product types:
- acoustic guitars
Information:
Brothers Greg & Chris Williams (from the Haida Gwaii Islands in British Columbia) went to work at the Larrivee factory in Vancouver in 1998. They hung around with fellow luthiers Mark Vantaa and Robert Bustos and came up the idea to make guitars from a legendary tree on Haida Gwaii (known as the Golden Spruce to the native Haida people) illegally felled in 1997 by an activist. This tree had a unique genetic mutation which gave it golden colored needles. Although they secured the agreement of most of the Haida council it was decided to leave the tree where it lay so it could return to the earth. Despite this set-back the group persevered with building acoustic guitars incorporating native Haida art - eventually making around 70 in total. The Williams brothers left around 2002 and Vanataa and Bustos carried on as Paragon guitars.