For Jon Gomm, one of the modern masters of percussive fingerstyle, the possibilities for acoustic guitar are limitless. He reveals the secrets of his jawdropping techniques to TG, and explains how the magic happens when “two brains materialise...”

Words Amit Sharma Photos Tom-Martin / Elizabeth Giomm

In recent years, Blackpoolborn singer-songwriter Jon Gomm has taken his dazzling acoustic techniques to new creative peaks. His no-holds-barred approach is one that borrows from a smorgasbord of tapped harmonics, tuning peg bends and two-handed percussive ideas, and combinations thereof – fuelling a rare gift that can transform one instrument into what feels like an orchestra. 2020 saw the release of Jon’s signature Ibanez JGM10, designed to enhance all the nuances of modern fingerstyle techniques and meet the demands of those who swear by them. He is the man once described by Stephen Fry as an “all-round genius” for “playing the guitar in a way I’d never seen before”. If anyone knows how to get the most out of an acoustic guitar, it’s Jon Gomm...

With your Ibanez signature, how exactly did you ensure it would be perfectly suited to the modern percussive fingerstyle player?

We’ve all seen this new playing style grow, from songwriters like me using tapping and percussive techniques, to people playing incredible solo acoustic versions of covers on YouTube. So Ibanez wanted to make a guitar specifically designed for that style, and they approached me to help create it. They’ve been amazing throughout, very open-minded. It has a huge range of features to that end –a new bracing pattern to bring out bass and harmonics, ergonomic shaping in various places, an incredible custom pickup system and so much more. It sounds stunning and ultimately makes various techniques a lot easier to play, because trying to play modern fingerstyle on a guitar that’s not built for it is really hard.