A New Era for Gallagher Guitars
Photos Courtesy of Gallagher Guitar Company
Gallagher is a name that for nearly sixty years has been associated with finely crafted acoustic guitars. For nearly that same length of time, Gallagher Guitars has also been tied to one of the finest flatpicking guitar players to ever put a pick to strings—the legendary Doc Watson.
The Gallagher Guitar Company was founded in Wartrace, Tennessee by furniture maker John William Gallagher—known to most as J.W.—in 1965. The Gallagher Cabinet Shop had opened in Wartrace in 1939. J.W. built furniture in that shop. In the 1950’s J.W. had also worked building scale models for a wind tunnel at the Arnold Engineering and Development Center in Tullahoma, Tennessee, but continued to build furniture on the side.
In 1963, J.W. became the shop supervisor for the Shelby Guitar Company in Shelbyville, Tennessee. That company was started by the Slingerland Drum Company who had a plant in Shelbyville where they manufactured drum sticks and drum heads. Unfortunately, the guitar company folded after producing about 100 guitars. J.W. then decided to start his own guitar building company in 1965 and called it J.W. Gallagher & Son. The “Son” part of the name was to include J.W.’s son Don Gallagher. Don had started learning how to build guitars at the Shelby Guitar Company during the summer before his junior year in high school.
The company became involved with Doc Watson in 1968 when J.W. and Don attended the Union Grove fiddler’s convention in North Carolina. J.W. had brought some guitars with him, including a Gallagher G-50 model that he had built that year (serial number 68001). J.W. had no intention of selling the guitar because it had a crack in the side of it that he had repaired. In an article printed in the Jan/Feb 1997 issue of Flatpicking Guitar Magazine, Don remembered, “Doc and Merle were playing under a tree. Dad introduced himself to Merle. We stopped at their home on the way out of town and dad took out the guitar to show Doc. We had several guitars, including a rosewood G-70, but Doc said he liked the sound of the mahogany guitar. Dad mentioned the crack to Doc. ‘Shucks son,’ he said, ‘I can’t see it any how.’ Dad told him he could use it with no strings attached except for the ones on the guitar. He just asked Doc to return it if he ever decided not to play it anymore.”
Doc Watson continued to play that Gallagher guitar, nick-named “Old Hoss” until 1974. It was the guitar he famously used on the Will The Circle Be Unbroken album. In 1974 Gallagher built Doc a new guitar with a neck made to Doc’s specifications. The neck was patterned after a Gibson Les Paul model that Doc owned. When the new guitar was finished, Doc sent back “Old Hoss” and for many years it was displayed in the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum. Doc Watson continued to play Gallagher guitars for the majority of his remaining career, although towards the end of his life he was also playing a guitar build for him by Wayne Henderson.
J.W. Gallagher (born in February, 1915) passed away in June of 1979 and Don Gallagher took over the company and ran it until 2015. In 2015 Don started having some health issues that required surgery and decided to turn the company over to his son Stephen. By May of 2019 Stephen, who had been working in the shop with his father since 2004, decided that he wanted to move on to a new chapter in his life and closed the shop. In a recent interview Don Gallagher said, “Stephen wanted to do other things. He loves horses and has had a horse since the 6th grade. He now lives in Bell Buckle and has a farm and a few horses of his own. He also trains and boards horses for other people and sells insurance. He is doing real good with the insurance. He is a people person, a lot more so than me. He is very outgoing. I was very happy sitting back there in the shop and doing pearl inlay work. That didn’t work so well for him.”
When David Mathis heard that the Gallagher’s were closing their doors, he felt the need to do something to keep the iconic guitar brand alive. Although David was a clinical phycologist, with no experience in guitar building, he was a big fan of Gallagher guitars. He said, “I grew up in the area and I learned my first chords on a 1967 Gallagher G-50. I was also ready for a new challenge in my life. That was part of the motivation. I also thought that it was a sad thing that this company was going to become a footnote in history and I wanted to find a way to keep it going. About two months after they announced they were closing, I reached out and we began having a discussion about whether they would transfer ownership. At the end of September, 2019 they officially turned over ownership to myself and my wife, Reina.”
By the time the Gallaghers had closed the shop they were no longer building guitars for music stores, but were still taking some custom orders. In addition to purchasing the Gallagher brand, Mathis also acquired everything in the Gallagher shop and moved it to a new facility in Murfreesboro, Tennessee (about 30 miles north of Wartrace). David said, “We took anything that was still useable. The only thing Don did not want to let go was J.W.’s bandsaw that he had owned since 1933. We got all of the other equipment and benches. The most iconic piece to me that we still have is the side-bending machine. That was the side-bending machine that J.W. built in 1965. It bent the sides for Doc’s first Gallagher and every other Dreadnought that came out of that shop. We still have and use that.”
The new Gallagher shop was officially opened for business on New Year’s Day, 2020. Mathis had hired people who worked in the old Gallagher shop and a few others who had instrument building experience. He said, “My guys were so eager to work that they came in to work that day.” He added, “The decision to move forward and purchase Gallagher depended on locating individuals who could help me reestablish it. I had three individuals who had worked at Gallagher in the past that came in—one of them was full time and the other two part time—and they helped us get on our feet. I still have a relatively young team that have learned these skills and we are now building guitars at a very high level of craftsmanship.”
Don Gallagher also helped with the transition and David says, “Don has provided us with great support.” When asked about the new shop and the guitars they are producing, Don Gallagher said, “I am real pleased with what David Mathis is doing. I would have liked for Stephen to have continued running the business, but he didn’t have the interest. David was the best alternative. He was familiar with the business and had a feel for what it was about. He is doing a wonderful job. I am tickled to death. It thrills me to know that the name is going to continue. David is bringing a lot of new energy and taking the production to another level.”
When asked how long it took before the new shop was producing Gallagher guitars, David said, “I don’t remember exactly, but I remember my 60th birthday was the first week in February and we finished a guitar that I still have. It is a G-60 that was built for me and that was the second guitar that was built under our new serial number system. At the end, the serial number system had became a little unclear. To make a clear line of demarcation, we started at 3800. Now we are at 4260, and climbing. The first year we didn’t build a lot of guitars because we had to shut down our shop for a while because of COVID. But, also, our first job was to learn how to build a great guitar. Secondly, we had to learn how to do that consistently. The third phase, which we are now in, is to learn how to do it efficiently.”
Although David has been learning how to do some work in the shop, he mostly oversees production and handles the administrative side of the business and enjoys managing and working with clients, artists and dealers. He has worked to build relationships with both dealers and individual buyers. He states that today the majority of the guitars leaving the shop are going to stores. He said, “They make it possible for people to step into a store and play a Gallagher for the first time. Unfortunately, a lot of people have never played a Gallagher because they haven’t been easily accessible. That is part of our focus now…getting them to dealers. We want people to have the opportunity to play one for themselves.”
When he purchased the guitar company, David started scaling back his work in psychology to the point where he fully retired from that work a year and a half ago and now commits all his time to the guitar making business. While his wife continues with her full-time job outside of the shop, she also does some behind-the-scenes work at the guitar company.
The new shop has continued to produce models that the Gallaghers had produced for many years, such as the G-50, the G-70, the Doc Watson model and the Doc Watson signature model. They have also continued the Jim Hurst signature model and Ragtime Special model. When asked if there have been any changes to the design of these Gallagher models, David said, “From the beginning, Gallagher was known to be a heavy guitar—really strongly built. So, one of the things that we have done is what I call ‘modernizing the guitar.’ We have stayed true to the form, the shape and the specs. But we have found ways to lighten up the guitar where it is not as heavy. I would say if you look at our bridges and saddles and neck alignment, we have very tight specs and we are very consistent.”
In addition to continuing to produce Gallagher’s tried and true models, the new shop has also started to add new models to the Gallagher product line. Two of those that would be of interest to bluegrass players are the Bluegrass Bell and the Josh Rinkel signature model. The Bluegrass Bell is a guitar that Gallagher is building which is modeled after a 1937 Martin D-18 design. David said, “It is a big strong bluegrass machine.” One of the professional players on the road today who is playing the Gallagher Bluegrass Bell is Adam McIntosh. Adam is currently touring with Joe Mullins and the Radio Ramblers and also released a solo album on Billy Blue Records earlier this year.
When asked about how he came to be interested in Gallagher guitars, Adam said, “I was at the IBMA convention in Raleigh and there were some Gallagher guitars at the Acoustic Shoppe’s booth. I started to play a Doc Watson model. There was a guy standing there, who I assumed maybe worked for the Acoustic Shoppe. He asked me how I liked the guitar. I told him that I liked that it was easy to play and that it seemed more lively than the older Gallagher models. It had a very nice voice.”
The guy standing at the booth turned out to be David Mathis. Adam said, “He didn’t introduce himself until after I’d given him my opinion about the guitar, so I knew he was looking for an honest answer.” From there, Adam and David formed a friendship. Adam was impressed with David and became interested in ordering a Gallagher. After playing a Bluegrass Bell, he knew that was the model that he wanted.
While his Bluegrass Bell was being built, David loaned Adam a Doc Watson model to use on stage. When asked why he chose the Bluegrass Bell over the other models, Adam said, “The Bluegrass Bell has bracing more like an old Martin, which was what I was used to. Also, the Madagascar, combined with Gallagher’s design, give the guitar a lot of ‘umph’—it pushes the bottom end.” Adam has been performing with his Gallagher Bluegrass Bell since he received it in November of 2023.
The Josh Rinkel Signature model Gallagher was born when Josh, the former guitar player for the Po’ Ramblin’ Boys, came to Gallagher to order a custom guitar. David said, “Because we knew what Josh needed and how he played, we changed our design slightly on our bracing and we got a nice strong bluegrass guitar. Originally, the guitar was built as a custom G-50. He knew what he wanted visually. But then we worked on what it needed to provide for him as a player. After we built it, we liked the voicing of it so well that we talked with Josh about a signature model. So, we now offer that.”
Regarding his signature model Gallagher guitar, Josh said, “I met David at Merlefest. I think it was in 2022. C.J. (Lewandowski) bought a Gallagher from them and I would play it from time-to-time on the road.” Josh was interested in buying a back-up guitar to the one that he owned because he said that he is really hard on a guitar—he plays hard and the band was traveling into a lot of different environments, in terms of climate, which is also hard on a guitar. He said, “We might play in Florida one day and then fly to Arizona the next. That can be hard on a guitar.”
Thinking that it would be a good idea to have a second guitar in case his main guitar needed to have some work done on it, Josh talked with Gallagher since he was so impressed with the guitar C.J. had purchased from them. He said, “I wanted a sunburst, but I wanted the center of the burst to be the natural wood. I also didn’t want any markers on the fingerboard and I wanted both the finger board and the peghead to be bound with black binding. I also wanted an Adirondack spruce top.” Gallagher accepted all of those visual appointments, used Adironcack spruce, and also added heavier bracing due to the way Josh plays and the constant touring, when building Josh’s guitar. After receiving the new Gallagher, it became his main stage guitar. Josh said, “I jokingly said to David, ‘This guitar sounds so nice, you need to add it as a new Josh Rinkel signature model.’ He took it seriously! Josh said that he thinks to date roughly ten Josh Rinkel signature models have been built.
Kody Norris is another bluegrass guitar player who has turned to Gallagher. Kody said, “I’ve always been a fan of Gallagher guitars. Growing up in Mountain City, Tennessee—it is the next town over from Boone, North Carolina—I was around Doc Watson quite a bit. Clint Howard and Fred Price were in Doc’s first band and they were from Mountain City. I played in Clint Howard’s band when I was a teenager. There was always a Gallagher guitar around because of the connection to Doc. I’ve had a few along the way and a few years ago at World of Bluegrass, David Mathis had a guitar that was cherry with a yellow cedar top. Everyone was talking about it, and I went over and played it. I thought, ‘Man, this is a total new era for Gallagher.’ They have always been great, but they have now really brought it up to the forefront and raise the bar. We got to talking and I thought I needed another guitar. My guitar that they built exemplifies everything about Kody Norris. Around the shop they call it the ‘Nudie suit’ guitar. We talked through all of the details and they did everything that I wanted. It is a great instrument and it sure gets a lot of attention. It is a G-70 with custom appointments. It is Madgascar rosewood with a torrefied Adirondack top. Gallagher is really making some waves in the bluegrass guitar world and I’m proud to be a part of it.”
Jim Hurst is a very well-known professional guitar player who has played Gallagher guitars since he bought his first Doc Watson model in 1986. Jim said, “I love Gallagher guitars. I got to play ‘Old Hoss,’ I now own a guitar that J.W. built for Chet Atkins, both of my adult children have custom made walnut Gallagher guitars, and I own two Jim Hurst signature models that Don Gallagher built for me. I am a big fan.” Jim, who is equally as talented at both the flatpicking and fingerpicking styles of guitar playing, said, “The Gallagher allows me the opportunity to pull the tone and reaction out of it that covers a lot of different bases. They react to me the way I think a good piano would react to a pianist.”
Since Jim has been a Gallagher owner and fan for so long, I asked him what he thought of the new Gallagher models that he has played. He said, “David Mathis is doing a really good job of trying to see what is working for the brand, but also keeping the tradition alive of the Gallagher family while they are trying to come up with their own version of the Gallagher guitars and I think that they are doing a stellar job. I have played a lot of their new models, including some of the new Jim Hurst models, and they are stellar. I don’t have anything bad to say about them. Everybody I know that plays the new ones remark about how wonderful they are. So, I am really happy to be associated with Gallagher.”
In addition to building guitars, David has also initiated a yearly event in the town of Murfreesboro. Initially the event was held at the shop and billed as Gallagher Day. Don Gallagher came to town and gave a talk about the history of the company and there were performances and an evening concert. After holding Gallagher Day for a couple of years, the town of Murfreesboro wanted to get involved and make it a bigger music event, so in May 2024 they started Gallagher Fest. David said, “There is a board of local people who wanted to have a music event in downtown Murfreesboro and they wanted it associated with Gallagher. We got that off the ground last year. We had a jam Friday night and then on Saturday Don Gallagher came down, we had music instrument contests (mandolin, fiddle, guitar and banjo), we had band’s playing during the day and then Josh Rinkel and Laura Orshaw opened for the Dan Tyminski Band that evening. It was a big day and our next one is planned May 17th of 2025. And 2025 will be the 60th anniversary of Gallagher, so we are planning something special for that.”
While well-known Gallagher guitar players, such as Chris Jones and Jim Hurst, continue to play the guitars that were built at the old shop in Wartrace, David said that professional players who now play guitars that have been built in the new shop include Kody Norris (The Kody Norris Show), Adam McIntosh (Joe Mullins and the Radio Ramblers), Josh Rinkel (formerly of the Po’ Ramblin’ Boys), Ketch Secor (Old Crow Medicine Show), Dan Tyminski (Dan Tyminski Band), Kyser George (Shadowgrass) and J.P. Cormier.
When asked about plans for the future, David said, “There are two aspects to that. We have the guitars that we are known for and that we need to continue to build. But, we are very receptive to custom orders that we get through dealers and individuals. We are on a good trajectory on our building process and our efficiency. So, we will keep doing that to make sure that guitars are available and we can keep up with demand.”
If you have been a fan of Gallagher in the past, you will want to check out what the company is up to today. If you have yet to play a Gallagher guitar, it is definitely a brand you need to consider if you are in the market for a new guitar. Despite its long history, this really is a new company. On one hand, they are keeping the strong tradition going. On the other hand, they are making changes where they are needed in order to keep up in the modern world of acoustic guitars.
