Greven build

[Bill R]

Hi Folks,
I thought some of you might enjoy a new guitar I will be picking up at the HGF in a couple of weeks. This post is rather lengthy, so skip to the pics below if you don't want to read all of it.

Last fall I contacted John Greven in Portland, OR to begin the process. I knew I wanted a OOO/OM size, because I prefer grand concert-size guitars for both playing comfort and versatility.

John and I conversed via email quite a bit about the sound I was looking for, my playing style, etc. It turns out that both John and I like a lot of versatility in a guitar, so a OOO was the ideal way to go. He encouraged me to consider a build like his personal OOO, a guitar that is well-known, at least in the Pacific northwest, as a stellar guitar that Wayne Henderson liked so much he played it at a concert there a while back.

I visited John in Portland this past April. He was most gracious and spent several hours with me touring his shop, letting me play his guitars (his personal OOO is quite special) and selecting woods and other details. John believes that light (in both color and weight) Brazilian RW makes very special guitars when paired with Lutz spruce. So we decided on Brazilian rosewood back and sides and a Lutz spruce top.

John gets his CITES certified Brazilian RW from Madeira (http://www.madeirainc.com/), a company in Brazil that saws premium, salvaged, and vintage Brazilian RW timber into guitar sets. John had contacted them requesting light (in weight and color) and quartersawn wood. He had about 6 sets from which I could choose. Here is a pic of the back and side wood in raw form:



As an admirer of wood, I like to let the wood in a guitar speak for itself without a lot of inlay, so I requested a blank fretboard and a wood rosette. I let John use his artistic talents for the rosette. Here's what he came up with - buckeye burl - unfinished in this pic:



The neck is spanish cedar (which isn't really cedar, it's just called that) with a two-piece bird's beak headstock joint and a slim carve. Nut is 1 13/16" wide with a 2 5/16" string spacing at the saddle. I designed the shape of the headstock, a shape John had not used before on his guitars, but was willing to use on mine. I think he liked it after it was completed. He found a cool piece of bookmatched Brazilian that he used for the headstock overlay. The tuners are Gotoh 1:21 in an antique gold finish. John had to order them from Japan.



Here are a couple of pics of the guitar when John was just beginning to apply the proprietary finish he now uses:







Here's the finished guitar:







Needless to say I'm quite excited to pick up this beauty in a couple of weeks at HGF.

Thanks for looking, and thanks to John for this masterpiece

Bill

[bho]

Congratulations on your Greven guitar! You will LOVE it. John built a OOO for me about a year ago that is simply fabulous. It also pairs Lutz and Brazilian Rosewood.

I like the burl he came up with for the rosette, very pretty. And you created a nice headstock shape.

He's also building a OO for me now....

[SJ VanSandt]

That burl is exquisite. Beautiful guitar!

[Tony Burns]

you will be very happy ! -he is without question one of the top guitar builders

[mcduffnw]

Hi Bill...and All

This is a truly wonderful guitar!!! I have been having the pleasure of "playing it in" as John and I prepare to take it down to Healdsburg. Bill has ever so kindly agreed to allow us to display the guitar as part of the "Greven Healdsburg 2013 Collection", and we will be allowing folks "selective access" to play this guitar...ever so gently...under supervision...so be sure to stop by our table and check out this fabulous guitar, and the other 8 special guitars that we are bringing.

As to this guitar...I must say that it is so classically elegant in it's look, and super light and balanced and comfortable to hold and to play. The tone is what I would describe as very lush...but...in a vintage fundamental timbre...warm...woody, with deep warm sweet trebles...smooth warm round mids, and a surprisingly deep warm bass for a 000 size body. The sustain is vintage moderate...IMO...and the harmonics/overtones are purposely gentle, restrained/refined in support of the root note tone. This guitar is very close in tonality to John's personal 000 guitar...which is a very powerful instrument, and never fails to impress those who play it...as this guitar surely will, for the folks who get to play it at Healdsburg.

Did I mention the Brazilian...yeah baby...have a look at that Brazilian...it looks better in person, and it is/was so very light in weight...which is John's preference in a vintage style instrument...very mobile and tonally alive and vibrant!!!

Bill has a stellar guitar here...and it will be a supreme pleasure to be there to witness the two unite in musical bliss...

Another "Grevenista" is soon to join this exclusive club!!!

Bravo Bill!!!

Very Best Regards
Duff

[reholli]

What a beautiful guitar!

It's all stellar, but I love the rosette! Buckeye Burl is so underused in the guitar world (maybe that's a good thing)...it's much more common in the knife-making craft.

Enjoy your Grevin!