McPherson Guitars Factory Tour Part 2

Acoustic luthier Matt McPherson has twin passions-guitars and archery. Since his youth, McPherson has been fascinated with the physics of wood, but his seemingly polar-opposite interests turned out to complement each other, leading him to develop forward-thinking designs in both realms: He's founder and CEO of Mathews Inc., an archery equipment company that's world-renowned for its light carbon-fiber compound bows, and the lessons he learned about bow tension and dampening translated to intriguing designs in his flattop acoustics-including cantilevered necks and offset soundholes that facilitate a lengthened soundboard, and his trademark "overpass-underpass" bracing, which he says improves sustain by minimizing vibration-absorption points. Today, McPherson leads a team of six luthiers who craft 150--200 exquisitely made boutique acoustics per year in their shop in Sparta, Wisconsin.
Part two of our McPherson Guitars shop tour in Sparta, Wisconsin, goes behind the scenes on the multistep process of final setup for each acoustic, from carving of the Buzz Feiten Tuning System saddles and nuts to filing and dressing frets. We also get an up-close look at three incredible McPherson Custom Shop instruments-one with an incredibly intricate Picasso inlay, one with a nautical theme, and one commemorating the U.S. Declaration of Independence.

[@VitorDuzarte]

The Woolly Mammoth is my favourite animal of all time, and i'm amazed with the Nautical guitar. Hands down, the most beautiful acoustic guitar i've seen.

[@fallenshallrise]

Amazing couple of videos.

[@NguyenHoang-xm9yx]

These are the most beautiful guitars I have ever seen

[@StevieBGoode]

Best guitar factory tour I've ever seen.

[@formationit5039]

I totally agree and I have done the Collings and Santa Cruz tours.

[@jessiesnider7704]

Beautiful...just magnificent.

[@andrewloya76]

Ahhh my hometown. So proud

[@danh5150]

Stunning craftsmanship!! I especially love the Picasso and the Nautical guitars at the end. Well done, sirs. *polite clap*

[@jeffrey3498]

Amazing company; amazing guitars.

[@pwman]

Truly amazing!!!!

[@gnguyenb]

Very interesting couple of videos! Amazing people, knowledge and instruments! Thanks PG!

[@okimotdm]

Great video. Really highlights the artistry and craftsmanship. I love the business model of keeping quantities low and focusing on quality

[@loosetopsystem]

High quality process. very nice :)

[@cheryllakin3077]

The nautical one is spectacular too!!!!

[@johnberry8117]

Custom mastery at its best!

[@Waffle-TH3_C00L3ST]

that nautical guitar is so beautiful. i want to make a tailpiece for my next build with some etched bone now. gorgeous!

[@patrickhale424]

Unbelievable artists are creating awesome guitars at McPherson guitars. I just wish I could afford one. It would make my millennium to own and play one of those guitars !!!

[@dogstarwiley6259]

Wow, Yes.

[@slinkytreekreeper]

Two long videos was super interesting but damn man, nobody even strummed a single guitar once! Cmon guys WTF.

[@eddiegeorge4047]

WOW - the ultimate want one

[@raymondortizrivera4368]

"holy frijoles Batman" amazing!!!!

[@dustoff85]

I am blown away by the Quality, Been playing since 1967 and never heard of McPherson. I have to get one

[@mrfester42]

Makes sense to me. You want to get a 20K guitar that you've never heard before.

[@fargeeks]

Me either until I decided to look up the most expensive accoustics in the world and then came this brand

[@beardedmounjarbro]

I really need to get me one of those McPherson guitars!

[@jabomiles6947]

The 1776 guitar near the end of this video is absolutely amazing.

[@mhajas725]

All I can say is ,,wow,, :)

[@sunlightpictures8367]

Shawn is a great interviewer.

[@formationit5039]

I've owned Collings, Martin, Taylor and Santa Cruz and they are all amazing but honestly, nothing touches this guitar, IMOHO. The excellence of a McPherson emerges not in fit and finish (which is top notch of course) but in things like intonation, overtones, note clarity and volume across strings and this is where the McPherson stands on it's own. This is a grand piano as opposed to an upright, a professional flatop for the discerning player.

[@cheryllakin3077]

Very pretty, especially the 'Picasso' one. I still prefer the soundhole in the traditional spot though.

[@bigrywhat]

I played these guitars at NAMM. Unbelievable. He told me to play it and I didn’t want to because they were so beautiful....and untouchably expensive.

[@davidnisbet2057]

Amazing works of art, Could have mitred the side purfling in to the end graft purfling on the 1776 though! ;)

[@michaelreis8266]

While I'm fascinating by the enormous talent of these Artisan Luthiers, I am a little lost in the fact that I have seen two Videos ie 1hr of footage and I still don't really know what these stunning Guitars sound like! I die a little when I think of Guitars not being played...

[@michaelreis8266]

It's still a thumbs up, but I'll need to take a pill :-P

[@jimmywrangles]

well said, at least one of the bloody things should have been played....They're probably mortally afraid of scratches.

[@bigrywhat]

I’ve played the nautical. It sounds nice. Very playable, but you can tell the price is in the art.

[@johnhulsker9123]

These are orthodontic guitars, not for playing!

[@habtamumulu7720]

Wow💚💚💚💚💚💚💚

[@dookieday1]

Can you do a Maton factory tour

[@ivan868]

Why there is no chamfer on the fret`s end at the end of neck?

[@jeffreyowens1718]

be good to hear what it sounded like

[@dereksmith1159]

Damn.

[@cheryllakin3077]

You'd think they could have played one, right????!!!!

[@hilariogonzalez5787]

5,000 USD uff!!unos 98,000 pesos mexicanos, "una ganga". 🎭

[@seandan68]

Don't be confused that is not Matt McPherson.....this is McPherson Guitars' Matt McPherson Interview

[@216trixie]

Wow. Wow. Wow.

[@kadikardigans4483]

How much ebony guitat seris

[@johnhulsker9123]

Why not just an adjustable truss rod?

[@jeffreyowens1718]

why is the sound hole in a different place ?

[@kennethbransford820]

Prime real estate spot , man has been making guitars wrong all these years . The vibrating top is where all the sound comes from so not having the neck of the guitar attached to the top ( cantilevered neck ) and moving the sound hole to where it is now makes sense although I think there may be one more innovation here and that would be not to have a sound hole at all bot using fluted holes instead like KEVIN RYAN does , though he still uses the standard sound hole with fluted holes on the side edge of the guitar, but his necks are still attached to the vibrating tops . Still to much money for me @ 10,000 + .

[@adamhill3107]

I don't know if I would want a guy that's made a life choice to wear a mullet making my custom guitar! !

[@CMCustom112]

We make out guitars exclusively from ancient extinct creatures. Can you HEAR the decadence? It sounds like the cry of a thousand ghostly Woolly Mammoths!

[@hifijohn]

I hate to think how much these guitars cost.

[@waynegoff764]

So are people going to look at the guitars or play them?

[@javiercifuentes5573]

Rosewood from Brazil is a prohibited wood

[@jeffreyowens1718]

be good if to hear what it sounded lime

[@mrfester42]

I'm sure it doesn't sound like a lime and for 20k or there abouts, I hope it doesn't sound like a lemon either.

[@marksikun]

Hey Eric, we need to talk.

[@kellyguitars6185]

As cool as the Picasso is I would never inlay something that big over Brazilian rosewood😂

[@John-wr6yo]

35,000 not

[@martyisabeliever]

McPherson Guitars :"Guitars so nice... you'll never hear 'em sing"

[@maxbauer1633]

awsome instruments but oh man they could have strummed it once.....!!!!

[@ChuckNorrisCutsMyLaw]

They're not meant to be played

[@midi510]

Snake Plissken You can't be serious. Mine is the only 6 string acoustic I have. When I play acoustic, 99% chance it's my Mcpherson.

[@edsthelion]

+midi510 Buy a sense of humour if you have any change left over from buying that MacPherson after boasting about it to the whole internets why don't ya.

[@midi510]

+edsthelion It's true, my sense of humor is off, and I tend to be rather literal. Just saying I have a McPherson in context isn't boasting. It's not even that much money. I drive a car that's worth $500. I could have a $40,000 pickup like many of my friends, and play a $500 guitar. You probably wouldn't thing that was extravagant.

[@HBSuccess]

I'm in the minority of commenters - but needing to sell what is essentially still a factory-built guitar for $10-20,000 and wait 6 mo, primarily because the factory is incredibly inefficient doesn't make any sense to me. If I was going to spend that kind of $$, and wait that long I'm going to a real luthier and have him/her build me what I want start to finish. 1/10 the price will buy you any number of Martin/Taylor/Breedlove et al that will sound and play just as well as a McPherson. But to each his/her own. The scrimshaw stuff on the 1776 is pretty great though. But for $50k it had better be.

[@midi510]

Tioga Fretworks With some of the features that I imagine are patented, you can only get a McPherson from McPherson. I have never heard another acoustic guitar with the volume and sustain as my McPherson. An $8,000 martin will (should) have fantastic tone, but I guarantee it won't have the volume and sustain as a McPherson. It seems like such a shame to me now, to think of the fretboard being attached to the vibrating top of an acoustic guitar. McPherson is the only guitar I've ever seen with a cantilevered fretboard.

[@AZCobraman]

Some people are just as interested in exclusivity as they are in tone/beauty/etc. You can make 500 guitars a month, or 12 and price them to bring in the same amount of money. They have chosen the 12 and evidently can sell enough to actually make it work. I've been building since '99 and played a lot of custom guitars, but I have yet to even encounter a McPherson in the wild.

[@jaezryl]

I know it is late but I want to clarify things for you. Wood moves and deforms even after cutting. Guitar necks are notorious for that. That is why when you hurry the process up, you would notice a very off measurement later on. Big companies like Takamine make necks and other parts in advance and let them sit in a controlled area and let the wood move for several months.

[@Doty6String]

“It’s $50,000”………

[@giacimasu]

E' no.... many words and no sound its no right

[@peybak]

Picasso was a foreigner? wtf