NGD-Garrison

[richardp69]

Not sure if any of you had ever heard of a guitar brand called Garrison. I had not.

But, I had another empty guitar hanger on the wall and I just can't deal with that so I took this in trade locaally from a fella I've done quite a lot of business with.

Garrison was headquartered in St John's Newfoundland, Canada. I'm not sure if they had manufacturing capabilities there or not. This one was designed in Canada but built in China. It's actually a fine playing and sounding guitar.

It has an:
-Solid Englemann Spruce soundboard
-Koa back and sides (likely laminate but I'm not sure of that)
-Rosewood fingerboard and bridge
-Mahogany neck
-Gold tuning machines with KOA looking buttons
-Both the fingerboard and body are bound

Like I said, it sounds really good and I'm quite happy with it. Plus, now once my D 25 and DV 52 get back to me from Tom Jacobs, all my wall hangers will be filled and that makes me happy. (yeah, I know it doesn't take much to make me happy).

Here's a few pics.

 

[chazmo]

Never heard of them before, Richard. Any idea when this was built? I like the pretty inlays in the rosewood fingerboard!

 

[GGJaguar]

Fancy wood binding and abalone rosette. Nice!

 

[richardp69]

Never heard of them before, Richard. Any idea when this was built? I like the pretty inlays in the rosewood fingerboard!

Don't know for sure. From what I've been told, the company was formed in Canada in 1999. It was bought by Gibson in 2007 and then Gibson closed it down and walked away from it on 2010. So, somewhere in that timeframe I suspect.

 

[merlin6666]

Congrats I heard about them and thought they were very desirable, but unfortunately as mentioned above the brand disappeared after corporate take over, very similar to Tacoma.

 

[Brad Little]

I played one in a store, ~15 years ago. Played and sounded OK. IIRC, they used some sort of plastic or synthetic grid for the bracing. I think the one I played was made in Canada, but not sure.

 

[SFIV1967]

Garrison was headquartered in St John's Newfoundland, Canada. I'm not sure if they had manufacturing capabilities there or not.

From Wikipedia:
"In early 2001, Garrison Guitars opened an acoustic guitar manufacturing company in Canada tooled with the latest robotics, laser cutting, CNC milling, and UV finishing. The 20,000 square foot factory produced orders for distribution in North America, Australia, United Kingdom, Norway, Germany, the Netherlands, Spain, China, Japan and Canada.

Garrison Guitars and its founder won awards for innovation, business planning, export growth, leadership and entrepreneurship. Garrison Guitars was awarded a "Golden Axe Award" for Best Value by Harmony Central in 2000. Founder Chris Griffiths was also awarded the Manning Innovation Award in 2003.

Garrison Guitars were crafted using innovations including the Griffiths Active Bracing System, a revolutionary method of guitar construction that took over six years to perfect. The single unit brace combined all the acoustic guitar's top braces into a single unit to allow for resonance to have an uninterrupted path of travel throughout the instrument and provided enhanced structural stability.

Offering a range of instruments at all price points, Garrison's "G"-Series featured all solid woods, hard-shell cases, bolt-on necks, and UV-finishes in a variety of wood combinations. The "G"-series also included the full GAB system combining front and back braces, kerfing, and neck and end blocks. The "G"-series were crafted in Canada.
The "AG" Series was an affordable line using the patented bracing system technology only for the top, with more traditional back/side bracing and kerfing. The "AG" series were "designed in Canada, made in China"."

Ralf

 

[jfilm]

A good friend of mine is from Newfoundland, and she used to build guitars in the factory before the Gibson buy out (possibly a bit after too, until they closed down the factory). She's in NH now and has a few good ones in her collection - they are cool guitars and sound great.

It looks like yours doesn't have the Griffiths bracing system, which is made out of some sort of fiberglass- here's a photo of what that looks like through the sound hole:

 

[walrus]

That's a pretty guitar! I like it!

walrus

 

[SFIV1967]

It looks like yours doesn't have the Griffiths bracing system, which is made out of some sort of fiberglass

It does partially, only on the top! See what I posted above:

The "AG" Series was an affordable line using the patented bracing system technology only for the top, with more traditional back/side bracing and kerfing. The "AG" series were "designed in Canada, made in China"."

What you posted is a Made in Canada "G" series model.

Ralf

 

[geoguy]

"Let's Talk Garrison"

Maybe Gibson bought that company to secure the bracing patent for their own use?

 

[SFIV1967]

Maybe Gibson bought that company to secure the bracing patent for their own use?

Doesn't sound like it:

"On July 3, 2007, Gibson Guitar Corporation announced its acquisition of Garrison Guitars. The acquisition was to "further Gibson's expansion in the acoustic guitar market offering a new series of Gibson brand acoustic guitars aimed at the median price point" and converted to produce the short-lived Gibson "Songmaker"-Series. Gibson did not carry forward with the GABS in their Songmaker series, and ended production around 2010, closing down the Garrison factory in Canada, taking along with it the GABS technology."

Maybe as a final thing about that bracing, here are some pictures showing that bracing and kerfing for the Canada made models, so it was like a complete cage, quite an idea!










Attached is also a 52 page presentation/catalog in PDF from year 2004! (not showing Richard's model yet).

The model Richard bought from the "AG" Series was a later more affordable line made in China using the patented bracing system technology only for the top, with more traditional back/side bracing and kerfing.
But that version he bought seems to be a rare version, @richardp69 : What's the model number on the label?



Hope that answered most questions...If Richard gives me the model number I can find the specs for him.

Ralf

 

[Stuball48]

Nice guitar Richard. One of your many positive attributes is your willingness to "take the roads less traveled" and this Garrison rewarded your journey.
Enjoy in good health!!

 

[Opsimath]

Just watched an interview with the company's founder. Seems to be a fine individual with a fascinating business story. Too bad the company closed shop. Wonder what happened to the bracing patent.



Congratulations on your guitar, Richard. And I like your reason for getting it.

 

[bobouz]

Garrisons were well regarded for a period of time, but apparently didn’t catch on in a sustainable way. I had wanted to play one of the Canadian made models, but never got the opportunity.