3rd Annual Cunningham Guitar Raffle
The Handmade Music School at The Floyd Country Store & Southwest Virginia luthier Jackson Cunningham are pleased to announce the 3rd Annual Cunningham Guitar Raffle and are offering another chance to win one of Jackson’s beautiful custom-made guitars to benefit
programming at The Handmade Music School.
Raffle tickets are $30 and available for purchase now until October 3rd, 2024. The winning ticket will be selected and announced at the Friday Night Jamboree (in-person and live stream) on October 4th. The goal of the fundraiser is to raise awareness of Jackson Cunningham’s beautiful craftsmanship while raising funds in support of the Share The Music Scholarship and music programming at The Handmade Music School, a 501c3 non-profit organization is dedicated to cultivating and strengthening community through experiences in music, dance, art, and food rooted in Appalachian traditions.
After 2 successful raffles in 2021 and 2023, Jackson Cunningham and Dylan Locke at The Handmade Music School have decided to continue the effort generating support for youth music education and traditional music and dance programs while celebrating the incredible craftsmanship of Jackson’s work.
“The Floyd Country Store has always provided a gathering place for music in the community and The Handmade Music School provides so many opportunities to learn,” says Jackson. “Southwest Virginia has been my home for many years and folks have been very supportive,
generous, and giving to me. This is a chance for me to try and return some of that generosity.”
This guitar was built from a special selection of tone woods collected over the years from local luthiers, wood cutters and musicians around SWVA. The guitar was brought to life in Jackson Cunningham’s workshop in Grayson County, Virginia in the Fall of 2024. It is a faithful recreation inspired by the classic steel string models from the pre-war era.
This is a versatile guitar masterfully built with responsive tone. It is very adaptable to playing many styles of music from flat picking bluegrass, sweet jazz voicings, to fingerpicking folk and blues, and is a wonderful guitar for backing up an instrumentalist or accompanying vocals.
“Anyone who follows my work knows that I like to use locally sourced tone-wood, and woods that have a story or history behind them,” says Cunningham. The Virginia mountains are home to some of the most prized tone woods, and the Virginia mountains also have been home to generations of old-time music makers. It’s not a stretch of the imagination to think some of these trees have grown up in the presence of the very music they will make when they are built into fine instruments.
I felt it was very fitting to use these timbers for this year’s Handmade Music School/Cunningham guitar fundraiser raffle. The Handmade Music School continues to focus on teaching and encouraging regional music and dance, and a big part of the music in SWVA has been its strong tradition of instrument making.”
Floyd Country Store owner and Handmade Music School founder Dylan Locke is blown away by the instrument and hopes to increase awareness of Jackson Cunningham’s beautiful craftsmanship through the fundraiser.
“Everything about this guitar is impressive. He didn’t hold back at all,” says Locke, “the precision of Jackson’s craftsmanship is amazing. The inlays, the frets, the pick-guard, the sunburst are flawless. And it has a beautiful tone and feel.”
Raised in rural Southern Oregon, Jackson Cunningham grew up in a home where music and woodworking were a way of life. His father was a master craftsman and these skills were passed down at a very young age. Family ties and a love of music brought Jackson to Southwestern
Virginia where he began building instruments full time with the generous help of many local luthiers including Audrey Hash Ham, daughter of pioneering fiddle maker Albert Hash. Working with Audrey inspired Jackson to pursue building instruments full time and led to visits with other talented local luthiers including Floyd County banjo maker Mac Traynham, Grayson County guitar maker Wayne Henderson and Floyd County fiddle maker Arthur Conner as well as many others.
After 15 years, Cunningham Handmade Instruments remains a one-man operation. From the selection of tone-woods, construction, custom neck profiles, to the final fit, finish, and setup, Jackson ensures each step is taken with meticulous care. His instruments are sought after by collectors and have been played by musicians on stages around the globe. Jackson’s instruments are featured at the world’s premier instrument retailers, including Gruhn’s Guitars in Nashville, Tennessee, and Folkway Music in Ontario, Canada.
DETAILS
2024 Jackson Cunningham Guitar Raffle
Winner Drawing on October 4th, 2024 at the Friday Night Jamboree
Tickets $30 – Proceeds go towards programming at The Handmade Music School
Tickets Available online at Handmademusicschool.com or in person at
The Floyd Country Store – 206 S. Locust Street, Floyd, VA.
ABOUT THE GUITAR
This year’s raffle guitar is a gorgeous 12-fret small body guitar, boasting the finest quality tone woods and a stunning Sweet Tea Sunburst varnish finish. Inspired by the classic steel string guitars from the early 1930’s, it is very adaptable to playing many styles of music and equally suited for fingerstylists or flatpickers. It is also a wonderful guitar for backing up an instrumentalist or accompanying vocals. The old growth Appalachian Red Spruce top wood was harvested, seasoned, and air-dried for over ten years and generously donated by the Hampton Brothers Wood Company to Jackson for the build. The choice top wood is precisely graduated and voiced for a brilliant and articulate tone. Delicately carved braces produce a natural responsiveness and are made of Appalachian Red Spruce sourced from The Grayson Highlands in Southwestern Virginia. The 12 frets to the body neck is carved from premium old stock Honduran Mahogany to a comfortable rounded “C” shape. Its 1 3/4 nut width and 14” fingerboard radius creates a satisfying vintage feel and fits the modern players hands effortlessly. A carbon fiber rod reinforces the neck and contributes to the guitar’s lightweight feel. The headstock veneer, fingerboard, and bridge are of strikingly beautiful straight grained old growth Brazilian Rosewood. “The Cunningham” logo was hand-engraved in Mother of Pearl by fellow Virginia luthier, Greg Galbreath at Buckeye Banjos, and is paired nicely with the MOP nut. Another distinctive feature of this guitar are the Rickard Cyclone High Ratio Banjo Tuning Pegs, with a 10:1 gear ratio they are the most precise tuning machine available and are customized with exquisite Mother of Pearl buttons. These woods and materials are all brought to life with a beautiful French Polished Spirit Varnished “Sweet Tea” sunburst finish, reminiscent of the classic steel string guitars of the 1930’s. Once again, Virginia’s Harptone Case Company has donated a high quality Classic hardshell case that protects and displays this guitar perfectly.
Specifications for the 2024 guitar:
● Old growth Appalachian Red Spruce top donated by The Hampton Brothers Wood Company.
● Old Growth Honduran Mahogany back, sides and neck
● Internal braces made of Grayson Highlands Red Spruce
● Solid Honduran Mahogany linings/blocks
● Brazilian Rosewood Fingerboard, Bridge and headstock veneer
● 12 frets to the body
● “The Cunningham” Mother of Pearl script logo, hand engraved by Greg Galbreath
● Rickard Cyclone High Ratio Tuning Pegs with Mother of Pearl buttons
● Mother of Pearl nut
● Celluloid bindings
● French-Polished Spirit Varnish finish
● 24.75 scale length
● 1 3/4 nut width
● 2 5/16 saddle spacing
● 14” FB radius
● Carbon fiber neck reinforcement bar
● Bone saddle
● Antique Acoustics bridge pins/end pin
● Nickel/silver frets
● Professional hardshell case made in Virginia and donated by Harptone Case Company
