bigcohoona
big~C
I haven't, have never seen one in person. Tell me about them?
Where to start... The story began while a Captain in the Air Force locked in a vault, within a vault, within a vault (Nuclear Weapons). I was the lucky guy who was pulling shift with a particularly colorful individual who had shrapnel in his head, was a bow hunting addict, and somewhat... well, lets just say he got along better with Antelope than people, usually because the antelope weren't around long after they met. We'll call him "Dee".
During this shift "Dee" saw me researching guitars and proceeded to tell me about his favorite Bows "Mathews" and that the guy who made them started making guitars and that I should really check them out because he made great bows, etc. etc. etc. and etc. etc. etc. My reply was "Brother I've been researching acoustic guitars, studio equipment, electric guitars, live gear, etc. for 20 years I'd be surprised if I hadn't already heard of them if they were worth me looking at". Well, I was wrong.
Mathew McPherson added to his fortune 500 company "Mathews" with "McPherson Guitars". Matt had always wanted to start a guitar company as his Dad had been a good luthier and also very innovative. I love this particular story because I am so impressed with Matt McPherson as a man. This guy developed an extremely patentable single cam design for bows which he could have made millions on but instead gave it away to the industry just to see the industry grow. He has the only fortune 500 company in the Bow hunting industry.
His guitars incorporate the same graphite material from his bows in the center of the necks so that they never warp as well as an off center sound-hole and fretboard that never touches the top of the guitar, it's suspended so as not to deter any resonance. He also appoints them with the Buzz Feiten system which I am convinced provides some of the best sustain in the acoustic guitar business.
I sold every guitar I owned (6 at the time) to buy one, found a Redwood/Rosewood combo and to this day it is the best guitar I have ever owned. Looking back I should have got a Spruce but I bought it off a Real Estate Tycoon in Phoenix that had purchased 5, $6000 guitars to learn how to play... he decided everybody played 6 string so he decided to pick up Bass instead. This guy even overnighted the guitar to me on his dollar ($500) thanked me for my service and my hope is that he is happily banging away somewhere on a Fender Custom Shop Jazz Fretless.
The workmanship, innovation, tone, and incredible service from the McPherson factory combine to make one of the best overall choices available in my very humble opinion. Amazing craftsman, amazing guitars, amazing company. I had the opportunity to visit their factory in Sparta Wisconsin while being transferred to Cape Cod, just incredible.
For me this was the culmination of a 2 year endeavor to find the best acoustic guitar out there. Led me to Collings, Larivees, Takamine's, Taylors, Martins, etc. I even drove to Canada to buy a Takamine "Storm" Ltd edition... I sold them all for this one and wasn't disappointed in the least. My tale ends with having to sell it a few years back to put food on the table. But it would be a hard call to buy a PRS over a McPherson. With 5 children now I can't imagine spending that kind of money again, so an S2 PRS would be very welcome indeed.
McPherson Website:
http://mcphersonguitars.com/technology/
This doesn't highlight Phil Keagy's ability but gives a great overall picture of a McPherson tone:
[video]https://youtu.be/Ke_CgqrnHR4[/video]
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