After having countless guitar-centric questions answered by many incredible and wonderful guitar colleagues and professors from all over the U.S., I worked my students hard with lots of teaching, challenging rehearsals, clinics, master classes, and well over 100 concert and festival performances. We arrived 6 years later as a top notch program where in early 2013, the FHS Guitar Orchestra performed in concert at our Florida Music Educators Association All-State Music Conference and a few months later in New York, at the Long Island Guitar Festival. Though we are now known on an international level, we (teacher and students) also realize there is so much incredible guitar music out there to discover, learn and master. Our program musically, artistically, and personally can never rest in the past and always will need to search, learn, grow and continue to move forward.
In the spring of 2013 I began the "Great Search" to find a respected guitar luthier that produced not only quality guitars, but also were "economical". Among the different responses I received, Dr. Stephen Robinson (Stetson University) recommended several luthiers for me to contact. "You should contact Kenny Hill and check out his guitars. There is a growing interest in the Guitar Community about his NEW WORLD line of instruments", he said. After visiting his website to see artist videos of his guitars used in performance, visiting a few shops to try different instruments and personally talking with Kenny about his guitars, I was immediately sold. It was very evident that Kenny's instruments sounded not only incredible, they were affordable, and made to his exacting standards. That instrument is the all solid NEW WORLD Player Series.
Through email and phone conversations with Kenny and Larry Darnell (his partner in crime), I learned about Kenny’s trips to Guangzhou, China, teaching his personal luthier techniques to new "students", starting a factory there, travelling overseas every four to six weeks to maintain "Quality Control", and receiving each instrument to "personally set-up" before shipping from Ben Lomond, California to around the world. At the very end of April 2013 one of our last phone exchanges was this:
"So, how many do you think you will need?" Kenny asked.
"I need...ten.", I replied.
"Ten? Really, ten?"
"Yes, ten of the P650 size. What do you think? Should I get all Cedar or all Spruce guitars?"
"I think five Cedar and five Spruce Player Series models would be a great blend for your students. It would be a great sound, especially if you play together."
"You are right. It would be a wonderful sound together. We need to get them quickly though."
"What is your timeline?"
"Is there any possibility to take delivery by August, before the next school year begins?"
"Hmm.......let me check production orders in the factory. I'll get back to you."
After that things happened very fast. In the span of only six weeks, Hill Guitars became a vendor with our school district (this was a major purchase), secured vendor numbers and put funds in place, shipped the guitars from overseas to California, went through his shop for Kenny's personal set-up, and shipped all ten to our school by mid-June. It was a very happy day when they arrived! Several of my students and a few colleagues were on hand to help open the boxes and try each one! Hill's NEW WORLD Player Series was the only choice to what we needed; an affordable, professional entry level guitar that to me, rivals many other models two to three times the price. With both solid Cedar and Spruce models, they are wonderfully crafted instruments. The beauty and transparency of tone in each guitar was very consistent with one another. It was obvious that the attention to detail in each guitar from construction to finish was very high. Again, made to Kenny's exacting standards.
The NEW WORLD guitars are a wonderful addition to the Freedom High School Guitar Program. My students are now able to better explore and properly prepare music without the need to "struggle" on an inferior instrument. In the coming years we will add more Hill Guitars to our growing inventory. Kenny runs a wonderful and quickly growing company in Hill Guitars and should be proud of the instruments that he is creating. The luthier techniques he uses produce guitar of the highest quality. My students love playing on his instruments! As the Director of Guitar for Freedom High School, I am proud to say we fully endorse the Hill Guitar Company and the NEW WORLD Player Series model of guitars!
Christopher Perez
Director of Guitar Studies
Freedom High School
https://teacher.ocps.net/christopher.perez/