At the age of 12 years, Chris Griffiths first picked up a guitar. At 17 years of age his professional interest in the guitar industry began whilst trying to carve a living as an amateur guitar repairman at a local music store. Chris apprenticed at the Gallop Guitar Hospital in Big Rapids, Michigan as a means of securing future employment within the industry. With the slowing local economy, Chris soon found himself out of a job. Armed the formal training and talent required to build guitars, he jumped feet first into the guitar industry.
In 1993, Chris started Griffiths Guitar Works, his first company situated in St. John's, Newfoundland, Canada. He had a simple mission, to go against the tide by selling high end, custom built acoustic and electric guitars during a time when his home province was branded as the poorest in Canada. Griffiths Guitar Works has since grown from a one-man repair shop to the largest custom guitar store in Atlantic Canada.
Before the plant, the employees or the work processes, Garrison Guitars was a dream and the Griffiths Active Bracing SystemTM a rough sketch on an airline napkin. Six or more years, that crude design has been developed into a more intelligent way to build acoustic guitars.
The revolutionary Griffiths Active Bracing SystemTM and the prototype guitars were first seen at Winter NAMM 2000 in Los Angeles. The response was remarkable. Compliments were received from manufacturers, distributors, dealers and guitar enthusiasts worldwide.
In addition to these successful sales and verbal compliments, Garrison Guitars also received a "Golden Axe Award" for Best Value by the industry's most popular web site, Harmony Central. Harmony Central®: 2000 Golden Axe Awards - Guitar Best Value.
Taking over 6 years to the develop and perfect, the Griffiths Active Bracing SystemTM is a revolutionary method of guitar construction. Our entire company is built on this more intelligent way to build guitars. By integrating the binding, kerfing, bridge plate and all the braces into one glass fibre component, the top is activated by having all parts vibrate in unison. It also provides enhanced structural stability that would normally take hours to construct using traditional production techniques. We achieve this in just 45 seconds by employing unique projection molding technologies. The technology is not designed to cut corners, but add value. A single-unit brace means no matter where you create a vibration inside your guitar, the resonance has an uninterrupted path to travel throughout the instrument.
We pass these efficiencies on to you allowing us to use SOLID WOOD on every Garrison Guitar we manufacture. We use many traditional and non-traditional tone woods such as East Indian Rosewood, Sapele, Western Red Cedar, Englemann Spruce, Sitka Spruce and Canadian birch. In addition, every Garrison Guitar comes with the Buzz Feiten Tuning System, D'addario Strings, TUSQ nuts and saddles and optional Fishman Electronics.
