What People Are Saying
Whether played on stage or heard from the crowd, our guitars leave an impression. Here are the voices of those who’ve experienced them.
Reviews
Hey Eric, I just wanted to say again…..that the sound I heard of the guitar you made for Eric Gales, the one I heard that night at the Ramshead in Annapolis on Juneteenth back in the summer, it STILL just haunts me man, it just haunts me.
My Son-in-law’s luthier business in Richmond is slow to start, and even though I’m saving up to help him get started and established, I just can’t get the sound of your custom-made guitar I heard that night, out of my mind. Now, I’m not a religious man, but my great-grandfather who was a tobacco farmer in Cumberland County Virginia was. And he would’ve said; if he had been a guitar player, that that guitar’s sound was “the one true church“!
Eric Gale‘s band was in absolute top notch form that night, and even though I revisit those video clips of that concert on YouTube, those videos can’t even TOUCH the “sound-feeling” in the room, coming out of that guitar that night!
My Son-in-law’s luthier business in Richmond is slow to start, and even though I’m saving up to help him get started and established, I just can’t get the sound of your custom-made guitar I heard that night, out of my mind. Now, I’m not a religious man, but my great-grandfather who was a tobacco farmer in Cumberland County Virginia was. And he would’ve said; if he had been a guitar player, that that guitar’s sound was “the one true church“!
Eric Gale‘s band was in absolute top notch form that night, and even though I revisit those video clips of that concert on YouTube, those videos can’t even TOUCH the “sound-feeling” in the room, coming out of that guitar that night!
I was there in that room, and THAT sound coming out of THAT guitar that you made, had me in its grip the whole night through. I couldn’t have shaken it even if I had wanted to, it wouldn’t let me alone. It wouldn’t let me go. It was just phenomenal. The rhythm guitarist; McKay’s Silver Sky was wonderful, the bass player Tate, his sound was fantastic, but the sound coming out of Eric Gale’s guitar……was utterly transcendent, other-worldly….. it took me up and over and out of myself. And I cannot forget it.
Whatever you did, whatever you do, when you make a guitar, whatever you put into that guitar, that essence, that sweat, your life experience….that Mojo or whatever you wanna call it, makes it a benchmark sound for me. That sound is my “one true church” of guitar tone. I’ve heard all the big players; Clapton, Beck, Page, all them boys, and even been in the room with some of them playing live, but I never EVER had something….. a tone come out of a guitar like that…..connect with me as deeply as the tone coming out of THAT guitar that you made. It just haunts me, man, it does, still. If the sun and the moon could sing together… that’s what that guitar sounded like. That’s all I can say. It’s the one sound that is THE sound for me.
I got a bunch of great guitar; Collings, PRS, Les Pauls, and great amps too, and I’ve even managed to get the sound in my head to come out right. But still….. there’s nothing that I hear, that can touch the sound of whatever it was that you put into that guitar.
So I’m still thinking about it. Someday maybe… I know I can’t relive that experience, but if I can just enter that room, enter that realm of an Eric Gale guitar tone one more time….. just to feel THAT vibration again, I’ll be a satisfied man. I just wanted to tell you that, brother. Have a good day man.
Sincerely,
John Hunter
Whatever you did, whatever you do, when you make a guitar, whatever you put into that guitar, that essence, that sweat, your life experience….that Mojo or whatever you wanna call it, makes it a benchmark sound for me. That sound is my “one true church” of guitar tone. I’ve heard all the big players; Clapton, Beck, Page, all them boys, and even been in the room with some of them playing live, but I never EVER had something….. a tone come out of a guitar like that…..connect with me as deeply as the tone coming out of THAT guitar that you made. It just haunts me, man, it does, still. If the sun and the moon could sing together… that’s what that guitar sounded like. That’s all I can say. It’s the one sound that is THE sound for me.
I got a bunch of great guitar; Collings, PRS, Les Pauls, and great amps too, and I’ve even managed to get the sound in my head to come out right. But still….. there’s nothing that I hear, that can touch the sound of whatever it was that you put into that guitar.
So I’m still thinking about it. Someday maybe… I know I can’t relive that experience, but if I can just enter that room, enter that realm of an Eric Gale guitar tone one more time….. just to feel THAT vibration again, I’ll be a satisfied man. I just wanted to tell you that, brother. Have a good day man.
Sincerely,
John Hunter
Excerpt from Guitar World (December 2025)
Eric Gales talking about Eric Gale
You've also been playing guitars made by Eric Gale at Freestyle
Custom Guitars.
He's an amazing luthier, and it's pretty crazy we've almost got the same name. He made me a couple of guitars; one is called Crown and the other is Model Two. He's a badass builder using amazing materials. I take those guitars out with me along with the Magnetos.