Model: Versitar
Finish: Satin Sunburst
Set-up & Playability: Amazing - the quality and superior playability you would come to expect from a Gruhn.
Case: Deluxe Gator Gig Bag
Notes:
Sitka Spruce top
Mahogany back & sides
Mahogany neck with Rosewood Fingerboard
Hand-stained finish
I shouldn't have to tell you, but the name Gruhn has been synonymous with "fantastic guitars" for a half century now.
What you probably don't know is that these guitars are literally made in our backyard....and I am not using this as hyperbole for "they are made like 20 mins away." They are literally made in the building behind us. If you exit via our back alley, it lets out right in front of their shop!
We have been thrilled to be George and Crew's neighbors and we are even more thrilled to be colleagues. When people used to ask me my goals, I used to say (half joking) "I want to be the Millennial George Gruhn."
Thus, getting to be one of the very few Versitar dealers in the world is a dream-come-true for us!
From Gruhn:
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World-Renowned Guitar Retailer George Gruhn Opens New Factory to Build His Own Guitars.
Guitar retailer George Gruhn is a man who's heard or played just about every type of stringed instrument made, and he's heard them played by the best musicians out there. Even at that, Gruhn says there are acoustic guitar sounds that could and should be made, that he simply isn't hearing from the traditional makers. So, he's out to change that. After 53 years in instrument sales, George Gruhn is designing and building his own guitars. He calls his new creation the "Versitar."
Aptly named because of its incredible versatility, it's an instrument that sounds warm, articulate, and full, whether strummed, flat-picked, thumb-picked, or played finger-style. And, it's well suited for pretty much any style of music you'd play on an acoustic guitar. George Gruhn says the market isn't looking for another Martin, Gibson, or Fender clone. So don't expect it to look or sound like any of those familiar brands.
The Versitar is built with the same combinations of tonewoods you'd expect on an acoustic instrument. (i.e. mahogany, rosewood, spruce, cedar). In addition to these standard options, you can get them in a wide variety sustainable American woods such as: black locust, walnut, ash, Osage orange, holly, and exotics including cocobolo, Nicaraguan and Brazilian rosewood.
Standard features include: a teardrop shaped, offset soundhole, which means the need for fewer braces; a cutaway that allows access to 22 frets; a truss rod that extends the entire length of the neck; and a bolt-on neck that will never strip, no matter how many times you loosen and tighten the furniture-style bolts. Gruhn says all of these things contribute to great stability, and a balance of tone and volume all the way up and down the neck.
Over the decades, George Gruhn has collaborated with makers like Guild, Tacoma, and Collings. Though he's proud of his work with the other makers, he says depending on someone else to build his designs has been challenging. Gruhn says, "I finally decided to take some of my previous designs an evolutionary step further, and open a factory of my own to produce them." Gruhn says this is his bucket-list project, "I intend to stay with it, and see this baby through adolescence, to being a very self-sufficient operation and a design that will be considered historically significant."
The Versitar guitars are being built in Lebanon, TN, by highly-skilled luthiers under the direction of veteran factory manager Chris Roberts. The Versitar instruments are now available for purchase at Gruhn Guitars and a handful of other select dealers.
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All of our packages are packed tight enough to survive the apocalypse and we insure every parcel for the full purchase amount.
Got questions? Shoot me a message, I love nerding out with other gearheads!
