Information on Gurian
 

I'm new to the community, but have been playing guitar way longer than my abilities suggest.. going on 45 years.. but just acquired a dream guitar from my "youth"... a mint Gurian S2M from 1976..



Anyone else out there own one.. or other model.. I'm trying to get some details on orignal recommendations for string gauge or setup info. on this elusive instrument... can't seem to find out a lot about them.. or the builder, Michael Gurian.. though I understand he is considered to be one of the early boutique builders and mentor to a number of renowned modern luthiers.. Froggy Bottom, Cumpiano, and others. Maybe trade some sound clips?

I have owned and sold several, medium to medium light gauge strings are what Gurian recommended, Gurian has info on the web as well as Mike still cranking out exotic wood parts on the west coast.

To the best of my knowledge -Gurian had a lot of fantastic top end luthiers building his guitars for him including John Greven -(Gurian is not a luthier ) - I played one at his shop in nashville in the late 70's ( a mini jumbo ) and though it was a very nice guitar -

I got one
 

I have a Mahog Jumbo that's been to hell and back. Bought it for $250 but spent $700 re-setting the neck, fixing braces and the worse part the "block" had failed and moved toward the bridg about 1/16 of an inch. Now, it is alot better, plays great and has alot of mojo. It sit's next to my desk at home most of the time. Has great tone. I think the only other thing wrong with it is a truss rod that doesn't work. Don't know if I'll have that fixed or not. Since the neck set the neck hasn't moved at all. Oh...I forgot, then neck had a big crack but was fixed before I got it and it's been stable ever since.
I luv it....
It's got alot of songs in it...if you believe in that stuff..
p.s. I you get one and have it worked on..be sure the person you get to do th work knows about Gurians...especially how the neck is held on by two wooden pins.. If they don't know this they'll neve get the neck off and they possibly destroy the guitar in the process!!!..I think they are great guitars that are highly undervalued in the market....

Why not go straight to Gurian? http://gurianinstruments.com/

Gurian IS a luthier. Go to the Gurian site that Kent Chasson has kindly linked.
Click on "About Us".

DAVE

Gurian most certainly was an accomplished luthier.

As others have stated, Michael Gurian is still alive and well and involved in the musical instrument industry, though now is making specialized parts for guitar companies rather than the guitars themselves. If you've ever noticed the inlaid wood "Tacoma" logo on the peghead of a Tacoma guitar, that came from Gurian.

As to string gauge, back in the 1970's and 80's I knew a few players who owned and used Gurian guitars. They strung them with either medium or light gauge strings, according to their personal preference and playing style. The guitars themselves are certainly robust enough to handle mediums.


whm