MacPherson Guitarworks, Over Three Decades of Old-School Craftsmanship ...

For over 3 decades Dennis MacPherson has been providing old-school craftsmanship, hand building custom acoustic & electric guitars. MacPherson started out his guitar making career in 1979 at Oscar Schmidt International, making Harmony guitars and Oscar Schmidt auto harps. He was also directly responsible for hand making rosewood bars for xylophones and marimbas. "This experience gave me the understanding of cutting and tuning woods to pitch, a skill well suited for making fine acoustic guitars," MacPherson said.

Over the years Dennis has also worked with renowned luthier and teacher Frank Finocchio and master pearl inlay artist Dave Nichols. Although not always a fulltime luthier, Dennis has continued working in his home based shop for more than 30 years. He is now a full time luthier and his authorized service shop is located in beautiful Ringwood, New Jersey where he continues to build beautiful handcrafted Black Pearl guitars as well as hand wound humbucker and single coil pickups.

Private instruction on the craft of guitar making is also available. Dennis has built several custom acoustic and electric guitars for recording artists the Jonas Brothers and guitar player extraordinaire Toby Walker. “I am still building guitars both acoustic and electric one at a time by hand. I am not in any hurry and I want to provide my clients with the best instrument possible," MacPherson said. "This approach allows me to spend considerably more time with each order with the end result of providing a custom guitar that reflects the unique needs and wishes of its owner."

Custom neck widths and body shapes, scale lengths and fingerboard radiuses are available as well as unique and personal inlay designs. Wood selection and design esthetics are all part of the custom guitar experience creating the desired tone, feel and look is my goal for each instrument .

Client consultation is the key to crafting the perfect instrument, MacPherson said. "I hope you have the opportunity to stop by the web site at macphersonguitarworks.com or blackpearlguitars.com and if you are in the area, please don’t hesitate to stop by the shop in beautiful Ringwood NJ"

Dennis MacPherson is building Local Music Gear a maple jumbo acoustic guitar that will be on display at our booth at upcoming shows and events. It's final home will be a local high school in 2013.