Heath Acoustic Guitars OM 2024 - Natural

I am extremely happy to announce an exclusive arrangement between Southern Cross Guitars, and Skip Heath of Heath Acoustic Guitars located in Greenville, WV, to market and sell the handmade custom guitars built by Skip at his idyllic home and shop. I spent two days last week at Skip’s shop going over his guitars from the inside out, and I am very impressed with what I found. We went over his entire build techniques, and delved into his philosophy as a luthier. Skip began woodworking by building his own handmade furniture which is used by he and his family to this day.

He began harvesting his own wood for cabinetry and furniture use while living in Fairfax, VA, and built up a large supply of wood. Upon moving to West Virginia, Skip and his wife, Sue, built his woodworking shop first, and then built their own home. Skip did all the finish work – cabinets, furniture, built-ins, and even built the window casings for all the windows. Skip has continued his love of woodworking as well as his love of playing guitar.

Upon moving to Greenville, Skip had the opportunity to play in jam sessions with other local musicians. What he found was his purchased guitars weren’t up to par with the other locals. After researching many high-end, mass-produced guitar models, Skip challenged himself to learn how to build high-quality, custom guitars that play well and sound great.

He has taken courses from notable luthiers such as Robbie O’Brien of O’Brien Guitars in Colorado, Jay Lichty of Lichty Custom Guitars in North Carolina, and consulted with many other small shop luthiers in the US. He has honed his philosophy of guitar building over the years, gaining experience through each course he completed, and his own hands-on experience trying new techniques he learned. For example, he avoids fancy inlays and colorful features, and focuses on two key points, 1) how well the guitar feels to play, and 2) how well the guitar sounds. These custom guitars are superb examples of how Skip approaches real definition of “handmade guitars”, and his guitars that I am selling are a combination of easy playing instruments with exceptional tone.

He has found an audience of musicians who understand how well-built these guitars are and appreciate the wonderful feel and tone of these instruments. In addition, Skip has also donated his guitars to families so that they, and their children, can have the chance to play finer instruments.

One of the admirers of his guitars is his wife, Sue, who is an accomplished musician in her own right, playing piano, accordian, and fiddle. Skip thinks she is the talent musically in his family, and loves playing music.

I know you are intrigued with buying a custom guitar, and I can give you reasons why you should consider buying a Heath guitar. First, Skip harvests his own black walnut logs for the backs and sides of his guitars from his property or his neighbors, and obtains high quality wood from Appalachian Tonewoods, milled in West Virginia. He also purchases wood supplies from RC Tonewoods, an instrument tonewood supplier in upstate NY. Skip has gone to great lengths to obtain high quality guitar tops for his guitars. On a camping trip to Alaska with his wife, he started a search for guitar top tonewoods. After stopping at a local lumberyard in the interior of British Columbia, he was directed to a remote sawmill with high quality Lutz Spruce and Western Cedar. He bought a stash of this wood for the tops of his guitars, and used it to great advantage. Secondly, Skip knows wood, and how to utilize it to craft instruments with wood he has personally prepared to be used in the guitar building process.

Lastly, Skip has found a passion building these beautiful guitars utilizing features such as his own unique bracing, and utilizing features such as soundports which allow the players to hear more tone and produce more volume.

Both Skip and I stand behind these guitars, first you have a 14-day money back guarantee in which to play your new guitar, and to bond with it, and in the unlikely event you aren’t thrilled you can receive a full refund. Also, Skip offers a 1-year warranty on all his custom guitars, and should you want the action changed Skip will do that because he and I want you the buyer/player to love your new guitar. Think of a Heath Acoustic Guitar as an investment, and this is your opportunity to get in on the ground floor by buying an instrument that should only appreciate in value as Skip becomes well known in guitar building circles. I have seen, and heard the quality built into these guitars. Take it from someone who has over 300 5* reviews on Reverb, and has personally sold over 500 guitars in the past 5 years, Heath Acoustic Guitars are every bit as good as almost any builder I have experience with.

With each guitar, Skip provides a photo album with guitar specifications and step by step pictures of each build, from start to finish.

The last two photos are black walnut logs waiting to go to the sawmill to be Quartersawn for the next batch of Heath Guitars builds next spring after the moisture levels have reached an optimum amount. If you would like to choose to build your own Heath Guitars custom guitar please contact me, and discuss what you would specs you would love to have in your custom guitar!!

#23-Heath Guitars OM

Built using Martin Specs w/a 25.4” Scale Length

Top: Solid Western Red Cedar from British Columbia

Back: Seasoned Solid Black Walnut from West Virginia

Sides: Seasoned Solid Black Walnut from West Virginia

Neck: Mahogany

Bridge: Ebony

Peghead Veneer: Ebony

Tuners: Grover Rotomatics

Fretboard: Ebony

Nut Width: 1 ¾”

Braces: Bass X-Brace Scalloped &

Treble X-Brace is Not Scalloped

Case: Silver Creek Vintage Hardshell Case