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Meet Bill


The Guitar.

At the ripe old age of ten, Bill Gagnon was given his first guitar. A beautiful electric on which he taught himself the magic of music and triggering his passion for the instrument. As the years progressed, so did he and in highschool, his father, trading in an intsrument of his own, purchased an acoustic so his son could continue developing the natural talents he appeared to have been born with. Bill took to the acoustic like a fish to water, the guitar and his voice, complimenting each other perfectly. The Guitar. Bill's key to a wonderful world of beauty and expression, a world he knew he wanted to share with all.

 

 

Throughout junior high and highschool, Bill played music. Delta, a band he formed with friends Mike Chiello, Bill Foote, Joe Skelly and Bill's brother Bob, went on to become local favorites. They packed clubs from NY, Long Island, Connecticut, and even opened for Sha Na Na at the HIC Arena in Honolulu, Hawaii, performing infront of nine thousand people.

 

The Guitar.
The instrument he was so content just to play and master, called to him. After thrirty five years, he came to an awakening, the luthier within challanging him to create one of these magical things that has bewitched him since childhood. Fulfilling this last desire, fitting the last piece of the puzzle in place, he ventured forth to answer the call.
In early 1998, GAGNON GUITARS was born.
Studying hard and learning the craft, Bill attended trade shows, building his creations, and soon joined the Guild of American Luthiers. Of all the guitars known, it was the arch top that pulled at him, the influence of Benedetto, D'Angelico and D'Aquisto, just to name a few, leading him onward. Using the best woods he could find, crafting and building, he continued to create. Carving the top and bottom plates, he understood what it meant to really feel the wood, tapping and learning to hear the tones as the intrument is formed. Watching the grain emerge, smelling the finish as it dries, all senses focused on the birth of music from his hands, his creation.


But most of all, it is the sound. The deep resonation of the strings, the full, rich body of music as the cords are strummed, the sustain that hangs in the air...the music. And being a musician, it is that song strummed on those strings that tell him the birth is complete. A wonderful sound, a deep richness that vibrates in the center of your chest, filling you up, bringing a smile to your lips.
The cycle is complete, the Musician and the Luthier Bill Gagnon, has come full circle.

But let the Guitar speak for itself, or more to the point.......let it sing!