The Blue Ridge Luthiers

Tom Brockman's McPherson - Quilted Mahogany from "The Tree"

McPherson limited edition. Number 12 of 15 produced. 3.5 inch model (at tailpiece) 25.5 scale. Quilted mahogany from "The Tree". Top is Adirondack spruce. Purchased in January 2010 from Westwood music in Los Angeles. Retail $8700. Built in active pickup.

More about "The Tree" here.

Tom Brockman's Campellone

Campellone Deluxe model. 25.5" scale. Kent Armstrong neck pickup. 17 inch lower bout. Solid carved top and back. Spruce and curly maple. Purchased from Stan at Mandolin Brothers in Staten Island in February of 2007. Retail value of $5700. Currently using flatwound strings.

Pat Dewar's Santa Cruz

2009 Santa Cruz 00. I bought it in 2019 for $3300 (Reverb has a few listed from $5000 - $7500 - might be the best “investment” I’ve ever made). Its Indian Rosewood with a Sitka soundboard. 24.75” scale. Best sounding guitar in my stable for all round tone.

Tom Pafford's Silvertone

My favorite guitar, played at home or in more quiet settings, is a Silver Tone brand that I purchased about 10 years ago from the zZounds music catalog. It was advertised as a $500 guitar on super special sale for $160.

In my limited experience, it has the most comfortable action of any guitar I've ever played. It is heavy for an acoustic, and it is not the loudest projecting guitar. It is very durable. I haven't had a case for it until recently.

It's been to the humid Beach, and it's been out in the cold around the campfire. Never a warp. Never a crack. It deserves better care than I've given it. It is supposed to have a Sitka spruce top, and laminate sides and back with I believe it is a rosewood veneer. It came with Grover tuners. Which have worked flawlessly. The label says it is made to us standards in Indonesia. Mahogany neck that has stayed straight and flat.

Larry Sakayama's Blackwater River - built for himself

This guitar is one of a set of four guitars built for former bandmates. The band was called "Hard Water" and we played together in the early 1970s. This now my main performing guitar. I started all four guitars in 2013 and finished them in 2016.

Grand Concert, Sitka spruce top, myrtlewood back and sides, slotted headstock, Schertler tuners, mahogany neck, Venetian cutaway, side soundport, K&K Pure Mini pickup with volume control, 25.4" scale.

David Motley's Froggy Bottom

Froggy Bottom Guitars (Michael Millard, Vermont) Grand concert, H12 Deluxe, purchased new in 2011.
12 frets to the body, East Indian Rosewood back and sides, 1-3/4" nut, body depth 4-1/4".