2008 Thomas Humphrey "Millennium" CD/CSAR

One of the last Thomas Humphrey guitars, this 2008 Thomas Humphrey "Millennium" is a classical guitar in cedar and CSA rosewood, built from Humphrey's own bodies and necks – donated to the GSI Foundation.

The Millennium Model

Humphrey's "Millennium" model needs little introduction: concert artists including Sharon Isbin, the Assads, Eliot Fisk and many more have played it. The design re-imagined the bracing of the soundboard for greater transmission of tone, and improved playability with the now-famous elevated fingerboard, a practice other makers took up after Humphrey made it popular.

Finished from Humphrey's Original Parts

Thomas Humphrey used to pre-make parts of his guitars in order to be able to complete multiple instruments at once. Prior to his passing, Humphrey had nearly completed the next batch of his guitars, with guitar bodies and necks roughly complete. After Humphrey's passing, this particular guitar was completed by another luthier, Lucio Núñez, using Humphrey's original parts.

Lattice Bracing and Sound

The guitar has lattice bracing and a tone similar to the guitars completed by Humphrey. It has a powerful, deep, cello-like and focused sound with great projection.

Donated to the GSI Foundation

This guitar was donated to our non-profit charitable organization, the GSI Foundation. Guitar sales through the GSI Foundation raise money to directly benefit music education in public schools.

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.