Oracle Guitars
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Oracle Guitars
By: Todd Johnston
Handcrafted in
www.oracleguitars.com
717-468-8807
email : oracleguitarmaker@yahoo.com
I began my
guitar building journey after many years of playing acoustic guitar, mostly
alternate innovative tunings,to fit my style of play. Then I heard Michael
Hedges, ....That was it..... I had to have a guitar with that range and timber.
In my search for the handmade guitar of my liking, I found a wonderful man and
friend named Kevin Gallagher, (who builds the most amazing guitars out there!)
who in our discussion on the creation of a guitar for my style said, "Sounds to
me like you have the talent and inspiration to build your own." and mentioned
that he would like to teach me the art of building and be his first student.
Kevin and his advanced knowledge of guitars had me building beautiful guitars in
no time at all, and so became Oracle Guitars, named for Michael Hedges last
release "Oracle"..
After many
years of learning and experimenting I have developed a unique style of building
itself as well as inventing some instruments of my own. My technique consists of
almost entirely hand crafting everything from the bare essentials, antique tools
and some beautiful wood. Each guitar is an individually crafted instrument built
to the players demands, a finger-style guitar and a flat picking guitar although
they may have the same woods are completely different instruments to me. The
construction would reflect the needs of the style. Unlike a factory guitar that
everything is the exact same thickness and dimensions. Each set of bracing is
hand split and made according to the player and his style, same with the rest of
the instrument.
Which is the
basis of Oracle Guitars, truly individually handcrafted..............to each
player.
Todd
Johnston: Luthier/Designer
Sound Bites of Oracle Guitars played by Todd