Proper Grammer
 The Grammer Guitar.

Many people know that I am a follower and lover of The R.G. and G.factories Grammer acoustic Guitars that were made is Nashville during the 1960's. I have bought and sold over 40 of these fine American made acoustic guitars and I am constantly looking for more. I field questions almost every day about these instruments from prospective clients and people just interested in them.
Here are a few tidbits of information for those people who have never heard of them.
A more in depth informative site can be found here. In the early 1960s, Billy Grammer was finding success and keeping very busy. He had a big hit record that crossed genres, a membership in the famous Grand Ole Opry and was gearing up to record his next album. Ever since starting his career as a professional musician, Billy envisioned building the perfect flat top guitar. It would be built to his specifications, combine all the best features of his favorite acoustic guitars, and be made out of the finest materials available and felt  the time was right to build the Grammer guitar. (cited from the works of Rob Kilgore)

   Clyde Reid. Clyde operated a music store in Donelson, Tennessee, right outside of Nashville. Billy knew he would need the help of an experienced luthier to build his flat top guitar. He contacted J.W. Gower, a Nashville resident who came from a family of luthiers and wood workers.With Billy at the helm, Clyde with his managerial skills, and J.W. with his guitar-building know-how, all the pieces were in place. They approached a Nashville lawyer named General Howard Butler and under hislegal representation, established a corporation. The new company wouldbe called RG&G Musical Instruments, Inc. (Reid, Grammer, and Gower).Billy told me "that his name by chance looked the best on the headstock hence the name The Grammer Guitar was chosen".

Eventually some problems did occur and with the help of Fred Moore (see this link) some financial help did arrive in time to keep the plant afloat. With the help of Ampeg to infuse capital and produce and distribute his guitars, Billy's factory stayed alive. Many people are under the impression that Ampeg owned Billy's guitar factory , but according to Billy that was not the case. There were changes to the guitar ,but the same experienced luthers still produced the guitars. Some of the changes are what I call the transitional Grammer guitars in which the "railroad track" inlays on the finger board were still there but the Ampeg logo was on the headstock are the earliest examples, other notable changes was the blue label being replaced with a black and white inner label bearing the Ampeg logo on the right side of the label as well as the lettering changing on the headstock from capital T,G and G to lowercase letters .

Some model number discrepancies as well as serial numbering also came into being ,and as Billy stated "I didn't even know what serial numbers were being used at this time" can only lead to confusion among followers and collectors alike. In the spring of 1968 a fire decimated the factory and almost everything was lost. By 1972 the last of Grammer guitars were produced and with the influx of cheap guitar from overseas the Grammer factory close its doors forever with left over inventory and parts being auction off to the highest bidder(s).

Many people like myself have developed an almost cult like following of these fine American made vintage acoustic guitars. Many dealers are also becoming interested in these guitars and can be seen listing several for sale at any time. Ebay will have one or two for sale from time to time as well. The Grammer guitar has even finally been listed in the Vintage Guitar Guide, It must be noted that Billy himself once told me that after the auction several loads of unfinished guitars and guitar parts were sold , so buyer beware .Billy Grammer is still alive and I have the chance to chat with him from time to time and is still active in the music industry, He has just completed filming for several installments to be aired on the RFG channel sometime in March of 2010. Billy has even been so kind to allow me to use the Grammer guitar headstock outline as part of Greg's Guitars logo.

Now this is not meant to be an all inclusive complete history of these fine guitars but merely a reference and starting point for those who may be interested in them.  So until next month May all your friends stay true ,all your days be memorable and all your riffs be killer , Greg.