George Lamb's Guitars

By Robert Walling
Former West Virginia University at Parkersburg professor Dr. George Lamb returned to campus Thursday, Oct. 13, to display his skill in guitar making. The display was part of the 2005 Appalachian Heritage Day festivities.

Dr. Lamb retired in 2005 after teaching history for 29 years. After 40 years of building furniture, he felt that he needed something lighter and more challenging to create - something he could build while sitting down. His love of music lead him to choose building acoustic guitars.

Since he started building them four years ago, he has sold approximately 10 guitars to both professional and amateur players. Asking prices for his work run between $800 and $1,000.

The six models on display Thursday were all acoustic hollow-bodied guitars. Among them were two standard six-steel-string models, a twelve-string, and a nylon-string classical model. A unique steel-stringed model with a wider fret-board and more space between the strings was also shown.

As I played the unique model, the broader fret-board allowed me to pluck the strings with my fingers more easily than with traditional steel-string instruments, like a nylon guitar with the higher volume of steel strings. Dr. Lamb said the model was made for a fingerpicked blues style of music.

Every model was inlaid with the initials of their creator: “G.L.”