John Greven
John Greven builds wonderful flattop guitars in the vintage mold. His curriculum vitae is impressive; a stint at Gruhn’s as a repairman, a 40 year, 1000 guitar career, inventor of tor-tois. Eric Clapton, Jimmy Buffett, George Harrison, Buffy St.Marie, John Denver, Stefan Grossman, Stephen Stills, Steve Martin, the Dirt Band, Johnny Cash, and Mary Chapin Carpenter own at least one Greven original. John offers many body shapes, from the OO to Jumbo and is world reknown as an inlay artist. We are John’s exclusive representatives in the UK.
We always have Grevens on order. Delivery is usually imminent, please Email us/phone for more details.
What others say about John’s work:
Blue Book Publications: “Luthier John Greven has been building guitars for the past thirty-two years. While he has always been building good sounding acoustics, Greven is perhaps better known for the outstanding quality of his inlay work. Rather than waste words attempting to describe the quality of his guitars, simply contact John Greven directly (see Trademark Index) for specification and pricing information. A number of years ago, Greven devised a faux tortoise shell material that can be used as pickguards or body binding without the problems encountered by the real material. This faux shell is available through the Luthier´s Mercantile International of Healdsburg CA.”
George Gruhn: “Certainly, John Greven is one of the very best. He is one of an elite, small group that has really achieved something notable.”
Standard Features include:
- Mahogany Necks
- Ebony Bridge
- Bone Saddle and Nut
- Ebony Fingerboard with nickel silver medium frets
- Ivoroid Binding
- Wavery with custom dots Bridge pins
- Gold Gotoh or Grover gold Tuners
- Light gauge phosphor bronze Strings
- Bracing: hand scalloped spruce bracing
- Custom Tor-tis Pickguard
- Inlays: abalone, pearl, ivory and others
- all inlay work is hand cut and inlaid and all engraving is hand done
John’s Prices start at: $5,200 for many wood choices and decorative schemes. His models encompass almost every aspect of vintage flattops from Martin to Gibson and Larson Brothers styles.
For those of you who like a bit more eye candy, here‘s a little gallery of John’s work.