Gary Halliday’s Woodworking-Themed Instruments & How To Make Them

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Man seated in workshop holding an acoustic guitar with a figured wood pickguard.

Woodcraft of Sterling Heights Michigan had a unique woodworker at the store on Thursday evening. Gary Halliday and his wife Sue, made a special visit just to be interviewed about his creative woodworking talent.

Gary, was a former math and physics teacher and has made guitars for the past 26 years, since 1984. In 1979 he left teaching and worked in the cutting tool family business at Liberty Special Tool Company in Royal Oak, Michigan and currently works for the Morse Cutting Tool Company in management.

Eventually, Gary wishes to retire and create woodworking furniture and guitars, carrying his passion onto the next generation of Halliday’s with his son Pete and his grandchildren. As you will see below, his family is growing in music and woodworking, just as Gary learned from both of his woodworking grandfathers. It was his maternal grandfather, being a Swedish artist, woodcarver, home decorator, cabinet and cottage builder, that Gary learned from the most.

Gary creates acoustic guitars, citterns and Irish bouzoukis. Pete makes electric guitars. This winter, Gary will be building 3 carve top mandolins. Gary stated, “There are 3 elements to making guitars. First is aesthetics, because they have to look good. Second is functionality because they have to be playable, and thirdly they must be sound appealing because they have to give a distinctive auditory effect.”

The “Woodcraft Guitar” made by Gary, is showcased at the Sterling Heights Woodcraft Store. Notice the fingerboard’s abalone (pearl) inlaid “Woodcraft” and “small bench planes”. These were made by Dave Nichols who does custom inlay designs for Martin Guitars:

Close-up of a handcrafted acoustic guitar with tortoiseshell pickguard and wood grain top
Close-up of acoustic guitar neck with Woodcraft logo inlaid on ebony fretboard and striped wood body
Young person playing a red electric guitar with a rosewood fretboard while seated on a couch

When Pete was 13, he and Gary built a Les Paul-style electric guitar together.  Pete was more interested in learning electric than acoustic at the time:

By the time Pete was 17, he was ready for an acoustic guitar.  They built a mahogany dreadnought guitar together.  In the picture he is playing it for his daughter, Anneke, when she was 6 months old:

 In 2008, Gary and Pete combined talents again to build a 3/4 size guitar for Gary and Sue’s grandson, Craig:

Adult playing an acoustic guitar while a baby watches closely on the floor.
Child sitting on wooden chair playing a handcrafted acoustic guitar with a solid wood top and tortoiseshell pickguard

Here are more of Gary’s guitar’s:

 

Two handcrafted acoustic guitars with tortoiseshell pickguards on wooden stands in a workshop setting.
Two acoustic guitars showing figured wood grain on backs, highlighting woodworking craftsmanship.

Citterns:

Woodcrafted teardrop-shaped string instrument with detailed fretboard and rosette, outdoors.
Twelve-string acoustic guitar with wooden body resting on a brown upholstered chair with a patchwork quilt behind it.

and Bouzoukis:

Mandolin-style string instrument with a teardrop-shaped wooden body and dark pickguard on a stand
Woodcrafted mandolin with detailed rosette and tortoiseshell pickguard on grass stand outdoors

Gary has built guitars for artists such as The Kitchen Recordings, Will Millar, and The Irish Rovers. Gary created a Celtic knotwork design for the fretboard which he inlaid with mother of pearl.  The Kitchen Recordings ­ bouzouki created by Gary is shown below (left) against the wall. The medallion in the peghead (CD cover right) was given to Will Millar by Shel Silverstein, author of The Unicorn Song.

CD cover showing seven musicians seated with acoustic guitars, mandolin, and accordion, titled the Irish Rovers Celtic
Two men holding stringed instruments, one with a banjo and the other with a mandolin, against a stone wall background.
Man playing a handcrafted acoustic guitar with visible wood grain on the body and neck

The Irish Rovers Celtic Collection (CD left below) guitar by Gary in front, bouzouki third from right (mostly hidden).

The Irish Rovers Live in Concert  (CD right) ­has a cittern by Gary, between the banjo and the guitar.

Listen as Gary explains the creation of the Woodcraft guitar and history of guitar making:

Guitar products are available at Woodcraft.com and participating Woodcraft Stores.

Rock on…Frank

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