June 23, 2008 My Gurian Guitar
Man, what a lucky so-and-so I am …
When I was a dumb 19-year old kid back in 1979, I lucked out and purchased one of the finest and rarest guitars in the entire world – a Gurian C-series cut-away (cutaway) flat-top acoustic.
So I was 19 and I was looking to buy a decent acoustic guitar. On the advice of my then guitar teacher, I walked David Santos Guitar Shop in Costa Mesa, CA. Larry Leenerts, the store manager at the time, showed me this guitar that played like a dream and sounded great. What’s more, it had a cut-away and a flamed-maple back, which I had never before seen in an acoustic guitar. That cut-away allowed me to get to the upper frets. The guitar also had a slimmer-than normal neck, which happened to fit my hand perfectly. To top it all off, the instrument had a Bill Lawrence pickup installed in the sound hole. In short, it was the perfect blend of acoustic and jazz elements. I paid about $900 for it, which was a lot of money in 1979. It’s probably on the order of $3,000 in 2008 dollars.
So I had this great sounding, easy-to-play acoustic guitar. It perfectly fit my “chord/melody” style of acoustic jazz. I took it to gigs and played it for family and friends and spent many happy hours playing it. I really love this guitar, and I consider it the finest guitar I own. I’ve probably spent more hours with this guitar than with any human being! J
However, I was always mystified why I had never seen more Gurian guitars around, and why few people had ever heard of Gurian guitars. So a few years ago I started to investigate the history and background of the instrument. Thank goodness for the web, because it allowed me to uncover the story and history of the instrument and the luthier behind it.
The guitar maker’s name is Michael Gurian. He one of the “fathers” of a renaissance in hand-made luthier techniques back in the 1960s and 1970s. Here’s an excerpt from a 1996 Acoustic Guitar Magazine article. I copied it from Art Edelstein’s "Gurian Guitar" notes web page.
"Michael Gurian is an extraordinarily gifted guitar maker, best known for his New Hampshire-based workshops of the ’60s, ’70s, and early ’80s. Today he manufactures and supplies guitar fittings, marquetry, and tools; imports wood; and acts as a consultant to the guitar and woodworking industry.
"During the early and mid-’60s, Gurian learned from luthiers Gene Clark, David Rubio, and Manuel Velazquez. He mastered the craft of classic guitar making and became a talented lutenist, lute maker, and builder of the Armenian oud. One of his early shops was on Carmine Street in New York City, where he built classic guitars and lutes for many of the top recitalists of the 1960s. He later opened a shop on Grand Street and then moved it to Hinsdale, New Hampshire, in the early ’70s. His operation was one of the first significant forerunners to many current American ateliers, including those of Mossman, Santa Cruz, and Collings.
"Gurian built his reputation among studio guitarists who liked fast, narrow necks and the punch of a long scale length (his was the longest in the business). Some of the celebrities who play Gurians are Jackson Browne, Bob Dylan, Joan Baez, and Paul Simon, who still treasures a custom wide-neck Size 3 Gurian made for him in the early ’70s. Dogged by bad luck, a disastrous fire, and a major recession, Gurian Guitars, Ltd., closed up shop in West Swanzey, New Hampshire, during the ’80s.
"Only a couple of thousand Gurians were ever made, and everyone I know who owns one is very possessive of it. As a result, Gurian guitars are very scarce on the market today. I would consider any Gurian in good condition an excellent purchase."
I have a cutaway model CMP, serial #C2846. Both Jan Van Veen’s page and Art Edelstein’s "Guitar Notes" page says only 3 cutaway C-series models were ever made – and I have one of ‘em!
Over the years, my Gurian got “dinged up” a bit. Plus, after years of daily playing, you can see faint scratch marks from the pick and faint discolorations from where my arm and leg would contact the instrument’s body. If I had only realized what I had on my hands, I would’ve been much more careful with it! Today, I treat it as the prized possession it is. I still take it out of the house occasionally, but that always makes me nervous. I recently had Mike Lull Custom Guitars in Belllevue fix some of the surface scratches and replace the saddle. They did an excellent job, and they were really thrilled to see such a rare instrument.
Happily, Michael Gurian now lives and works in the Seattle area, and so one of these days soon I’m going to pay him a visit to show him this instrument and tell him how much I love it. Amazingly, Mr. Gurian no longer makes guitars.
Now that’s a real mystery …
See also
- Jan Van Veen’s
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Chris
said
Love the guitar! I had the pleasure of meeting Michael at his barge/workshop in Ballard; he\’s a very nice guy!