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Guitars

Macmull Guitars

Macmull Instruments is a guitar building company specializing in acoustic instruments made entirely out of wood-based composites. They are headquartered in Eugene, Oregon, and have built guitars for notable musicians such as John Mayer and Dave Matthews.

Materials used

Wood-composite materials include carbon fiber, Kevlar, Fiberglass, Graphite…etc. These materials have been used for decades in the aerospace and boating industry but have only recently been used to build musical instruments. The main advantage of building a guitar out of composites is that it will produce a much louder and richer tone than an all-wood guitar. This is because the material resonates differently when struck by a pick or strummed with fingers, producing different frequency vibrations from what you would get from an all-wood guitar.

History

Macmull Instruments was founded in 2008 by Greg Macmull, who has a long history in the design and construction of racing boats in addition to his experience building custom guitars in California before moving to Eugene in 2007. Since opening their workshop, they have built over 30 instruments for musicians all over the world.

Macmull Guitars

The macmull Guitars website is very clean and provides a bunch of information about their product, including a list of artists that use macmull instruments, galleries of pictures from the workshop, and music videos featuring their guitars.

macmull Guitars uses a mix of new age and old school woodworking tools such as water jet cutters, carbon fiber molds, and hand tools.

machmull Instrument is an excellent example of modern design and engineering merging with traditional craftsmanship to produce a product that is made by hand but looks like it was manufactured on an automated assembly line. A combination that strikes the perfect balance between aesthetics and functionality. I would consider them more closely related to Apple than Fender or Gibson. It’s really refreshing to see companies emerge that are willing to take risks and try out new ideas in order to innovate their industry. macmull Instruments is an excellent example of this, using new materials to produce instruments that are more affordable and higher quality than what you would get if you bought a traditional guitar.

The top half of the macmull Instruments logo looks like some sort of fuel pump with two “pumps” on either side that feed into another chamber in the center labeled “GUITAR.” I am assuming that this represents the fuel (playability) that gets pumped into your creativity (the “Guitar” chamber) producing music (music comes out). The lower half of the logo has two musical notes, which remind me very much of Gibson Guitars’ classic design.

Overall I think their website does an excellent job portraying the message they are trying to send, which is that the guitars are not only built with quality modern materials but are also handcrafted by musicians. The website strikes an excellent balance between informative and artistic, delivering the necessary information about their process without compromising style or grace. I would consider macmull Instruments a leading example of how well you can merge new-age design principles with traditional craftsmanship to create high-quality products that break away from industry standards.