Gallagher A-70 Custom

This guitar was custom made by myself and the other guys I worked with during my 2 year stint at Gallagher in Wartrace, TN.

It is all solid construction w/ indian rosewood back and sides and a sitka spruce top. The bridge was handpicked by me and has a wonderful figure in the ebony...it resmbles that of macassar. I bought some russian mammoth ivory scrap and made a nut and bridge out of it and it makes bone look like a very sad choice.

It has groven open back clover head tuners and has an ebony face plate and dot inlays instead of the traditional snowflake/diamonds on the ebony fingerboard that this model usually carries.

The neck is a sharp "V" shape mahogany neck and is great!!! thanks Jerry!!!

It is a very versatile guitar and thats what I intended when I sought to build it over the course of 6 months. It sounds very clear and focused. However, because of its smaller auditorium body shape it does not project as well as I had hoped. I believe that were the back braces scalloped it might push a little harder.

The guitar was setup alright...I of course, set it up more precisesly when I got it home because I despise GHS strings and thats who has the contract with Gallagher. I put some earthwood .013's on it and I straightened the neck a tad and it is set up at pretty much 5'64 bass and 4.5/64 treble...good enough for me and not a buzz to be heard. The quality of the wood is great nice figure in the back and sides and a nice reddish not so much brown colour in the wood. Like I said the nut and saddle were custom made by me and...I got really lucky on that one. Ivory really makes the difference here in terms of making the noted clear and crisp.

You need to watch out for some of the older Gallaghers. My SN is 2419 and around this time Don decided to forgo the spruce transverse brace and replace it with a harder wood...purple heart was the choice and in comparison to spruce...it is like ying and yang in terms of hardness. Sometimes what will happen is when the wood is expanding and contracting it will cause the spruce to crack or split...spruce expands and contracts faster than does purple heart...so they ummm...clash. This happened to mine after I had it for a week or so. I took it back and I told Don lets put a spline there and sunburst this puppy...and thats what we did...very very nice!!!!! Other than that they are build like a tank. The tops and backs are actually very thick in comparision with other makers and the ebony fingerboards with the right choice of mahogany neck blank keep a true neck. plus, when i was working there we decided to get dual action truss rods...what a difference. You will always be able to adjust the neck no matter what...and I mean that!

I worked there and Don liked me and worked with me. Even when the top split next to the fingerboard...and did not charge me extra for the "burst" job. I have no warranty...it was an agreement made so i could get the guitar for the price I got it at.

Nice guitars for the money. Don Gallagher will let you have almost an unlimited number of options for free so it is nice to know you had a say so in your guitar. These guitars are built like tanks and take a considerable amount of playing to break in and warm up... alot like the older Guild guitars. I have seen some recent guitars that have left the shop since my departure a year and a half ago and the finishes are piss poor. I don't really know what happened. they are hazy and really sloppy along the neck joints and the fingerboards. I would screen the finishes just to be sure. If you want a sunburst finish ask for the top done only!!! When they sunburst the sides on a mahogany body it looks real bad...rushed almost. If you have the extra dough I would request mammoth ivory nut, bridge and pins if you can. You can buy this stuff from Warther museum and send Gallagher these parts and they will put everything on your guitar for you. It certainly beats the standard bone. The last thing... put your choice of strings on it before you judge the instrument. It makes a bigger difference than you know. Standard tuners are schaller but... you can get waverly tuners for a little bit more and I certainly recommend them if not ask to have Don order some grover open back tuners that look like waverlys. The have a better ratio and are a 3/4th's cheaper.

This guitar was custom made by myself and the other guys I worked with during my 2 year stint at Gallagher in Wartrace, TN.

It is all solid construction w/ indian rosewood back and sides and a sitka spruce top. The bridge was handpicked by me and has a wonderful figure in the ebony...it resmbles that of macassar. I bought some russian mammoth ivory scrap and made a nut and bridge out of it and it makes bone look like a very sad choice.

It has groven open back clover head tuners and has an ebony face plate and dot inlays instead of the traditional snowflake/diamonds on the ebony fingerboard that this model usually carries.

The neck is a sharp "V" shape mahogany neck and is great!!! thanks Jerry!!!

It is a very versatile guitar and thats what I intended when I sought to build it over the course of 6 months. It sounds very clear and focused. However, because of its smaller auditorium body shape it does not project as well as I had hoped. I believe that were the back braces scalloped it might push a little harder.

The guitar was setup alright...I of course, set it up more precisesly when I got it home because I despise GHS strings and thats who has the contract with Gallagher. I put some earthwood .013's on it and I straightened the neck a tad and it is set up at pretty much 5'64 bass and 4.5/64 treble...good enough for me and not a buzz to be heard. The quality of the wood is great nice figure in the back and sides and a nice reddish not so much brown colour in the wood. Like I said the nut and saddle were custom made by me and...I got really lucky on that one. Ivory really makes the difference here in terms of making the noted clear and crisp.

You need to watch out for some of the older Gallaghers. My SN is 2419 and around this time Don decided to forgo the spruce transverse brace and replace it with a harder wood...purple heart was the choice and in comparison to spruce...it is like ying and yang in terms of hardness. Sometimes what will happen is when the wood is expanding and contracting it will cause the spruce to crack or split...spruce expands and contracts faster than does purple heart...so they ummm...clash. This happened to mine after I had it for a week or so. I took it back and I told Don lets put a spline there and sunburst this puppy...and thats what we did...very very nice!!!!! Other than that they are build like a tank. The tops and backs are actually very thick in comparision with other makers and the ebony fingerboards with the right choice of mahogany neck blank keep a true neck. plus, when i was working there we decided to get dual action truss rods...what a difference. You will always be able to adjust the neck no matter what...and I mean that!

I worked there and Don liked me and worked with me. Even when the top split next to the fingerboard...and did not charge me extra for the "burst" job. I have no warranty...it was an agreement made so i could get the guitar for the price I got it at.

Nice guitars for the money. Don Gallagher will let you have almost an unlimited number of options for free so it is nice to know you had a say so in your guitar. These guitars are built like tanks and take a considerable amount of playing to break in and warm up... alot like the older Guild guitars. I have seen some recent guitars that have left the shop since my departure a year and a half ago and the finishes are piss poor. I don't really know what happened. they are hazy and really sloppy along the neck joints and the fingerboards. I would screen the finishes just to be sure. If you want a sunburst finish ask for the top done only!!! When they sunburst the sides on a mahogany body it looks real bad...rushed almost. If you have the extra dough I would request mamoth ivory nut, bridge and pins if you can. You can buy this stuff from Warther museum and send Gallagher these parts and they will put everything on your guitar for you. It certainly beats the standard bone. The last thing... put your choice of strings on it before you judge the instrument. It makes a bigger difference than you know. Standard tuners are schaller but... you can get waverly tuners for a little bit more and i certainly recomment them if not ask to have Don order some grover open back tuners that look like waverlys. The have a better ratio and are a 3/4th's cheaper.