Preston Thompson Guitars Archives

Thompson introduces new D-EIS limited edition guitar

Preston Thompson Guitars in Sisters, OR has announced a very special new model, the D-EIS-PKT, built in limited numbers in honor of their late founder, and to mark the 10th anniversary of their facility in Oregon.

Thompson, who passed away in 2019, was a dedicated and talented luthier who started his own company after years of careful study of the classic dreadnoughts of the 1930s. As a bluegrass music fan, he knew that these guitars were most prized by pickers, and his close friendship with Charles Sawtelle of Hot Rize fame gave him access to a collection of rare and fine instruments to examine.

Starting out on the east coast, working with Charles Fox and then Randy Wood, Preston developed a reputation as a top builder of both the dreadnought and the smaller body styles popularized by Martin in the 20th century. The shop he built in Oregon continues building in his name, and the current staff and owners wanted to remember him with this signature guitar.

The D-EIS-PKT is the company’s first Sitka spruce topped guitar, modeled after a guitar Preston built in 1983. East Indian rosewood is used for the back and sides, with maple binding along the fingerboard, headstock, and sides. Red abalone trims the rosette and the top, with a similar strip down the back. The neck is made from Honduran mahogany with an ebony fingerboard, decorated with slotted diamonds and squares.

Only ten of these guitars will be made each year, and all will have consecutive serial numbers. The 2024 price for the D-EIS-PKT is $9,950. They can be ordered from any Thompson Guitar dealers, or directly from the Thompson shop.

More details and additional photos can be found online.

Hand Made To Hand Played – Thompson Guitar artists

When guitar maker and namesake of a distinguished line of acoustic guitars, Preston Thompson, passed away in April of last year, he left behind a legacy of respect, quality, and loyalty held by any number of great musicians who helped his instruments become a standard of excellence in the modern bluegrass community. It was in tribute to him, as both a man and a musician, that a baker’s dozen of outstanding artists agreed to contribute to an album that pays homage to the sound of a great guitar, Hand Made To Hand Played, through a series of songs that are of both vintage and contemporary origins. The tender takes on this material pays due respect to an age old-sound that come to full flourish courtesy of these rich, resonating performances.

Indeed, it’s to the musicians’ credit that there’s a purity of purpose maintained throughout. Of course, that’s not surprising considering the stature of those involved, among them, Molly Tuttle, Peter Rowan, Laurie Lewis, Billy Strings, Tim Stafford, Claire Lynch, and Tim May. Tuttle’s sprightly Little Annie, Strings’ fluid medley of Give the Fiddler a Dram, Whistling Rufus, Ragtime Annie, Trey Hensely and Chris Luquette’s rapid-fire duet on I Don’t Love Nobody, and the two originals by Adam Schlenker and Adam Chowning, From Around the Bend and Walking with Winston, respectively, offer ample evidence of the instrumental finesse offered by all those involved.

Likewise, the sentimental trappings of Stafford’s Elizabeth, Lynch’s lovely adaptation of All Through the Night, and Lewis’ lilting read of the oft-covered Red River Valley leave a remarkable emotional imprint as well. It’s easy to imagine that these artists were not only making it a point to pay homage to Thompson, but also to share their own devotion to this truly remarkable music.

To be sure, the album isn’t exclusively about guitars. Fiddles, mandolin, bass, and banjo also embellish these songs, bringing taste and texture in rich abundance.

In a sense then, Hand Made To Hand Played carries on a legacy heard both in song and through the artists for whom the music means so much. A wonderful and, in many ways, remarkable compilation, it’s an album that finds common ground between both emotion and execution.

Thompson introduces limited edition Molly Tuttle guitar

Preston Thompson Guitars in Oregon has introduced their newest model, a limited edition signature guitar designed in cooperation with Molly Tuttle.

Molly began her music career as a bluegrass artist, starting as a young girl performing with her family in northern California. Even before she finished school, great things were being predicted for this talented artist, which are starting to be realized now. Following a music education in Boston, Tuttle now lives in Nashville where she is pursuing a successful calling as a fast-rising acoustic Americana artist.

But her bluegrass chops shine through whatever else she may be doing with her music, including a demand for a highly responsive personal instrument. A Thompson endorser for some time, Molly can now boast of one of the greatest tributes any instrumentalist can achieve, having a signature model in her name offered for sale by a top builder.

The new DMT-SMA is a truly special guitar, offered in any of the body sizes Thompson makes. Her personal guitar is a dreadnaught body, with sinker mahogany back and sides, an Adirondack spruce top, and a lightly shaded tobacco sunburst. The fingerboard is decorated with a unique fern leaf inlay pattern at the high and low ends, and distinctive redwood dots surrounded by an abalone ring.

Thompson will make only 30 of these guitars, suggesting that they will be prized not only for their tone and projection, but for their rarity as well.

Molly created this video on Facebook when she first received hers several weeks ago, describing the features and playing a tune or two for everyone online.

Thompson is selling these Molly Tuttle DMT-SMA guitars for $7850. Orders can be processed by contacting the company directly.

Further details and specifications can be seen online.

Thompson Guitars launches Northwest Flatpick Camp

Preston Thompson Guitars has announced the launch of Northwest Flatpick Camp, their first weekend guitar workshop in Sisters, OR. They have partnered with the Oregon Bluegrass Association and Sisters Folk Festival to bring Dan Miller and Tim May up to teach at the camp.

April 30-May 3 are the dates for this first run, with additional instruction offered by northwester guitar teachers Joe Suskind and Dale Adkins. The location for all events is Black Butte Ranch, where there will be 14 spots for students, with one scholarship available.

Full registration details can be found online.

Also new from Thompson is their audio CD, Handmade to Hand Played, recordings made by their guitar endorsers in support of their Preston Thompson Memorial Scholarship fund. The fund was established in memory of Preston Thompson, founder and original luthier with the company, who died last year following serious complications from surgery.

Proceeds from the CD go to the fund, which will award a couple of new Thompson guitars each year to deserving young players.

Performers on Handmade to Hand Played include: Molly Tuttle, Josh Rinkel (Alex Leach, Laura Orshaw, Seth Mulder, Jasper Lorentzen), Peter Rowan, Laurie Lewis (Tom Rozum & Nina Gerber), Claire Lynch, Billy Strings, Tim Stafford, Adam Schlenker (Steven Fox & Matt Opachick), Adam Chowning (Tristan Scroggins, Megan Chowning & Brandon Bostic), Trey Hensley & Chris Luquette, Chris Jones & Megan Chowning, Pete Kartsounes, Tim May (Steve Smith).

The album is available for download from CD Baby, and on CD from Thompson’s web site.

Young musicians memorial fund for Preston Thompson

The folks at Preston Thompson Guitars in Sisters, OR have established a memorial fund in honor of their founder, Preston Thompson, who passed away last month after a protracted illness. He was only 62 years of age.

The handmade, steel string guitars built on Thompson’s designs have been extremely popular with bluegrass performers, finding their way into the hands of artists like Claire Lynch, Billy Strings, Molly Tuttle, and Jake Workman.

They have titled this effort the Preston Thompson Young Musicians Memorial Fund, based on his life-long passion for encouraging and supporting developing artists. The company will make and donate at least two guitars each year to young pickers on the way up. Anyone who would like to make a contribution to this effort is encouraged to do so online.

Before he got sick, Preston made this video with a guitar he made for Charles Sawtelle more than 40 years ago, and spoke about how enthused he was by the number of young builders and players he had met.

Grace Constable tribute to Tony Rice

As part on our ongoing goal of highlighting young bluegrass artists of note, and as a further appreciation of the late Preston Thompson, here is video of Grace Constable doing her tribute to the great Tony Rice. She is playing her Thompson guitar, with Spencer Hatcher providing the vocal.

Grace is currently studying in the bluegrass program at East Tennessee State University, and taking lessons there from Wyatt Rice, Tony’s younger brother. She is following in the footsteps of her older sister, Chelsea, also a highly accomplished performer on both acoustic and electric guitar.

Here Constable demonstrates her crosspicking skills on Tony Rice’s iconic arrangement of Church Street Blues. His version of the Norman Blake classic is widely pointed out as an example of the many variations to traditional guitar technique that Rice popularized in bluegrass, particularly playing multiple downstrokes with the pick at a higher speed.

Well done, Grace – and Spencer, a fellow ETSU student now playing banjo with Nick Chandler & Delivered.

Preston Thompson passes

The world of steel stringed acoustic guitar is in mourning today following the passing of Preston Thompson yesterday. He was 62 years old, and had been ill since last summer following complications from surgery.

As the designer and original luthier for Thompson Guitars, Preston’s had become a household name among serious flatpack guitarists, and those who sought the qualities of prewar flattops made with todays best materials. Many top bluegrass artists use and swear by his instruments, like Jake Workman of Ricky Skaggs & Kentucky Thunder, Trey Hensley, Billy Strings, and Molly Tuttle, to mention only a few.

Preston learned his craft at the School of the Guitar Research & Design Center under Charles Fox, and refined it at Randy Wood’s Old Time Pickin’ Parlor in Nashville during the 1970s. His handmade guitars made it into the hands of a number of notable artists during the ’80s, including former Hot Rize guitarist, Charles Sawtelle. Charles and Preston became friends, and Thompson was given the opportunity to carefully study Sawtelle’s extensive collection of pre war instruments.

He drew on the wisdom he gained examining those old guitars in the designs used by PK Thompson Guitars.

In an official statement this afternoon, the company he leaves behind makes it clear that they will continue making guitars in honor of their founder.

Since 2013 and the creation of PK Thompson Guitars, Preston has shared and trusted his team with those detailed measurements to build a company that produces that vintage sound he so cherished for many musicians to enjoy. We are one small family here in Sisters, Oregon, and along with his wife Julie and daughter Piper, we appreciate all of the support we have received while Preston has been ill over the past year. He was loved dearly and will be greatly missed. We look forward to carrying on his legacy and dedication to the craft of guitar building.

No information on arrangements has yet been released by the family.

A fund to assist with medical expenses has been set up at GoFundMe for those called to contribute.

R.I.P., Preston Thompson.

Medical fund established for Preston Thompson

In the past few years, few names have been more commonly on the lips of bluegrass and acoustic guitarists than that of Preston Thompson – other than Martin.

Preston Thompson Guitars, made in central Oregon, have been popping up on stages throughout the US and Canada with increasing frequency as both soloists and accompanists have discovered his pre-war style dreadnaught and smaller-bodied instruments. Prominent bluegrass guitarists like Jake Workman, Tim Stafford, Trey Hensley, and Billy Strings have become enthusiastic supporters and players, as have Molly Tuttle, Chris Jones, Claire Lynch, and Peter Rowan among the hundreds of new Thompson owners.

Preston’s concept had long been to use only the best materials, and build his guitars using the tried-and-true methods that were employed when the fine instruments of the first half of the 20th century were being made. Given the technology available today for luthiers to carefully study these classic guitars, it’s not at all uncommon to hear serious collectors describe this era as a Golden Age for instrument builders. Only time will tell, of course, if that turns out to be true, but there can be no doubt that the Thompson name will be held up in any such discussions.

But keeping Preston in the shop to oversee his business hasn’t been a sure thing in recent months. He has been hospitalized since the end of June when complications from surgery nearly cost him his life. He does seem to be on the mend, but is still several weeks of therapy away from a return home to his family and friends in Bend. Now that discharge and a return to a normal life seems likely, his family has shifted for worrying about him pulling through to examining the costs of a lengthy hospitalization.

With that in mind, a GoFundMe account has been established, both to cover the uninsured portions of his medical bills, and the deficit created by Preston’s wife, Julie, taking a leave of absence since July to be with him at the Oregon Health & Science University hospital in Portland. Finances haven’t been at the forefront of their thinking, but the reality is that the Thompson family could really use the help.

A goal of raising $70,000 has been set with less than $20,000 pledged to date. It is quite simple to make a donation at GoFundMe using a major credit/debit card or PayPal, and if you are able to make even a small donation, it will be a nice way to repay Preston for his service to the acoustic music community.

Let’s all hope to hear continuing good news about his recovery!

Molly Tuttle and her Thompson guitar

Molly Tuttle is the latest bluegrass artist to tie her horse to the Preston Thompson wagon, taking delivery recently of a new Thompson D-BA custom sunburst guitar at her home in Nashville.

She posted a video sharing her excitement when it first arrived, plus this more formal video shot at Carter’s Vintage Guitar there in Music City. Molly picks one while Preston shows off and describes the guitar he built for her.

Here’s the one she made at home, displaying both the new axe, and the sparkling personality that has made her so many new fans everywhere she plays.

You can learn more about the Thompson Guitars online.

Tuttle is touring now in support of her debut Rise EP.

Claire Lynch talks about her Thompson guitar

Preston Thompson Guitars in Oregon continues to make inroads with bluegrass artists,winning them over with their close craftsmanship and attention to detail in vintage-style construction.

Today they are proud to offer this video of their latest endorser, Claire Lynch, demonstrating her most recent acquisition. She had them build her a guitar to replace a prized 00-18 from the ’40s that she let go some years ago. It was made with a small body but a full scale neck, using mahogany for the back and sides and an Adirondack spruce top.

Claire talks a bit about the Thompson, and plays and sings a bit in this video.

You can keep up with Claire online, and find out more about the Thompson guitars on their web site.