September 2011

The Fret-King Roadshow:
hundreds of fans, plenty of dates and a truckload of affordable boutique guitars


Between September 12th and 23rd, Fret-King® went out on the road across the UK to showcase guitar guru Trev Wilkinson's contribution to the world of the electric guitar. Trev joined Jerry Donahue and respected Fret-King clinician Gav Coulson to show off the capabilities of what he dubs “my affordable boutique guitars”.

The first week saw Jerry – who has been afforded the first in the new line of signature Black Label Fret-King models – and Gav head up and down the country to play in a number of music stores and venues. Gav's opening sets highlighted the top-notch performance of Fret-King's Blue and Green Label ranges, before Jerry wowed punters with performances, explanations of his signature Black Label JD guitar and stories from his 40 years in the industry.

One stop was Allegro Music in Biggar, Scotland. Allegro partner Kieron O'Neill, who resorted to hiring a local hall when he realised demand would be too large to accommodate the roadshow in the shop, said: “We had more than 50 folk in, and we all really enjoyed it! We had people come from as far as Edinburgh [25 miles away]. Some of Jerry's diehard fans came along as well, and they got to hear some pretty good music! Jerry explained his involvement with Trev Wilkinson throughout the process and gave a great overview of the guitar. He's a really unique player.”



Another happy host was Chris Fairley, owner of Guitarzone in Halifax, who said: “Jerry played a few tracks, answered people's questions, and was very interesting. He's an amazing player. It was great – when he gets up and plays, people just seem to think, 'gosh, I want one of those!'”

And Colin Dymond, of Intersound in Dursley, Gloucestershire, added: “It was a nice crowd, and Jerry was great!”

Jerry said: “It was a most enjoyable week of clinics with wonderful response from the guitar-playing attendees – good questions and feedback throughout. I was proud to demonstrate the special attributes of my new Fret King JD and many guitars were sold at the clinics as soon as I'd finished playing!”

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