~At Wartrace

-- -TidE NASH\ILLE BANNER. ;\100., Ma-rch 11. 1,,,'5-1

Craftsmen Turn Out Quality GuitarsBy LAWRENCE McKENNA

Assistant State Editor

WARTRACE - The tool

used most is a pocketknife and the atmosphere isthat of the perfectionist.

It's not a noisy factory atWartrace, near Shelbyville,and there are only three work-ers. J. W. Gallager & SonGuitar Company turns outcustom instruments in a pricerange from $250to $450.

If something more" is need-ed, exclusive instruments canbe ordered.

. An entertainer from Chat-tanooga asked for a 12-stringguitar with seven diamondsfor finger position markers.

. It will also have an ebonyborder with mother of pearlinlay over the entire instru-ment. The price is $1,25Q;

'fhe craftsmen are JohI\William Gallagher, his son,

I Don, and Robert Reed. Themen make only two or thr~

I guitars a week, all by hand.Peter Yarrow, hetter known

as one-third of the Peter, Pauland Mary trio set to appearMarch 22 at Nashville Muni-cipal Auditorium, has ordereda Gallagher guitar. It is beingconducted personally by thesel]ior Gallagher, who hasDe'en makil1£ them for morethan 4O--yeafS:~

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Owner of J. W. Gallagher & Son Guitar Company at Wartrace, John WilliamGallagher admires and inspects finished and partially finished instruments

before allowing them to be so!!._

Take the TimeThe men take the time with

the lost art to develop "justthe right tone" in their instru-ments.

If they were interested in

t'). just quantity and productionj they could turn out cheap as-

sembly line products. They areconcerned with quality, quali-

{ ty in woodand other mate-11 rials that go into the guitars.! Any instrument judged im-

I'r perfect in any way is com-I pletely destroyed.

I . Each Gallagher guitar ismade of carefully selectedwoods from Alaska and Ger-many, fully aged and sea-

'I soned in the Wartrace shop.I The ivory used on the instru-

ments is imported from India.'il The guitar bodies are hand

made with each rib and brace1;

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hand shaped and smoothed;~ the necks are laminated ma-

hog.any and fitted with anextra heavy truss rod, ad-justable from inside the bodywhich makes for an easier,more reliable adjustment andpreserves the Gallagher de-

I, sign., The necks are hand mated

\; to the bodies and "the com-I plete instrument is as har-I; monic'1Uy, and chromatically! tr':.e as it is humanly possible

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"4~ make a stringed instru-: ment," the owner stated.

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' He said the tone and balance. of the guitars improve as the

instrument ages. ~..J

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"Each guitar' is warranfeto the original owner for lifeagainst defective material orimperfect workmanship," theowner proudly commented.

It all began when Gallagher'.was a boy and wanted a gui-. tar of his own. He said hecou41 not come up with the

, moneyto buyoneso he gotapattern and a pocketknife. It

, took him two years to makehis first guitar.

C Little did he realize t hata boyhood desire would cre-ate a company with a trade-mark (an Old English G/inmother of pearl) known andrespected everywhere.

The owner stated, however,that this will change the first

. of next year when the com.Ipany n a m e will the n be, stamped inside the guitars

with a hardened steel dye.; "I expect them to some-! day b e com e a collector's

itein," he added seriously.

[" Don, 20, a senior math ma-jor at Middle Tennessee Stat~

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. University, Murfreesboro,said. he learned the art of handcrafting guitars from his fa-ther and has be~n assistinghim for more than five years.

"One of the most importantsteps in making a guitar is

! the curing of the wood," he1stated. "When wood is dellv-~ered the moisture has to be; removed in a dry kiln to pre-1 vent it from spreading and

-.'ff ,.". Ow"" G"'~~ ~ . ____Don Gallag~.~orms the ribs oe'a guitar, an art be ',r;, icked up" fr.?m bi~ fatber. 1,' J ,1." r- - I, - ~ -~ ,

cracking later when formed inthe instrument.

"It is not something youcan determine by just lookingat a guitar either. You have!to wait a few years. If the twood has not been properlycured the instrument will us-ually fall apart in that time."

The third worker, Reed, 30,who played a guitar profes-sionally, has also been repair-ing guitars just about all hislife.

He told of performing week-ly on television and in Nash-ville recording sessions butadded, "Don't forget the boss.He used to play with HankWilliams Sr., J e l' l' Y Riversand Dale Potter."

Knowledgeof Gallagher gui-tars is passed on mainly byone performer commenting toanother, or one owner with aneye for perfection and an earfor tone discovering the in-struments.

The pocket kihife continuesto be the main 'tool, and qual-ity guitars the main goal asthe three Wartrace craftsmanlook to the future, happy thatthe company retailed $20,000last year.

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