Love And Tradition Passed Down Through A Guitar

Mill Point West Virginia is a blink-and-you’ll-miss-it wide spot off the twisty mountain roads of Pocahontas County, West Virginia.  It’s also the home of Bill Hefner, a luthier – a maker of stringed instruments – who isn’t just making guitars, he’s passing his tradition of meticulous craftmanship down to the next generation.

Bill Hefner in his Mill Point workshop – H. Niday

A Music Filled Life

Bill Hefner grew up in a house filled with music.  His mother and aunt would harmonize to popular songs on the radio and his Uncle “Dude” Irvine played guitar, mandolin and banjo. Bill and his brother Richard both learned to play on Harmony Archtop guitars delivered by Santa Claus in the late 1950’s.  Richard said Bill was inspired by county music star Chet Atkins.

“He ordered a Chet Atkins book and he’d go upstairs in that little room at the top of the steps where the library is,” said Richard. “And he’d get in there and play that guitar and study that book. And he’d come down every now and then and ask Uncle Dude how Chet Atkins did this or how Chet Atkins did that or how he would do it and he would show him.  Billy would take the guitar and go back upstairs again.”

When Uncle Dude formed his band, he recruited Bill to play guitar and mandolin. Richard played the banjo. And with the addition of a couple of cousins, they formed the Black Mountain Bluegrass Boys, a group that still performs in Pocahontas County and surrounding areas.

Bill played with the band until Uncle Dude passed away in 1973.   These days, Bill performs with his wife and daughters as The Hefner Family band in church and at local festivals.

The Calling

Bill has played the guitar for most of his 76 years, but about 14 years ago, he decided playing the guitar wasn’t enough, he wanted to make the instrument. So, he prayed about it.

“I told the Lord, I said, I feel like I’m supposed to be doing this,” he said. “I told the Lord if He’d get me in this business, I was going to dedicate it to him for the rest of my life.”

Bill quit his job at the rock quarry in Mill Point and started making guitars full time.  His workshop is right next to his house.  There are pieces of uncut wood everywhere and a few guitars under construction.  Local sign maker Eric Warner taught Bill how to bend wood and cut semi-precious stone for the guitar inlays.  Bill also learned some tips from luthier John Greven who had built guitars for musicians like Johnny Cash and Mary Chapin Carpenter.

“I used to call John when I first started, every week,” said Bill. “I called him up and asked him questions hundreds of times.  And he was nice enough to explain everything and talk as long as I needed to.”

Bill said the most important component to guitar making is the wood.  He used to import walnut from Oregon and Sitka Spruce from Alaska, but then about 10 years ago, he switched to woods native to Pocahontas and Greenbrier counties in West Virginia, because they were easier to acquire. Woods such as Black Walnut, Maple, and Cherry.

He said he’s used wood from the Red Spruce tree in his guitars because John Greven told him that wood has a real high head room.

“It means that the harder you play it, the better it sounds,” said Bill.  “And some of the other woods will start breaking up if you play them real hard, the notes won’t be clear.  Red Spruce just gets louder and prettier.”

Pat Parr with her second Hefner guitar with the mountain, trees and stream inlay – H. Niday

Happy Customers

Bill sold one of his Red Spruce guitars to old time musician Doug Stalnaker who said he loved it for the sound and the ease of playing it.

“Just like playing with butter, it’s just so smooth,” said Doug. “And the fact that I got what I wanted: I got a West Virginia artist doing West Virginia woods!”

Retired naturalist Pat Parr purchased two guitars from Bill.  She said she loves them not only for their deep sound, but for the intricate stone inlays she designed and Bill handcrafted. One is of a swallowtail butterfly.  The other is more complicated – mountains, trees and a stream.  She remembered the drawing she gave Bill.

“When I showed bill the picture I said ‘can I get this inlay’ and he looked at it and said hmmm, mmm,” she said. “And I said that’s going to be hard to do isn’t it.  ‘Yeah’, but he did it and it’s absolutely gorgeous.”

The Next Generation

The gamble to quit his day job paid off. Bill has been able to make a living, crafting guitars, for several years now.   And he’s passing on what he knows about guitar building to his 24-year-old grandson Levi Hefner.  Levi is mostly into rock music, and he builds and repairs electric guitars, but he and Bill are also building an acoustic guitar. Levi said the process has taught him a lot about patience.

“It’s a lot of fine finesse work and you’ve got to take your time with it and really slow down, that’s something I’ve never been great at so it’s really helped me out with that,” he said. “I’ve gotten to learn more about why a body is shaped this way and how different woods and different densities have a different sound to them and a different ring.”

Levi Hefner with Moose – H. Niday

Levi said the best part of making a guitar is imagining what a musician will do with it.

“Getting to see the progress of making something knowing that wherever it goes, someone else is going to make something else with it,” he said.  “There’s always a unique sound to each guitar and each musician has their own unique sound so you can see how far it travels and how far things can go with it.”

Bill said he’ll keep teaching Levi and his other grandson Ben what he learned to extend the craft as far as possible, even beyond his own life.

“I’d like to teach them everything I can do, the tools and the woods and stuff,” said Bill. “There’s a lot I don’t know but I’d like to get them started and keep this thing going from now on and bring it on down to their kids later.

Bill said passing on his skills is the best way to inspire his grandsons to create their own legacy.