Meet the Maker: George Gruhn

by Roger Alan Skipper

Originally published in American Lutherie #107, 2011



Growing up in Pittsburgh in the ’50s, at age twelve George Gruhn seemed destined for a life centered in zoology. So many animals, in fact — ’possums, snakes, turtles, frogs, and fish — filled the basement of his parents’ home that a Pittsburgh newspaper sent a reporter to interview him. His college education began with a premed major but quickly shifted to ethology (animal behavior, in the psychology department). A department chair nervous about venomous pit vipers left George with twenty-five to thirty cottonmouth moccasins in his apartment, rather than in the psychology building.

Also in George’s apartment at that time were the beginnings of a vintage guitar collection. He’d scoured classified ads, pawnshops, and music stores for the instruments few others yet sought, but couldn’t find enough in the Chicago area to satisfy his hunger. On a vacation break in 1965 he visited Nashville, expecting to find shops overflowing with old instruments, but found virtually nothing of interest. Ready to leave in disappointment, he heard of collector Mike Longworth (later to write Martin Guitars: A History) in Chattanooga, four hours away.