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Word has gotten out that Hill Guitar and I are downsizing. Neither I nor the company are closing, but we are getting smaller and more selective as an adjustment to our current stage of life.
I have built a personal workshop at my home, and the luthiers who have worked with me for years have each set up their own workshops, so everyone can continue the fun and legacy of building fine guitars but with less of the pressure of business and overhead. We are still making custom instruments with all the outstanding features and qualities we are known for, but now mainly on a special order basis. We still have some inventory of Hill Guitars and Signature models and a limited stock of New World Guitars, but as these move out, the main emphasis will be on individual custom orders.
I've been in this business for over 50 years, from tiny personal workshops to working with talented small team productions to building large international factories and custom artisan workshops. Now, as the circle comes around, I'm returning to my first vision and hopes back when I was 25 years old — a lovely home, a beautiful family, a well-set-up personal workshop, pleasing clients and friends, and the freedom to spend more time on composing and playing music, making guitars, cherishing family time and if I want, just chilling.
For self-employed people, retirement is a pretty elusive concept. As most of my colleagues and contemporaries are arriving at this crossroads, finding a positive exit strategy is challenging. I'm just getting started in many ways, and there could be enough work yet to do for another 50 years. But I'm striving to arrive at a sweet spot of keeping on with all of the good things, getting rid of the annoying parts and headaches of business, and celebrating the simple pleasures of the woodworking, the music, and, for me — composing new music that offers some of the most excellent satisfaction of all.
This is not nostalgic or disappointing for me; it's joyous. It's not "end-of-an-era," but honestly, the beginning of the next. Change is the stuff of life, and I fully embrace it. Hill Guitar will continue to exist, at least while I'm still around. We're just leaner and still as committed to beautiful guitars and music to help make our communities and lives feel better—as much as ever, maybe more.
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