“I use hand-crafted Graf Tuners on my Humphrey, O’Leary and Mueller guitars. Graf’s unique and brilliant design makes tuning effortless, silent, and durable. ”
  Sharon Isbin
 
Graf has created a ‘Sharon Isbin Signature Model’ elegantly fashioned in gold and silver available by special order.
 
Website: www.graftuners.com

“It's a joy to perform and record on my cedar double top Antonius Mueller guitar. Loud and with a fast response, the warm, rounded trebles and deep basses make this an extraordinary instrument.”
  Sharon Isbin

Hear the guitar in her latest CD, Guitar Passions: Sharon Isbin & Friends (Sony), August 30, 2011 release.
 
Website: www.antoniusmueller.com

Thomas Humphrey, who passed away at the age of 59 last April 16, was one of the most influential American classical guitar makers. His guitars have been played by artists including the Assad Brothers, Michael Chapdelaine, David Tanenbaum, and myself, and luthiers the world over have integrated his ideas in their own designs. Starting his career as an apprentice to Michael Gurian in the early 1970s, Humphrey never stopped searching, experimenting, and dreaming about advancing the instrument. Humphrey’s landmark Millennium design came to him in a dream in 1985. Morphing elements of the guitar with those of a harp, Humphrey designed a raised fretboard and forward pitched neck, causing the strings to pull the top at a steeper angle than on most guitars. The design met the goal of increasing volume, and it also improved playability in the upper registers.
 

Sharon Isbin’s tribute to Thomas Humphrey, Acoustic Guitar, November 2008. Click here to open as PDF.

Among Humphrey’s last projects was a collaboration with artist Tamara Codor, who painted the backs of three of his guitars, including the beautiful 2007 Millennium “Le Sacrifice” shown here. The subtlety and magic of the image of two singers derives from the cascading hair which emerges unpainted from the natural undulating waves of the grain. Built with a cedar top and Brazilian rosewood back and sides, the guitar’s sound is warm, dark, resonant, and lyrical, with deep rich basses and bell-like trebles. I inaugurated the guitar on my new album of music ranging from the Renaissance to bluegrass on which I was joined by guests Joan Baez and fiddler Mark O’Connor.
 
Just ten days before his untimely death, Humphrey was in the audience when I used this guitar to perform the Concierto de Aranjuez with the Hudson Valley Philharmonic. Afterward, his wife, Martha, told me that during the performance Humphrey had tears of joy running down his face. She told me she’d “never seen him so happy, moved, and relaxed, as if in a state of grace.” She realized that night, for the first time, the profound meaning of Humphrey’s artistry. We visited the next day at their farm, admiring the horses, handcrafted swimming hole, and marvelous landscape. I never guessed this would be the last time we would be together. Tom was a beacon of light and joy. His voice will live for an eternity in the instruments he crafted so lovingly, born anew each day in vibrant harmonies.

“My O’Leary guitar has a powerful projection, and a beautiful sound with rich, full, warm, clear trebles and excellent sustain.”
  Sharon Isbin

Pictured here performing on guitar by Michael O’Leary at the White House Evening of Classical Music with President Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama, November 4, 2009.
WATCH VIDEO
Sharon Isbin performs at the White House
 
Hear the guitar in her latest CD, Guitar Passions: Sharon Isbin & Friends (Sony), August 30, 2011 release.
 
Website: www.olearyguitars.com

“Kelly Worth is Thomas Humphrey’s appointed heir to guitar building, and as Humphrey’s exclusive apprentice and assistant for several years, he was the person Humphrey entrusted to build Millennium guitars. His instruments are magnificently crafted, perfectly balanced, and have a warm, clear and beautiful sound.”
  Sharon Isbin, May 2009
 
Website: www.worthguitars.com