Gibson has announced their acquisition this week of Garrison Guitars of St. John’s Newfoundland, in Canada. Garrison was started by Chris Griffiths in 1999, using a new bracing system he had developed, and dubbed the Griffiths Active Bracing System.
This system is one where all of the top bracing is cut as a single component, encompassing all the typical braces into this one piece. Griffiths believes that this allows for both an uninterrupted path for the vibrations resonating across the guitar top, and greater structural stability as well.
The Garrison shop utilizes many modern construction technologies, with robotics, laser cutting, CNC (Computer Numerical Control) milling and UV finishing all a part of the process.
Unlike previous Gibson acquisitions where the newly purchased assets were moved to a Gibson shop, Garrison will soon begin manufacturing the Gibson acoustic guitars in their Canadian facility. Garrison also manufactures solid wood mandolins and mandolas but no mention of any part they may play in Gibson mandolins was announced.
Gibson has some further details on their site, but the Garrison site seems to be unavailable at this time.
