Gid- Gn

made

 updated 91/11/2011

Julius Gido

Classical guitars built by Julius Gido, Burbank California, USA

Image 1972 Julius Gido label eBay:

Giffin

1976-1988

1988 - 2001

2001 to present

1960s to present

Roger Giffin began making guitars in London in the late 1960s to 1980s. In 1988 moved to California, to work for Gibson till 1994. In 1997 started making guitars again then in 2004 moved to Portland, Oregon.

"I first ventured into this work sometime around 1966, but got serious about it in 1970.  I guess you could say that Giffin Guitars as a business really got going around 1974.  Most of those early guitars had no numbers, I never figured they would need them! but I gradually added serial numbers in the late 70's. I always used a very simple system, first two digits for the year, ("79,  80,  81"  etc) and then a three digit guitar number. Problem was that not all guitars got a number. A lot of the Fender style instruments I built at the time were not numbered, then again, some were.  The numbers were stamped into the wood, on the Giffin originals, it was on the back of the headstock, and on the Fenders, it was on the back of the neck heel or in the neck cavity on the body.  Things were a bit erratic back then.  I currently use a somewhat better system, first two digits are the year (08)  second two digits are the month (10) and last three digits are the guitar number (270).  Nice and simple! This number is ink-stamped inside the control cavity on the body, except on the single pickup Model T, where there isn't room, then it's in the pickup rout.

On the logo subject, I have attached three different period logos that I used.  First one is a simple decal...R.L.Giffin, which was applied to the headstock of the earlier guitars. This would have been around 1976 to 1988 although there were also some of the second type used at the same time.  This one was the same lettering but it was photo-etched into an oval brass plate which was set into the guitar head. Before this period, there wasn't really anything definite on the head....sometimes just a letter "G", sometimes nothing at all.  The oval brass plate was in use until about 2001 when I switched to the mother of pearl logo in the third attachment." [Source and logo images: Roger Giffin, email 17/10/2008 ]

Image courtesy of Fretless Eric, Melband Forum, 2008

Reviews http://reviews.harmony-central.com/reviews/Guitar/brand/Giffin

2000 to present

Patrick Gigliotti, Tacoma, Washington

Reviews http://reviews.harmony-central.com/reviews/Guitar/brand/Gigliotti+Custom+Guitars

Gilb

This is a rare "Gilb" guitar. Built in Paracho Michoacan Mexico, which is known as The Guitar Capital of The World. This is because they are reputed to make the best sounding guitars in all of Mexico. The town is full of music shops that sell handmade stringed instruments.
This classical is a well built guitar which is probably made back in the 70's or 60's.
[Source: and images courtesy: guitar2thestars collection]

Gilbert

1965 to present

John Gilbert, William Gilbert, in Paso Robles, Califoria. Built by son William since 1991.

Reviews http://reviews.harmony-central.com/reviews/Guitar/brand/Gilbert

Gilbert

Japan 1970s Image Heritage Auctions Thanks to Ben van Dyk for passing on this brand.

Gilchrist Mandolins

1976 to present

Stephen Gilchrist, Warnambool, Victoria

Gilchrist profile http://www.mandozine.com/resources/MBSS/builders.php

Dating Gilchrist Mandolins

http://www.mandozine.com/resources/CGOW/gilchrist.php

Gilet

1976 to present

Gerard Gilet, Sydney, Australia. Acoustic and classical guitars.  Suppliers of wood for musical instruments. Guitar making classes.  According to an ebay sale in 2009 Gilet also made Stratocaster copies around 2000.

Reviews http://reviews.harmony-central.com/reviews/Guitar/brand/Gilet

Images eBay:

Giltzow Guitars

2003 to present

Started building under the Giltzow Guitars name in 2003
Guitars are made in my shop at 8365 W. Pomona Ct. Boise, Idaho 83704 USA.  Am moving to 9024 Avalanche Boise, Idaho 83709 in the next month.

Dating Giltzow guitars

Date of "closing of the sound box" is written on the inside of the sound board or inside back. There is a serial number on the inside back below the sound hole. That can be used to date the guitar by contacting me. Each guitar is photographed during construction - 200 to 300 digital pictures on a CD. That CD goes to the owner and I keep a copy. Should someone buy one of my guitars and not get the CD; they can obtain one from me.
I use two peg head logos a script (mop) Giltzow and a G & palm tree (mop). I have done special peghead inlays for specific customers." [Source: Michael D. Giltzow, email 1/8/2008]

Gima

http://www.archtop-germany.de/-Hersteller/-Vintage/Gima/body_gima.html

Reviews http://reviews.harmony-central.com/reviews/Guitar/brand/GIMA

Girdis

1981-2009

Robert Girdis 91953-2009), Luthier. Seattle Washington.

In memoriam

http://www.cybozone.com/fg/girdis.html

The Girdis Guitars web site was available from 2003-2008 per wayback machine. The following info is taken from there:

Robert Girdis grew up in Santa Clara, California. When he was in his early teens, his older brother sat him down and told him to listen to a recording of Doc Watson playing "Black Mountain Rag". It was to become a primer for Robert's musical tastes and soon he was seeking out music of other roots-based artists, which ultimately led to a desire to learn to play the guitar. His first guitar was a 12-string which as Girdis recalls "…it had impossibly high action, so I strung it with only six strings and began to learn some chords". After a few years of struggling along with this guitar, his brother found a used 000-18 in a friend's music shop, and his family presented it to him as a gift. Robert attended West Valley College in Saratoga, Ca. where he studied Psychology and Electronics. It was not until he saw an ad in Pickin' Magazine a few years later about making musical instruments that he decided to go in a different direction and enrolled in the school of life, music, and woodworking.

Robert Girdis began his studies in guitar making in 1978 under the guidance of Anthony Huvard at the Northwest School of Instrument Design in Seattle. In a one-year program, all elements of the craft were taught. The course started from the drawing board through to the completion of three instruments built mostly by hand.

After the school year, Girdis was invited to stay on as a teaching assistant for one more year. In 1981 he relocated to Guemes Island in northern Washington State and opened his own shop, splitting his time between building commissioned guitars and guitar repair work. He began to show his work annually at The Northwest Folklife Festival. It was here that he met Ed Littlefield Jr., who commissioned a guitar for his recording studio, Sage Arts in Arlington, WA. Littlefield was so pleased with his guitar that he commissioned guitars for each member of his band, the newly-formed Marley's Ghost. Girdis' work also gained prominence after being featured in Frets Magazine in articles about the artistic aspects of lutherie. Relocating back to Seattle in 1990, Girdis built his own custom-designed workshop behind his home where the mainstay of his business continues to be building custom acoustic guitars on commission.

Girdis guitars are known for their big sound and exquisite detail. Rob's willingness to try new ideas, use untried woods, combined with an understanding of the nuances of design and construction that can tailor a guitar to individual style specifications has kept Girdis with a steady flow of orders for many years. Guitars built on speculation are available from time to time. [Source: Girdis web site 2007]

Girl Brand Guitars

1996 to present

Chris Larsen, Tucson Arizona, USA

http://www.nymphusa.com/tele/girlbrande.asp

Reviews http://reviews.harmony-central.com/reviews/Guitar/brand/Girl+Brand

Gitane

2003 to present

Chinese made Selmer style.

Reviews http://reviews.harmony-central.com/reviews/Guitar/brand/Gitane

Gittler

1978-early 1980s

Only 60 Gittler guitars and 3 bass produced http://invention.smithsonian.org/centerpieces/guitars/noframes/de08.htm

1986-1987 500 produced by Astron in Israel

http://www.fetishguitars.com/html/misc/europe/gittler_lb.html

http://www.myrareguitars.com/egittler.html

http://www.greenbuddha.de/guitars/index_b.php?mod=gittler&lang=de

Reviews http://reviews.harmony-central.com/reviews/Guitar/brand/Gittler

Image Frank Perrey

Gioachino Giussani
 

Image: Guitar Salon                                                                        Fine and Rare Guitars:

Michele Della Giustina

Concert guitars, Treviso north of Venice, Italy

Givens

1960-1993

RL Givens was a guitar and mandolin maker in USA [Source: Flatpicking]  He made 200 guitars and 800 mandolins [Source: GBase]

RL Given guitar catalog

http://www.acousticmusic.org/Instrument-Catalogs-sp-87.html

Givson

current

Givson Musical Industry, Kolkata India. All types of guitars.

Reviews http://reviews.harmony-central.com/reviews/Guitar/brand/Givson

Gj

2004-

"Started "Gj" in 2004, #19 was the first with that name. Before that they were called simply " G " but engraved in a way that when playing looked like G, when on a stand looked like a "M" for the initials of my name.

I make them at my home in a converted loft just outside Aberdeen Scotland.

Dating Gj guitars

I did have records of all my guitars but unfortunately having 2 computer crashes have put paid to most of the materials used in the earlier ones. All guitars and bodies were either stamped (after # 12 or so ) or written and signed on both body and neck. Date was also written at that time to present.

I still have #1 and use #19. I got very ill a few yrs ago and stopped making for a while. Prices have ranged from £140.00 to £1300.00 depending on clients requirements. [Source: Graeme Mennie, Kinellar Guitar Studios email 30/5/2010]

Headstock images #1, 2004-2009, 2010-

Gladden

Not a lot of information about Gladden guitars on the interweb. Found reference to a Gladden brand bass guitar as well as the guitar pics shown here from eBay:

Glenister Guitars

1973 to present

"I started in 1973.

Dating Glenister Guitars

Guitars & Mandolins from 1973 to 1992 were inlayed 'Glen' in the head stock. From 1992 to present are inlayed 'J.Glen'. My 'serial' numbering system (when I used it because sometimes I didn't) has varied in format over the years but has always been the Gregorian date (two digit year and day of the year) when the back went on with a sequence number. Generally between 1973 to 2000 the two digits of the year were seperated by the day number with a two digit sequence number tagged on the end eg. 30th march 1996 = 9080601. Since 2000 to present the year (excluding leading zeros) followed by the day number followed by a sequence number eg. 30th March 2008 = 808001.
The serial number is on an oval label inside the instrument and stamped in 2mm high numbers on the back of the head stock. I also include the name of the village I was living in at the time eg. Kommetjie or Cape Town or Felixstowe.
I also make orchestral instruments and their bows - all share the same numbering system but the violins have a small rectangular label under the bass f-hole. The bows are branded next to the nut on the player side of the bow and numbered under the nut." [source: Jimi Glenister, email 30/3/2008]

http://www.guitarsmatrix.com/profiles/jimiglen.html

Glico

Glico is a snack maker inJapan. In 2011 they released a promotional guitar for Pocky chocolate sticks

Image Glico Pocky guitar ebay Oct 2011

Global

Global Musical Instrument Company.  Models include steel string acoustics and electric guitars. According to All Experts Global was a brand name used by an importer in Chicago of cheaply-made instruments from a variety of sources in Asia in the 1960s and 1970s (and maybe later). However another opinion of a sale site suggested Global Musical Instrument Company of Japan. The company produced guitars under the names of Sorento, Nola, Bolero, Sonata, and Torino. [Source: GoAntiques]

According to ebay and other posts they can be made in Japan or Korea.

There appear to separate headstock Global logos. Unsure whether this means separate brands, different logo for acoustic v electric or perhaps variation over time.

Reviews http://reviews.harmony-central.com/reviews/Guitar/brand/Global

Images eBay: The label is from the right hand side guitar headstock.

A Harmony Brand

http://harmony.demont.net/brands.php

GMP Guitars

1990-2005,

2008 to present

GMP® Guitars was originally founded in 1990 by GM Precision Products. The GMP® Trademark changed ownership in 2008 and is now Genuine Musical Products, Inc. and is now owned by graphic artist Dan Lawrence of DRL Graphics  GMP® Guitars and Basses are known for their great tonal properties, easy playability, flashy finishes and exceptional attention to detail and quality. Made since" 1990 to present, San Dimas, California, United States of America.

1990-2005 GMP was owned and operated by GM Precision Products
2008-to present Owned and operated by Dan Lawrence under Genuine Musical
Products, Inc. with Master builders from the original GMP

Dating GMP guitars
The earlier GMP models had their serial numbers engraved in the control cavity; in the mid 90’s the Serial Number was switched to a decal located on the back of the headstock/neck area with the build date being written in the control cavity. [Source: Kimberly Lawrence, GMP® Guitars, email 6/12/2010]

Review | Audio
 

Reviews http://reviews.harmony-central.com/reviews/Guitar/brand/GMW+Guitar+Works

Zbigniew Gnatek

Sydney, Australia

http://www.guitarcentre.com.au/gnatek.html

Image Kent Guitar Classics:

GnuLix

Image GnuLix bass guitar (refinished) reportedly from the 1970s found on ebay.

Gnu Music Workshop

Repairs and custom guitars. Göteborg, Sweden

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