Huss and Dalton Guitar Company

The story of the Huss and Dalton Guitar Company began when Jeff Huss moved from North Dakota to Virginia in 1984 in search of good bluegrass music. Once there, he quickly found a job working at the Stelling Banjo Works where he spent his days building banjo necks. After hours he spent his time in his home workshop designing and building his own guitars. He built one for his boss Geoff Stelling who liked it so much he added guitars to the Stelling line and had Huss build them. After making around a hundred, Huss decided to set out on his own in 1993. Around this time he met Virginia native Mark Dalton at a jam session. Mark Dalton was a fine musician, but more importantly, he was also an expert in finishing processes. The two men decided to pool their talents and in 1995 the Huss and Dalton Guitar Company was born.

Over the years Huss & Dalton has earned a reputation for building great sounding, meticulously crafted instruments. The guitars, which are built in Staunton, Virginia are inspired by the classic designs from Nazareth and Kalamazoo, but built with a distinct Virginia flair. The braces for each guitar are made from hand split Appalachian spruce, which they feel gives their guitars an excellent bass to treble balance. They use nothing but the highest quality quarter sawn tonewoods for the top back and sides. Here at Gryphon, their dreadnoughts are quite popular, and the rich, full tone combined with plenty of punch and projection make them perfect for bluegrass. Huss and Dalton’s smaller guitars, like the OM and the 00, are also well liked.