A late entrant in the competition, Josh was the last of 17 competitors to take to the Prince of Wales stage. 

“Dad and I just got here and we saw this and I thought ‘oh well, I’ll give it a go,” Josh told the Opera House audience, before launching into one of his own compositions, Waterslide. 

His performance was a crowd favourite and also impressed the judges, who awarded him the guitar made by luthier Gerard Gilet.

Urged on by the audience, Josh immediately tried out his new instrument with a performance of Classical Gas. 

Josh, 18, has been playing guitar for 10 years and came to the Gulgong Folk Festival in the hope of jamming with fellow folk musicians. 

Josh has recently recorded with Shane Howard, the former lead singer of Goanna and has a gig supporting Thirsty Merc in Orange soon. 

“I’d like to ride the wave as long as possible,” he said. 

Mr Gilet said he supported the guitar competition because he wanted people to hear how the instrument sounded when stripped of modern amplification and accessories. 

Mr Gilet began making guitars 40 years ago when he was unable to find the type of instrument he wanted to play. 

“My old man was a keen woodworker and I played guitar, and when I couldn’t find the guitar I’d like, I decided to try and make them,” he said. 

Mr Gilet spent more than 100 hours crafting the prize guitar, based on a Bay State guitar. 

“I’m really happy with it,” he said. “In the spirit of the Gulgong Folk Festival, it’s a bit environmental in that some of the materials are recycled.” 

The guitar is made from only Australian timbers including bunya pine, with a Queensland maple neck and brigalow fingerboard. 

The dots in the fingerboard were made from old darning needs Mr Gilet found at St Vinnies. 

History was repeated in the talent quest on Saturday when the final entrant of the day, Samantha Bourke, of Wellington,  won the main prize, impressing the audience with her rendition of I Can’t Help Falling in Love.