What is a Gryphon?

We're lousy at looking majestic, and fortunately our chariot-pulling and temple-guarding abilities have never been tested, but the nice guys stuff has been our specialty for almost 30 years. We first chose the Gryphon as a logo, but maybe a bit of those noble qualities have rubbed off on us, who knows? The "watchful" part is reflected in the wide and varied inventory you'll see here, and most of our new customers are referred to us by old customers, suggesting that the loyalty factor works both ways.

Gryphon Stringed Instruments has always been known as a source of information. We're famous for talking at length about the instruments and other goods we've chosen to sell, and the services we offer. This site has been designed to present that tradition in a new medium (well, new to us), so along with lists of instruments for sale are articles we've written for magazines both past and present, as well as lots of reprints from our house newsletter, the Gryphon Gazette. Many of the magazine articles are about the history of fretted instruments, and may be of interest to anyone curious as to how their favorite guitar evolved.

For those who live in the greater San Francisco bay area, a calendar section is designed to help promote live performances--please vote for your favorite type of music by showing up in the audience. While speaking of music, we should mention our vast selection of instruction books and the dozen or so instructors who teach at Gryphon. We hope acquiring the ideal instrument is only a part of your musical plans, and we offer lots of resources for those who want to develope their skills as a musician.

We'd be disappointed if all this stuff didn't provoke some questions, and we do provide a way for you to respond by E-mail. However, please remember that the number of inquiries demands that we use "stock" replies for most questions, as E-mail is a very time-consuming way to communicate. Oftentimes the telephone allows us to answer dozens of questions in less time than it takes to type out a few lines, and true dialogue still has its place. To encourage you to call, we have a toll-free number just for questions from those of you who've visited this Web Site- 1-888-493-2131

If we can inspire you to visit us in person, so much the better. We love to talk about this stuff, perhaps because all those ancient Gryphons are silent, and we're trying to make up for it. Of course we hope to sell you something eventually, as that's our business, but for now we hope these pages give you some sense of what Gryphon Stringed Instruments is all about.

-Richard Johnston, editor.