It was fun while it lasted

Recently I had the fortune and privilege of “needing” to borrow a McPherson guitar for a while. I have known about them for probably 2-3 years now, but have only seen one in person—at the airport in a glassed in case. I haven’t even heard one, whether in concert or in a music store, and since Gruhn Guitars is their only dealer here, and I am rarely in there, the opportunity of “needing” to borrow one was quite a treat.

Upon opening up the deluxe Ameritage case, I gave the guitar a look over, which was quite nice. The top is Engelmann Spruce, and the back and sides are Brazilian Rosewood, the holy grail of tone woods for guitars. Of course I had to play it. This particular guitar is a 3.5, meaning the width of the body is 3.5", and in their product line, the widths go up from there. Even though Engelmann is not an exotic wood persay, it is very nice and it’s a great tone wood for tops. Brazilian Rosewood in my possession (temporarily) was quite a treat to see though, and when I first strummed this guitar after looking it over and tuning it, the sound that came out of it was blissful. I HAD TO PLAY IT.

The more I played it, the more I liked it and each time, I paid attention to the sound as it came out of the offset sound hole, which is one of McPherson’s design features that distinguishes them from everyone else. Even the braces inside look like a work of art, which you can see in the small photo album on our flickr site here.

If you are ever in a music store that is a McPherson dealer, ask to play one and check it out for yourself. Then drop me a line and let me know what you think about them. I had to ship the guitar back to its owner last week, and was bummed, but it was fun while it lasted.