars on 14 September 1966, according to evidence on the Levin Dreadnought Famous Players video (since deleted from YouTube). A copy of the purchase receipt was shown therein. An early photograph from this period survives of Nick - most likely at home - playing his Levin Dreadnought. The photograph is dated 1967.

1967 - Early photo of Nick playing his Levin Dreadnought.

A photograph also exists of Nick playing the Levin guitar at home, with members of his family around, including his sister Gabrielle and his mother. He, along with his mother, also played piano.

L to R: A friend of the family, Molly Drake, Gabrielle Drake and Nick Drake at Far Leys, circa 1967.

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2. Guild M-20 (1) - This was Nick Drake's primary guitar utilised during the recording of his three LPs - Five Leaves Left, Bryter Layter and Pink Moon - between 1968-72. This guitar may be the same as the one referred to by friends and associates as the Guild F-20, as the M20 is merely the mahogany topped version of the F-20. It is a small body guitar, unlike the Levin Dreadnought. Evidence for this is in the following comments by Peter Rice (Cambridge University Tape Recording Society 1968), Tom Hanson. and the Premierguitar website.

Peter Rice: "For my part, my memory of the guitar Nick was using at least in the first part of 1968 was that it was the Guild M20. When setting up for the recording of his demo tape, I played the guitar while he went into the control room to listen to the sound. The guitar strings were worn out, but he liked them that way."

Tom Hanson: "It is a Guild M20, a fairly inexpensive, all-mahogany (back, sides and top), satin-finished, small-body ("0" or concert-sized) guitar - a model Guild offered during the 50s, 60s and 70s. All-mahogany guitars are a bit rare, really, being prevalent mainly during the Depression years (1930s) when Martin and Gibson sought to bring the price of their guitars down by offering less ornate models with mahogany tops (the more expensive spruce being the standard top wood). Because of their low price and their bright, punchy tone, these guitars became very popular among acoustic or "country blues" players. During the folk revival of the late 50s and 60s - owing in part to the admiration many folkies felt for those early blues players - the all-mahogany guitars became popular again. Bob Dylan had a similar guitar at the beginning of his career (a Martin 00-17), for example. As a passionate Drake fan over the last ten years and an aspiring guitarist / songwriter myself, I often wondered how much of a role the guitar itself really played in his overall sound. Having had the opportunity in recent years to play and record with guitars of varying body sizes and wood combinations, including M-20s, I can say that I think it did in fact play a significant role. Some of the characteristics of a small, all-mahogany guitar - and particularly of a Guild M-20 - are as follows: The mahogany top lends warmth with a sharp attack and is very DRY - the reduced sustain produces incredible separation of notes (with worn-out strings, it can sound at times almost like a classical guitar). The small-body adds crispness and brightness, emphasizing the upper strings (there is little bass) and is ideally suited to alternate tunings (you can crank the high E string up to F# or G without it breaking or choking and you can drop the lower strings down several steps without overbearing rumble). Perhaps the most important thing is that the smaller (but fatter) sound of such a guitar leaves ample room for the player's singing voice - especially when that voice is deep and resonant. This is important in Drake's case, I think: a bigger, bassier Dreadnought guitar would likely have taken some of the warmth and presence out of his voice, making it sound smaller. Lastly, the mahogany top, while crisp, definitely has darker overtones than spruce. I suspect that if Drake had used a spruce-topped guitar, his stuff would have sounded a bit "prettier" and less "haunting" - a quality most of us love about his music."

Premierguitar.com: For folk fans, the original Guild M-20 will always be synonymous with Nick Drake. But where a lot of iconic artist-guitar associations are in large part visual, the all-mahogany M-20 was arguably an indispensable part of Drake’s understated, intimate, and mysterious musical reveries. Warm, just a little dark, but with a definition and articulation that makes it the perfect vehicle for finger style melodies, the M-20 remains one of the most underrated guitars among Guild’s many legendary instruments.

Scott from Retrofit Guitars, New York, playing an extract from Pink Moon with a 1963 Guild M20, 29 October 2013. This guitar very much has the Nick Drake sound.

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2a. Guild F-20 - reference has been made to Nick playing a Guild F-20. However, Peter Hogan states: "This is a small bodied guitar. It is most likely a reference to Nick's Guild M20."

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3. Guild M20 (2) - guitar for Bryter Layter cover shoot. This guitar is now (2018) owned by Nigel Dexter. Nigel Weymouth took the photograph for the cover of Drake's second album, Bryter Layter. He provided a guitar - possibly a Guild M20 - for the sessions, having obtained it off of his friend the Australian artist Martin Sharp, who in turned had acquired it from Eric Clapton, with whom Sharp shared a residence in London for a period during 1967-8. It is generally accepted that this guitar was not Nick's own M-20, as outlined in the following quote from the Playing Nick Drake website:

"There is much speculation here. Guild guitars must make a small fortune off sales of their GAD M20 guitar - a modern reproduction of the late1950s M20 that Nick is pictured holding on the cover of Bryter Layter. I had one myself at one stage, and it is undoubtedly a nice guitar, but evidence tells us that that was a photo shoot prop, and not Nick's guitar. Clearly, however, that M20 holds a great deal of magic, because we all know the image from Bryter Layter. Accounts from that day suggest that although it was a prop, Nick loved the guitar... It has been suggested that his early recordings were made using a Yamaha FG180, the same as that used by John Martyn at the same time. He is also pictured several times with an unknown nylon string guitar, possibly a Yamaha S50? (A friend suggested this to me recently, and pictures seem to match). It is my understanding that he was very keen on, and in his later years traded his guitars for, a Martin 000-18, which was used for the recording of his last few songs after Pink Moon. I have found that the best results for trying to make my guitar sound like Nick's is to let the strings get old!! It is reasonable to say that strings were not of the same tonal quality in the 1960s and 70s to what they are now, and it is also likely that Nick used Silk and Steel strings, which were common in that era. You can still get very good quality Silk and Steel strings, and I recommend you try them for an experiment. You will note a severe drop in volume from normal strings though. They feel and sound fantastic though, if volume isn't a priority for you."

The compiler of the Acoustic Guitar Forum entry surmises that the contenders are: Martin D28, Martin 000-15/000-18, Guild F20/M20, Yamaha FG-180 and Levin.

The only existing shot of Nick Drake performing on stage and singing into a microphone. He is playing what appears to be his Levin Dreadnought. Source: unknown, no place and no date.

4. Martin D28 - Now owned by Drake's friend Brian Wells. This is suggested by Robert Kirby, the arranger and musician who worked with Nick on many of his songs and in live performance at Cambridge University.

Richard Kirby: "I only remember a Martin D28 and his Spanish guitar – that is not to say he did not have others. I think he sold the D28 after Pink Moon, but before the 4 last songs, in part exchange for the smaller [Martin] 00015 (or was it 00018). Brian Wells has this Martin and Gabrielle still has the Spanish'' - Robert Kirby interview (Kirby wrote arrangements for Five Leaves Left and Bryter Layter).

Brian Wells suggests that Drake brought the guitar after recording the LP Pink Moon, though Kirby suggests that Drake used the D28 on everything before that, and before getting the Martin 00015 / 00018.

John Cale: Nick bought a "Martin D28 guitar, to supplement his trusty Guild F-20" after he was introduced to John Cale's Martin D12 - a 12 string guitar (according to an interview with Cale in 2007). Source: Peter Hogan, page 43.

5. Spanish guitar - Robert Kirby. At present owned by his sister Gabrielle. Details unknown.

6. Martin 00015 / 00018 - Robert Kirby.

7. Small bodied Guild guitar - Richard Thompson: "I only ever saw Nick play his small-bodied Guild guitar." This most likely refers to Nick's Guild M20.

8. Yamaha FG-180 - "Jeff Dexter, who knew Nick well and worked at Witchseason when he wasn't being everywhere else in the sixties, says Nick's guitars were the Spanish Guitar and a Yamaha Red Label FG the same type as John Martyn had in the early days, most likely an FG-180. The FG-180 had mahogany back and sides, which is why the Guild M20 may have a similar sound."

9. Yamaha - This was used in a Morris photo shoot (see below) and was not owned by Drake. It was used in the Bryter Layter advertising campaign. In some images the sound hole of the guitar is filled in with an image of the sun.