Gholston guitar featured in Lindsay museum
Orville Gholston was a talented jeweler and guitar maker who lived in Lindsay with his wife Geneva. Originally from Arkansas, they moved to Lindsay sometime in the 1940’s and purchased an old building that was formerly a hotel, a boarding house, which had been a Butterfield Stage Coach stop, built in the 19th century.
The first floor of the building was Gholston’s jewelry store, and the second floor was where Gholston had his guitar workshop.
Gholston taught himself how to make guitars in the 1960’s as a hobby. He had all kinds of specialized and seasoned wood he collected according to articles at the Lindsay Museum.
The Lindsay Museum and Gallery currently has one of Gholston’s handcrafted guitars on display. There are two newspaper articles that have the majority of information about Gholston; an article from The Visalia Times Delta from 1997, when Gholston was still creating guitars at 85, and an article from The Sun Gazette in 2010, when the historic property was condemned.
Gholston’s guitars, both acoustic and electric, were prized by well known musical artists such as Barbara Mandrell and Glen Campbell.
Curator of the Museum Pam Kimball, and her brother, Kirk Ingoldsby, said Irby Mandrell, who was the father and manager of Barbara Mandrell, first met Gholston in Hot Springs, Ark., and he sold some of Gholston’s guitars in a shop in Oceanside, Calif.
Barbara Mandrell had friends or family in Lindsay and she learned to play the steel guitar there, said Kimball.
The guitar on display in the exhibit was made by Gholston for Luke Adams and has been electrified, but belongs to Jerry D. Hobbs. Another one of Gholston’s guitars is in a museum in Nashville.
Tule River Tribal Elder Ray Flores, Sr. had a double neck guitar made by Gholston, who was his friend and mentor and taught him aspects of jewelry and making guitars. The Sun Gazette article says Ray Flores was a silversmith and a goldsmith.
Greg Mcqueen, 70, who was visiting the museum, and Ingoldsby both remembered being in Gholston’s workshop when they were teenagers in high school in the mid-1960’s.
“He was a good guy,” said Mcqueen, “I was always interested in guitars. And Mr. Gholston never minded these young 16-year-olds watching him build the guitars in his workshop. He was really nice.”
The museum will be open to the public at no charge on Friday Dec. 17 from noon to 4 p.m., as well as Tuesday, Dec. 14 for a special open house from 5-7 p.m. The museum is located at 165 N Gale Hill in Lindsay. For more information call Pam at 559-3104109.