Adam was correct about everything. My guitar is (very basically) a combination of what I like best about a J-45 (actually a "The Jumbo" which is the earliest form of the J-45) and a J-200 (including woods) with a custom neck and scale-length (equivelent to a J-45 capoed on the 1 1/2th fret!), relatively simple but nice decoration, etc. Wayne is actually more of a Martin-directed luthier but can of course do anything. I met Wayne a number of years ago accidently in a small town in West Virginia (he lives in Virginia) when I was on my way to a guitar workshop. We both happened to be in the same diner and got into a long conversation because I was carrying a guitar-case, and I've met him several times since, including the preliminaries about my guitar. We aren't buddies or anything (I wish I was, might save me a few bucks and some time!
) (but then again, probably not. Wayne makes no exceptions on his list. Clapton's name was the name after my friend's name, and my friend got his first.) I know three people personally who have Hendersons, all fine guitars, but to be honest, only one of them I like all that much, and none better than my "main-guitar" I have now. The others sound too Martinish (except of course superior tonally and in playability. Like the "essense of Martin." Does that make any sense?
) I'm hoping he can improve even more on the things I like about my favorite guitar. Except for some possible rare exception or ridiculously fantastic deal I might encounter, etc, in all likelihood this will be the last guitar I ever buy.
Henderson has built for unknowns as well as big-names (and probably mostly unknowns)... Clapton of course, Garth Brooks, Steve Stills, Doc Watson, Gillian Welch, my friend Bowling Green John Cephas (a "Taylor-artist"
) etc, etc. His guitars can be expensive but most aren't (as compared to high-end guitars by quality manufacturers). I believe Clapton's cost around $12,000. (When first given a very flexible-price over three years ago it was "probably under three" but has now gone to "four-ish, maybe less, maybe a little more" which is a lot, but not compared to say an upper-end Gibson or Martin that could easily cost that much and be nowhere near the guitar. Every piece of a Henderson is individually hand-made, totally finished with nothing un-sanded. The wood is hand-selected (and this is where the price can go crazy... he can build you a guitar from Appalachian spruce that was cut from the primeval "first-growth" Appalachian forests, dried since the mid 1800's if you want it (and if you want to add an extra zero onto the price tag). He checks everything for tone as he builds and goes along and will not hesitate to re-do something over again if he thinks he can make an improvement by doing so.
A friend said he heard Henderson has made just over 300 instruments in his lifetime. He's like the "Antonio Stadivari of guitars" I guess (I think old Antonio made about 700 fiddles in his lifetime). Anyway, I hope it'll be nice (and I hope I can afford it when the "final-call" comes! It takes him about three weeks or so once he starts.) Henderson isn't a name everybody knows. His guitars don't typically go up in value (not counting one like Clapton's which is probably worth half a mil or so just because of whose it was. Ol' Eric could probably get six-figures for his Walmart-guitar if he owned one!. I doubt if my buddy Matt, the guy before Clapton, could even get his $2750 back if he tried to sell it.) He's also an
extremely talented bluegrasss picker, and holds a bluegrass festival every year near his hometown. Like Adam said, Wayne is considering not taking any future orders because as he's getting older (I'd say about sixty now or close to it) he's afraid he might not live long enough to complete the list.
So anyway, I'm hopefully waiting!
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Who did you commission yours from? Also, what kind of guitar are you getting and what are some of the specs?
