Guitars from India; Givson (yes, Givson)

Back in 1998 I was in Jaipur India and visited a music shop. They were selling archtop acoustic guitars with f-holes. Fun to play, very cheap, won't stay in tune for more than a couple of days. But the brand name was "Givson". The font on the headstock was very similar to Gibson and for a mere Rs 1100 ($28.00) it was mine. They have a website; www.givson.com and they also make electrics, basses and mandolins. I've never seen another one in the states.

 

Forums: 

Givson

I added a page for Givson guitars a while back.

http://www.guitar-list.com/brands/givson

I liked their cheeky logo!

Givson logo

On their homepage they say "beware of imitation - check for original holograms"!

To be fair, despite the logo, the guitars on their website aren't slavish copies. Look at their GS1000 model

Givson Crown archtop

I have one!  So now there are two.  I must have gotten really lucky.becaue this thing not only stays in tune, it has become my favorite guitar.  I play it every day and credit it with my vast improvement as a player.  It has a lucious jazz tone (acoustic only-no pickups) and looks great.  The action is as low as it can go without buzzing and the bridge is fully adjustable.  If I had a pic, I'd post it.  My only complaint (and it's a very minor one) is that the sustain could be better.  I plan to install a bone nut to fix that.  I don't want any other work done; it's nearly perfect as is and I don't want to mess up the intonation, which is also perfect.  I paid more for mine ($150) but I was stateside and had never seen nor heard of one of these before.  As pleased as I am with it, I think it was a good deal.  I pulled the poorly-positioned "Givson" sticker off of the headstock because it just looked like someone cut it out of a magazine and stuck it on without much care.  But the one on the body is under the finish, so I'll go at it with some 0000 steel wool.  The lacquer is too thick anyway.  If you stumble upon one, I strongly suggest you try it out.  You might be lucky too!

givson guitar

Guess what ? I have one too . I agree they are very good guitars . Now there are three. ha ha ha.Sounds great stays in tune.I have no complaints.It is a givson venus from 1983. it is a cut away with pick up . and has its hologram cool little guitar glad i bought it... 

Givson Royal Archtop Cutaway

I have a Givson Royal archtop cutaway I purchased from ebay. I had to install two sound posts inside (like a violin has a sound post) to keep the top from caving in. I also had a luthier install a new bridge as it did not come with one and I put a new tailpiece and a jazz pickup on it. I now have a 17" archtop cutaway for peanuts that sounds and plays nice. With that said, I would not advise anyone to purchase this instrument unless they want to pay to have it professionally set up.

givson gud or bad

Hey guys i am a beginner in the guitar world n wanted to find a simple say pretty much ok quality with cheap price electric guitar. I went to a few shops n they suggest me givson to meet my requirement so do u guys suggest me to buy or if not what r other good brand i should buybuy

Reply

Well, the answer should be no. If you want a GUITAR then go for an Aria or Yamaha. You could also try Cort. Just not Givson.

best starter guitar

best is yamaha f310 or epiphone br100 for starters

GivSon Royal Archtop

Just a comment from my first review of my GivSon Royal. 
Yes these guitars are cheap and use wood’s indigenous to India. With that said, it is set up very nice, the pick up brings the best out of this guitar, and I have a 17” Archtop that I didn’t have to mortgage my house to purchase. But, I would never buy another one. Purchase something with quality by a Luthier , handmade. A Luthier cares about what they make, and you should care about what you purchase.

COOL HAND LUKE