January 2005

McPherson Guitars
Info Provided By:
Dean Johnson & David Ohman

What do Grammy award winning music artists Vince Gill and Steven Curtis Chapman have in common? They both play McPherson Guitars. Chapman proclaims, “…it’s one of the best full range, totally balanced guitars I’ve had the privilege of playing.” Other McPherson Guitar fans include Grammy winners, Paul Overstreet (below right) and Amy Grant (left), who says, “The design is eye catching; beautiful wood in every guitar I’ve seen and the sound is extraordinary.”

So what makes McPherson so special to the many musicians who prefer the brand to any others? Easy answer: its unique design. Through years of extensive research and development McPherson Guitars has incorporated innovations such as their signature offset sound hole, state-of-the-art laminated bracing system, and cantilever “floating” neck design. Collectively such innovations, combined with superior craftsmanship, have given McPherson Guitars recognition as having unsurpassed clarity of sound with sustained beauty through synergy of design. SolidWorks 3D CAD has been a very useful tool, allowing McPherson Guitars to implement these innovations in production. It gives them the exacting precision and consistency they were seeking as builders of fine instruments.

Located in Sparta, WI, the company has been designing and building guitars since 1981. Catering to the “boutique” acoustic guitar industry, they serve a very select market, which is comprised of discerning artist, musicians and collectors from around the world who seek the finest quality in craftsmanship, sound and design.

Programmer Dean Johnson uses SolidWorks for designing specific fixtures for the production of the guitars, as well as the individual parts themselves. Prior to SolidWorks, Johnson used Vellum and Gibbscam for design, but found SolidWorks to be superior to both. “The change was needed, due to the lack of capabilities to meet our needs on the previous systems. SolidWorks is awesome for designing. It is amazing for creating the neck designs,” Johnson states.

When looking to change CAD packages, McPherson Guitars did not consider any other packages except SolidWorks. “The design capabilities and assembly features are unbelievable! It allows us to easily check everything out to the smallest and most exacting detail, such as clearances.”

SolidWorks has done everything McPherson Guitars hoped for and then some. “It helped us design fixtures to best suit our needs. It also allowed us to make changes easily to our 3D solid model, until it matched our hand-made neck, perfectly. Solidworks has helped us take our innovations in acoustic guitar lutherie and design to the next level.”

McPherson bought SolidWorks from Graphics Systems and is extremely pleased with the post-sales service. “They provide excellent tech support and the teachers in the classroom add the finishing touches to a great product!” attests Johnson.

For more information on McPherson Guitars please visit www.mcphersonguitars.com.

Design Gallery:
All images compliments of McPherson Guitars.

Binding glue assembly.	Fret sanding assembly.
Wide fret board.	Wide neck design.

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