McPherson Guitars

McPherson Guitars started in Sparta, Wisconsin in the late 1990s, when Matt McPherson set out to revisit the conventional acoustic guitar from the inside out. By 2001 the shop was building heirloom-quality wooden flat-tops in small numbers, hand-crafted by a team of luthiers and priced — even then — at the high end of the boutique market. Matt McPherson is also the founder and CEO of Mathews Archery, the world's leading archery company and another Sparta institution; the same engineering instincts that produce precision compound bows show up across McPherson's guitar work, from the cantilevered neck to the all-composite bridge and saddle systems. The McPherson sound has its own character. The offset asymmetrical soundhole is the visual signature — distinctive and intentional, part of the brand's identity for over two decades. The more consequential design choice is the cantilevered neck, where the fretboard extension hovers above the top instead of gluing to it.