Any Other Gurian Lovers

[BlueWolf]

When I was a young man, I fell in love with Gurian guitars. I just loved the way they played and sounded. My cousin had one, and I was very envious, but I just couldn’t afford one for myself. Much later in life, after I was able to afford them, I started collecting them, and I now own seven including:

A Jumbo Brazilian Rosewood (my prize)
Two Jumbo Indian Rosewoods
A Size 3 Mahogany
A Size 2 Indian Rosewood
A Maple cutaway (very rare)
A Classical

Are there any other Gurian enthusiasts here?

[charles Tauber]

I don't own a Gurian, and never have, but I visited his now-long-gone wood supply company/factory and chatted with him. I have huge respect for what he's done in his life.

[BlueWolf]

Originally Posted by charles Tauber

I don't own a Gurian, and never have, but I visited his now-long-gone wood supply company/factory and chatted with him. I have huge respect for what he's done in his life.

He was one of the original boutique guitar companies, and I too have enormous respect for the work he’s done. In addition to great guitars, he also apparently trained a significant number of luthiers who went on to have their own impact.

[pieterh]

My Dad has two, a rosewood spruce jumbo with narrow fingerboard profile and a lovely classical in rosewood and cedar. He’s had them for years so they’ve seen some wear, especially the steel string, but they’re lovely instruments.

One day they’ll be mine though I’m not in a hurry of course...

[Gordon Currie]

My wife owns a size 2 rosewood she bought in the late Seventies.

It has minimal bass response so we converted it to Nashville tuning.

Gurian relocated to the Pacific NW decades ago. We were able to show him the guitar at the last La Conner Guitar Festival where he was giving a presentation.

The very first cutaway I ever saw was a Gurian pictured in an old Whole Earth Catalog from the early Seventies. By the time I had the money and ability to purchase one, he had stopped building.

[bobster7]

Would love to see some pics of these Gurian guitars if possible.

[Stomp]

I have a 1977 C-series Gurian J-M, the largest-bodied guitar they made, with mahogany back & sides, ebony board & spruce top.
It's like a mini-jumbo body with some depth to it.
I bought it at a show in Evanston IL about 20 years ago.

In the 1970s, anyone I saw playing a Gurian raved about it, the fast neck, the great sound.
I have to concur, you'll see people commenting on the narrow 1 5/8" nut but I've never had a problem playing it.

I love the unique shape with its large, deep body and the hybrid fan bracing. Mine still has the mortise & tenon neck/body joint secured with the ebony pins.
It's a very articulate guitar.

I've met Michael Gurian a few times at NAMM, since he retired from his inlay/binding business a few years ago, he's apparently gone back to building instruments again .

[srick]

I fell in love with the Gurian mystique back in my days of building dulcimers. The Hinsdale factory was just a short trip north from Hartford. They had an extensive selection of woods and bindings there. It was such a tragedy to lose the factory.

Rick

[Malcolm Kindnes]

I owned one back in the 70's but couldn't deal with the narrow string spacing and nut width.

[BlueWolf]

Originally Posted by Stomp

I have a 1977 C-series Gurian J-M, the largest-bodied guitar they made, with mahogany back & sides, ebony board & spruce top.
It's like a mini-jumbo body with some depth to it.
I bought it at a show in Evanston IL about 20 years ago.

In the 1970s, anyone I saw playing a Gurian raved about it, the fast neck, the great sound.
I have to concur, you'll see people commenting on the narrow 1 5/8" nut but I've never had a problem playing it.

I love the unique shape with its large, deep body and the hybrid fan bracing. Mine still has the mortise & tenon neck/body joint secured with the ebony pins.
It's a very articulate guitar.

I've met Michael Gurian a few times at NAMM, since he retired from his inlay/binding business a few years ago, he's apparently gone back to building instruments again .

Oooh! I hope he’s building again.

[BlueWolf]

Glad to see there are some other Gurian fans! I will take some photos of mine when I have a chance and post them here. Except for the classical, they do have narrow necks, but they have such a rich tone, especially my jumbos. The narrow neck comes in really handy on the cutaway, which I use for Jazz including leading lines.

[BlueWolf]

Originally Posted by pieterh

My Dad has two, a rosewood spruce jumbo with narrow fingerboard profile and a lovely classical in rosewood and cedar. He’s had them for years so they’ve seen some wear, especially the steel string, but they’re lovely instruments.

One day they’ll be mine though I’m not in a hurry of course...

That’s great that they’ll be handed down. I have two grandkids, and I’m hoping one of them will take a shine to guitars so I can pass mine down too, at least some of them.

[BlueWolf]

Originally Posted by Gordon Currie

My wife owns a size 2 rosewood she bought in the late Seventies.

It has minimal bass response so we converted it to Nashville tuning.

Gurian relocated to the Pacific NW decades ago. We were able to show him the guitar at the last La Conner Guitar Festival where he was giving a presentation.

The very first cutaway I ever saw was a Gurian pictured in an old Whole Earth Catalog from the early Seventies. By the time I had the money and ability to purchase one, he had stopped building.

The size 2 doesn’t have a lot of bottom end, but it does have a very clear sound. It must sound pretty interesting with Nashville tuning.

[BlueWolf]

Originally Posted by bobster7

Would love to see some pics of these Gurian guitars if possible.

I’ll take some and post them.

[BlueWolf]

Originally Posted by srick

I fell in love with the Gurian mystique back in my days of building dulcimers. The Hinsdale factory was just a short trip north from Hartford. They had an extensive selection of woods and bindings there. It was such a tragedy to lose the factory.

Rick

It was indeed a great tragedy. I thought I’d never own one after that.