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Sale Pending-Bryan Galloup G6.C - Italian Spruce & Brazilian Rosewood #2601
Serial: 2601 GALLOUP
Weight: 4 lbs 6 oz
$25,000.00
Galloup Acoustic Guitars — Michigan's Greatest Kept Secret
Bryan Galloup started out as a tool and die maker in Big Rapids, Michigan, inherited a craftsman's instincts from his father, and spent the better part of the 1980s discovering that his real calling was in guitars. He bought Dan Erlewine's repair shop, The Guitar Hospital, in 1986, built a reputation for meticulous restoration work, and began building his own instruments in 1992. Over the four decades since, he has become one of the most respected and technically rigorous acoustic guitar builders working anywhere in America, operating out of an 11,000-square-foot facility in Big Rapids that houses both his custom guitar studio and the prestigious Galloup School of Guitar Building and Repair, which has trained thousands of luthiers from around the world and counts Tom Ribbecke, Maegen Wells, Tyler Robbins, and Isaac Jang among its most celebrated alumni.
The instruments command five-figure sums and come with a waiting list. The players who have found them, including Jeff Daniels, who has played a Galloup as his primary instrument for years, and David Crosby, who received one late in his life, understand why without needing it explained.
The Science of Tone
Bryan approaches guitar building the way an engineer approaches a precision instrument, rigorously, systematically, and without romanticism about tradition for its own sake. His proprietary Acousonix tonewood rating system classifies and grades tonewoods using acoustic measurement rather than visual selection alone. His Sound Profiling Software and patented Wood Management system apply decades of research into what actually makes a guitar respond consistently at the highest level. PLEK, CNC, CAD, and laser operations complement the handwork rather than replace it, each technology deployed only where it produces a measurably better result.
The foundation of everything, however, is the wood. Bryan makes annual trips to Italy and Switzerland to hand-select spruce tops directly from the source, choosing pieces that no standard supply chain would ever surface. His Brazilian rosewood back and sides are CITES-documented and legally held, chosen not for their rarity or cachet but because, as Bryan puts it, the wood sounds like iron: brittle, oil-free, and extraordinarily responsive in a way that no substitute has yet matched.
The Models
Galloup guitars are built entirely to order and are not offered in a traditional catalog. Each instrument is specified in collaboration with the player and built around the tonewoods Bryan selects for that specific commission. The model designations, G.2, G.2C, G.6, G.6CA, Northern Light, and Hybrid Reserve, reflect body size, scale length, and construction variables rather than fixed templates, and every instrument within a model series is genuinely unique. Brazilian rosewood back and sides paired with Italian spruce, Adirondack spruce, or cedar tops are the most common configurations, with multiscale options, Venetian cutaways, arm bevels, and a range of premium appointments available depending on the build.
Dream Guitars, one of the most respected boutique acoustic dealers in the world, has described Galloup as at the top of the heap right now in terms of classifying and building with the best woods in a manner that uses technology to achieve consistency, with instruments that are big and beautiful with an attitude in equal parts.
An Education in Wood
It is worth noting that Bryan Galloup's influence on the acoustic guitar world extends well beyond his own instruments. His school has produced some of the finest independent luthiers working today, and his published techniques for neck resetting, fretting, and bracing have become standard practice across the trade. Owning a Galloup guitar means owning something built by the person who taught a generation of the world's best builders how to do what they do.
Browse our available Galloup inventory, and reach out to discuss a custom commission with us directly.