Jim Merrill has been repairing and restoring stringed instruments full time since 1981. After gaining a solid reputation of detailed craftsmanship and approaching his work from a restoration perspective, Jim had the opportunity to work on some of the rarest and most highly prized guitars in the world. .In late 1999, Jim had the opportunity to build guitar’s full time and he decided to emulate the builder’s who had used basic hand tools and lutherie methods born from a century of fine guitar building. Having initially gained notority by having Doc Watson’s long time guitar player/ sidekick, Jack Lawrence, playing the second guitar that Jim built, the Merrill Guitar was launched.