This guitar, built by the late Thomas Humphrey is an example of his traditional model, now known as a "pre-millenium" to distinguish it from his later instruments (from about the mid-1980's and after) which featured several significant design alterations, including the well-known raised fingerboard. This guitar is actually a "post" pre-Millenium as he built it after he had decided to move forward with his Millenium model exclusively. The story handed down to us by its previous owner John Dearman (of Grammy Award winning Los Angeles Guitar Quartet) is as follows:
"I bought this from a friend about 20 years ago. I had played Humphrey’s for many years in the LAGQ - Tom had made the first 7-string with a fingerboard extension for me in 1987. This particular guitar caught my attention because I knew that Tom had begun making Millennium guitars in 1986, exclusively, saying that the only path was forward! But a couple of years later his wife, Martha, started working with Tom in his workshop and one day came across a drawer filled with various parts for an uncompleted guitar. Tom, said that when he had the idea for the Millennium design, he immediately abandoned some guitars in progress, pre-Millenniums - and stashed the parts away. So in 1988, when a client begged him to build him a traditional guitar, Martha suggested that he do so using the parts he had put away in 1986."
And this guitar was the result! Sound is very traditional (warm, colorful, etc) and although his later instruments are known for their impressive volume, this guitar has plenty of sound, enough to rival anything from his later output. Condition-wise, it free of repairs or damage. Humphrey guitars have been played by countless concert artists over the past 4 decades, including David Starobin, Sharon Isbin, the Assads, Eliot Fisk and many others. A letter of provenance from John Dearman is included with this guitar.
