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John Greven has been creating custom instruments for musicians around the world for the past 40 years. They have come to appreciate the superior sound quality and ease of playing characteristic of his guitars."My years working for George Gruhn at Gruhn Guitars repairing and restoring exceptional vintage instruments taught me both what was possible and how to recreate that amazing tonal envelope. I had the opportunity to work on the pre-war Martin D-45's of Red Smiley and Charlie Monroe as well as hundreds of herringbones of all shapes and sizes, allowing me to see and hear the difference between old guitars from the 1920s through 1950s and new guitars available from the major companies. They were outwardly so similar, yet tonally worlds apart." - John Greven

For the past 50 years, I have been creating custom instruments for a select group of musicians from around the world. They have come to appreciate the superior sound quality and ease of playing characteristic of my guitars. Where did it all begin? Working for George Gruhn at Gruhn Guitars in the late 60's through the mid-70's repairing and restoring exceptional vintage instruments taught me what was possible. The experience gave me a direct measure of how the best of the vintage instruments compare to their modern counterparts and was the primary impetus for me to go into full time guitar making. I knew it was up to the small shop builder to bring back the big pre-war sounds. This has been and still is my life's goal as a guitar maker. I believe it possible to recreate not only the look and feel of the originals, but the sound as well.

Portland, Oregon

Mary Chapin Carpenter

000-OM, F (00), FX (12-Fret), D (Dreadnought), J (Jumbo), DX (J-200), Prairie State, Nick Lucas