GALLAGHER
Guitars
I noticed some things set Gallagher apart
from other guitar building companies, one
being the amazing way they document the
history of each guitar.
“(My dad) started a ledger of every guitar
we’ve sold since 1965—the year we went
into business full-time,” said Don. “The
model number, the serial number, who
bought the guitar, where they lived when
ent. The phrase “heirloom guitar” was used
often. It seems their focus is to build guitars
that last from generation to generation. This
runs against the grain of some of today’s
boutique builders.
In today’s high-end acoustic business,
there is a trend of building a guitar that
sounds great off the line. Keep the break-in period as short as possible, or eliminate
in. These vintage guitars’ blossom is legendary. This bit of history is not lost in the
Gallagher process.
“We use what I call an eggshell effect,” said
Don. “A flat surface is not nearly as strong
as a radius. Our radiuses makes (our guitars)
structurally stronger. We don’t thin our tops
and backs down as much as some because
we hope you will pass the guitar down from
they bought it, when it was purchased,
when and why it comes back in for repair
or modification… it all gets recorded. If we
are made aware of an ownership change,
we put that down too. Some guitars have
an amazing history. It also helps us track our
progress and see trends.”
Throughout the tour and during my chat
with Don, another difference became appar-
Craftsman Tom Fuss carefully works on a guitar’s frets. He says that working for Gallagher is, “Like a family.”
it completely. Ultra thin everything, and a generation to generation. We are building
resonance-at-all-costs focus, makes for a guitars for folks who I helped build guitars
guitar that dominates on the sales floor. for their grandfathers in the sixties!”
But the downside is that a guitar built this
way needs consistent atmospheric stasis in
order to survive decades, much less generations. It’s also quite a contrast to the
legendary early and mid-century Martins,
Guilds and Gibsons that often took as
much as a year of frequent playing to break
For example, in 1968, Gallagher delivered
the last guitar built that year to Grand Ole
Opry and Hee Haw star Grandpa Jones on
Christmas Eve as a present from his wife.
His great nephew Philip Steinmetz still plays
and performs with that same little GC70!
