About
Remembering Founder George Bowen
George was a former LA recording and performing guitarist, George had done hundreds of sessions and performances and knew that getting a great acoustic guitar sound starts with a great sounding guitar. George started building almost 20 years ago, had been mentored by James Olson, and had collaborated with other leading luthiers. His goal was to build the "go-to" guitars for pros and discriminating amateur players, a goal he got to see achieved after years of hard work and continuous improvement. After spending years teaching and working alongside his son, Andrew, George passed away from ALS in August 2024.
Andrew Bowen
Andrew has joined his father to expand Bowen Guitars to meet the increasing demand. Andrew has a background as an award-winning vocalist and instrumentalist and is a former United States Marine with a degree from Saint Mary's College of California School of Business. He brings a background of manufacturing, marketing, and operations management with a passion for innovation, precision, and quality. In addition to working daily with George, he is also receiving training, working beside famed builder James Olson in his fabulous shop. Andrew is excited and honored to continue his father's legacy while building exquisite instruments perfectly suited for the stage or studio.
Tone
Admittedly, good tone is in the ear of the beholder. However, a guitar that sounds great in a bedroom often creates problems for engineers and players when mixed with other instruments. Many larger manufacturers tend to favor a "scooped" or "smiley face" tonal response which emphasizes the lows and highs at the expense of the primary tones, which are the heart of a guitars voice.
Bowen guitars are known for their captivating tone when played solo, and for sitting effortlessly in a mix when performed or recorded with other instruments. More specifically, players choose Bowen's for a level and balanced tonal response with overtones, attack and sustain that project clarity in the mids while not clashing with other instruments in the mix. We describe our guitars as "made for stage or studio". Braced lightly with stiff Alpine or Adirondack spruce tops, Bowen's respond to both a light or firm touch offering a wide dynamic range with abundant headroom.
Playability
Many great sounding guitars stay in their cases because they are not friendly to play. During the filming of a recent documentary, world renowned expert and connoisseur of the finest guitars, George Gruhn, (pictured) enjoyed played a new Bowen for half an hour as the cameras rolled. The documentary was about George Gruhn and not Bowen Guitars. He had a hard time putting his new friend down.
The Bowen neck is hand carved with a soft "V" shape to a medium depth. All new Bowen's leave the shop with proportional string spacing at the nut, with string height at the nut virtually at the fret height, making playing in the first position effortless rather than the usual fight.
All Bowen's come PLEK'd for uniformly low action and superior intonation.