1988 Thomas Humphrey "pre-Millennium" SP/CSAR

This 1988 Thomas Humphrey is a traditional "pre-Millennium" classical guitar in spruce and CSA rosewood, made in New York from parts Tom had put away in 1986 – and owned by John Dearman of the Grammy Award-winning Los Angeles Guitar Quartet.

A "Post" pre-Millennium Humphrey

This guitar, built by the late Thomas Humphrey, is an example of his traditional model, now known as a "pre-Millennium" to distinguish it from his later instruments (from about the mid-1980s on), which featured several significant design alterations, including the well-known raised fingerboard. This guitar is actually a "post" pre-Millennium, as he built it after he had decided to move forward with his Millennium model exclusively.

The Story, in John Dearman's Words

The story handed down to us by its previous owner, John Dearman, is as follows:

"I bought this from a friend about 20 years ago. I had played Humphreys 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."
– John Dearman

And this guitar was the result! A letter of provenance from John Dearman is included with it.

Sound and Condition

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 is 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.

Thomas Humphrey (1948–2008): Classical Guitar Maker in New York

Thomas Humphrey was born in 1948 in Minnesota. Around 1970 he moved to New York City, where he apprenticed with the guitar maker Michael Gurian, and for many years he built his guitars in an apartment workshop on the Upper West Side of Manhattan. Tom died in Gardiner, New York, in April 2008.

The Millennium: A Revolution in Classical Guitar Design

In the mid-1980s Tom introduced the design that made his name: the Millennium. With its raised fingerboard and newly conceived soundboard bracing, it changed the way many players – and makers – thought about the classical guitar, and the elevated fingerboard has since been taken up by luthiers all over the world. His earlier, traditional instruments are now known as "pre-Millennium" Humphreys. Humphrey guitars have been the concert instruments of many leading guitarists, among them David Starobin, Sharon Isbin, the Assad brothers and Eliot Fisk.