Breaking News- New Tacoma-influenced guitars coming from George Gruhn

[drive-south]

You may be right about the Avante Terz. It was always a niche instrument and may be out of production. Joe will still make you one in his shop but much higher price.

[Cisc0kid]

Looks like they’re building the guitars in Nashville

[gr81dorn]

[Jaimoe]

Nice! Sounds like they’re going to put an access hatch in the back to make it easier (or, really, possible!) to get your hand inside for repairs and electronic installs. That’s a welcome innovation over Tacoma’s original design.

Price is a little steep, but it’s a nice looking instrument and I gotta say I’m tempted…

[ssynhorst]

Whoa, a lot of ignorant nasty comment above. George Gruhn is a longtime greatly respected figure in the acoustic guitar world.

Further, I have a small Tacoma guitar, in regular tuning but somewhat similar to the less common traditional,'terz' design and found it well made and fine value. I read up on them at the time and it seemed they tried to use high grade US machine technology to make good inexpensive factory guitars. I was disappointed that they quickly went bust.

So I wish this new venture the best of luck. Their technology should not be lost to the industry. - Stevo

[jimmy bookout]

As Wade pointed out, the issue with George is not that he isn't a great authority on acoustic guitars (he is), but that he's taking way too much credit for the Tacoma design. In the video above, the guy actually says that "George designed the Tacoma" and that is just not correct.

[Gunny]

An excerpt from an article in the Seattle Times.

The concept for the Papoose came from Gruhn, the
guitar-market expert who saw a need for a small travel
guitar and one that offered a higher voice in the
recording studio. The Papoose is tuned to A, five steps above a standard guitar.
The Papoose and the Chief, along with three more traditional models, debuted at the
1997 winter Convention of the National Association of Musical Manufacturers. Gruhn helped place the Papoose
in the hands of such bluegrass luminaries as Ricky Skaggs and Vince Gill. Within months of the show,
orders from Tacoma's 75 original dealers far outpaced the manufacturer's capacity.

https://www.tacomaguitarforum.com/tg...Vibrations.pdf

[drtedtan]

Originally Posted by Gunny

An excerpt from an article in the Seattle Times.

The concept for the Papoose came from Gruhn, the
guitar-market expert who saw a need for a small travel
guitar and one that offered a higher voice in the
recording studio. The Papoose is tuned to A, five steps above a standard guitar.
The Papoose and the Chief, along with three more traditional models, debuted at the
1997 winter Convention of the National Association of Musical Manufacturers. Gruhn helped place the Papoose
in the hands of such bluegrass luminaries as Ricky Skaggs and Vince Gill. Within months of the show,
orders from Tacoma's 75 original dealers far outpaced the manufacturer's capacity.

https://www.tacomaguitarforum.com/tg...Vibrations.pdf

Just to clarify here, A is 2-1/2 steps (or five half steps) above E, not 5 steps as indicated in the article. Five steps above E would be D.

[SuperB23]

Cool stuff, those huge bass and baritone acoustics that Tacoma made were some of the best sounding I've played for under $1000 when they were new! They were an arm full though, really big!!!

[DrHerringbone]

George mentioned this to us when we were at his store dropping off a batch of tone travelers for their repair department, and he pulled out the prototype of the guitar he is going to produce. That thing was LOUD like a gypsy jazz guitar. He seemed mighty proud of it. He said he working on figuring out the details of the factory but didn't go into much detail. That was back last winter though. I bumped into him at the most recent nashville amigo show and asked him about the new line of Tacoma esque guitars and he said things were moving along well. Interesting to see where it all ends up.

[Sam Sherry]

Originally Posted by Jaimoe

Tacomas have a good rep for build quality, tone, and innovation in the right circles, but they’re not legendary.

Fundamentally, Tacomas have a reputation for peeling finish.

Originally Posted by Jaimoe

But hard to see this quasi-Chief becoming the Next Big Thing in mainstream acoustics. Unless you can get one into the hands of John Mayer, Ed Sheeran, or Taylor Swift. And who knows? Maybe Gruhn can!

Tacoma put Papooses in all the right hands and it's easy to guess that Gruhn was a big part of that.
It's hard to picture Taylor Swift putting aside a guitar that has her name on every peghead!

Originally Posted by gr81dorn

Tacoma as a brand died the moment they were acquired by Fender

IMR Tacoma died when Fender concluded that it was cheaper to close it than to honor the warranty by stripping and respraying thousands of instruments.

Tacoma Rash killed Tacoma Guitars. That bogus sealer-coat is a classic example of a self-inflicted industrial wound. It is the Corvaire of the guitar world.

Originally Posted by Gunny

There are a few PACRIM prototype Tacomas out there, but the idea died quickly. Like many big companies, they chose not to compete with themselves.

Respect for your knowledge and experience but the Olympia By Tacoma line is more than that.

Originally Posted by ssynhorst

it seemed they tried to use high grade US machine technology to make good inexpensive factory guitars.

Stevo, I defer to you about the flat-tops. My impression is that they were using more gear than Martin and Gibson but maybe less than Taylor.




The Tacoma archtops used a ton of CNC -- as far as I can tell, there was no hand-carving of the braces and 80% of the backplate was left with the CNC rout-lines showing. They are still the only affordable entree into the world of offset-soundhole archtops populated at the top levels by people like Ken Parker and Ribbecke.

Mighty cool guitars . . . but the Rash.

[Jaimoe]

Originally Posted by Sam Sherry

Fundamentally, Tacomas have a reputation for peeling finish.


Tacoma put Papooses in all the right hands and it's easy to guess that Gruhn was a big part of that.
It's hard to picture Taylor Swift putting aside a guitar that has her name on every peghead!

Yeah… I own 7 Tacomas Sam. Don’t need an “actually…”, but thanks. Tacomas DO have a reputation for build quality. Just not finish quality

All that said, I agree that the most plausible theory for Fender killing Tacoma is rash-related. It would have been pricey.

And I agree it’s hard to see these guitars getting the kind of star-driven visibility in 2023 that they got in 1998. A LOT has changed.

Also, I love my (warranty refinished) Jazz King!

[815C]

I have talked with George Gruhn several times in his store, but here are my encounters outside the store.

Around 1980 I lived in the DFW area and I took my old Gibson L-7 to the Arlington Guitar Show. Gruhn Guitars had a booth there and George was manning the booth when I stopped by. I showed him my L-7 and asked him about it. His reply....

"This was made in 1937. The inlays in the neck were actually made in Gibson's banjo factory. The pick guard and the wooden inlay in the tailpiece are not original."

Then in 1997 I took the guitar the the Gruhn Guitar shop in Nashville because I was thinking about selling it. I was showing it to one of the employees there when George walked by, looked at it, stopped and said...

"I've seen this guitar before. This was made in 1937. The inlays in the neck were actually made in Gibson's banjo factory. The pick guard and the wooden inlay in the tailpiece are not original."

The guy knows his guitars!

In 1989 I was selling a bunch of gear in a yard sale in my back yard in Nashville. I looked up to see George Gruhn walk into my back yard. He bought a 1964 Gibson Hummingbird and a 5 string electric Barcus-Berry violin (the violin had a really nice hard shell case which he didn't want - which has always puzzled me).

When I told him I was a bit surprised to see him at my yard sale he said, "I don't usually go to yard sales, but my wife saw your ad in the paper said "Musical Instruments" so I dropped by.

I also sold a 1955 Gibson BR9 lap steel at that sale, but to another guy.

[TiffanyGuitar]

Granted they were not in the best room, not miked up, etc, but I did not think the sound sample for those guitars in the Bukovac video made them sound that great. Playing in person could be much different though, obviously, as I am not questioning Mr. Gruhn's knowledge or experience with guitars.

[tommieboy]

Originally Posted by 815C

"I've seen this guitar before. This was made in 1937. The inlays in the neck were actually made in Gibson's banjo factory. The pick guard and the wooden inlay in the tailpiece are not original."

The guy knows his guitars!

Odd, that's what he told me about my 1986 Guild F44.



Tommy