I am pleased to offer this Greven Guitars J-Herringbone, handcrafted by renowned American luthier John Greven. It is in excellent condition and plays beautifully. John's mission is "to build the best sounding, easiest playing, most powerful guitars on the planet" and this guitar is a great example.
A few words from John about this particular instrument: "Lovely guitar. It is a rare one for me in that it is Indian rosewood. It was made in 1996 at my Bloomington shop on First Street, my last Indiana residence before moving out here to Portland. By this time, I had run out of my stash of old Brazilian and there were no sources for it at that time and it would be almost a decade later before one appeared on the scene, hence having to switch to a different rosewood. The top is some Sitka that I had purchased about 10 years earlier from a cutter in Alaska and is some of the best I have ever had, so the guitar should sound really good. Braced like a 30's Martin as is my custom. They only get better with age and playing."
One of Greven's "J" (jumbo) guitars, it is comprised of a 16 inch wide body with a 4.25 inch depth that makes this guitar ideal for finger picking. The sound is very balanced, almost like a steel string classical guitar. A superior recording instrument for its even tone and balance.
This instrument features precise herringbone and abalone (mother of pearl) inlays as well as other fine details that you'll see in the listing photos.
As long as I've owned this guitar it has been kept safely in its hard case, in a climate controlled space. As you'll see in the photos, it is in great condition, with a small blemish on one "shoulder."
Please contact me if you have questions. I hope that you'll love this instrument as much as I do.
Nut width: 1 11/16” String spacing at the saddle: 2 5/32”
Thank you, Alan
More about John's history and style from his website (grevenguitars):
"While shop foreman at Gruhn Guitars in the early to mid-1970's, I was fortunate enough to work on some of the finest vintage guitars ever made, in particular Red Smiley’s pre-war D-45 and Charlie Monroe’s pre-war D-45. Both guitars are iconic in their tone and power. Their sound haunts me to this day and is, in my mind, the “holy grail” of guitar tone. It is this sound which forms the basis of the Greven sound. I look for materials that will give me the voice I seek, but more than materials alone, I build very much like Martin and Gibson did in the early 1930's; light, strong heavily scalloped bracing, low body mass, and thin, flexible finishes. My guitars are “modern” where modern adds to the function without impacting tone, but the feel and sound is every bit “vintage”. Powerful over the entire range of the fingerboard, deep and rich texture to the voice, responsive to a fault are all descriptive of my guitar sound."
