Luthier George Bowen passed away August 19 from amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS). He was 69.
In March of 2023, a tribute concert billed as the George Bowen Master Guitar Summit was held in Livermore, California. Featuring Arlen Roth, Bill Kirchen, Redd Volkaert, and Jim Soldi, it raised $75,000 for the ALS Research Project. Unable to play guitar at that stage, Bowen and his brother, Paul Richards, sang a moving rendition of Simon and Garfunkel’s “The Boxer,” backed acoustically by Roth and Soldi.
Bowen grew up near San Diego and eventually opened Bowen Guitars in Pleasanton. Barney Roach, collector and bassist with the Blitz Brothers, befriended him in second grade. “We played in the orchestra together from junior high to high school,” he recalls. “George was a dedicated musician early on, carrying his upright bass – larger than he was – a mile and a half to his house, up one of the steepest hills in La Jolla.”
In the ’70s, George and Paul toured and recorded as Bowen & Richards. A veteran of Johnny Cash and Ricky Skaggs’ bands, Soldi met the pair in the studio. “George was the most humble and positive guy you’ve ever met,” he says. “But even with all the talent, he knew his path wasn’t as a rock star. His first love was always his family, so I rarely got to see him after he retired from playing. I was blown away when he called to say he wanted to build a guitar for me – and what a magnificent instrument it is! His attention to detail was insane. I was gutted when he called me shortly after I received it, to tell me that it was probably the last guitar he would build, because of the ALS diagnosis.”
George, however, lived to see one more guitar to completion. Overseeing the work done by his son, Andrew, it was made of wood salvaged from the Frauenkirche Cathedral, in Munich, which was bombed by the Allies during World War II. Hence, its name, The Resurrection.
“Dad had a passion for guitars his whole life,” says Andrew, 39. “It all started in his teens, when he heard ‘The Boxer.’ The intro made him realize what he wanted to do. His aim was to make a guitar that was balanced and present – a slightly deeper, little wider version of an OM.”
Years after George read about the existence of the wood, he went to Germany to purchase some in April of 2019. “The cathedral was finished in 1490,” he told me in 2023. “It was bombed in 1944. So for approximately 454 years, this roof truss absorbed the sounds of daily choirs, the organ, seven different church bells, and vibrations of sermons, concerts, and funerals – shaping the wood’s unique tone and character.
“Through dendrochronology, they have dated the origin of this tree to the year 1081. It was cut down by peasants in the Alps in approximately 1460, and the logs were floated down the Isar River to Munich to build the new cathedral. There was an article written in Guitar Salon in 2017 about a classical guitar made from this tonewood, along with a few dozen violins. To my knowledge, I purchased the last wood suitable for a steel-string acoustic guitar. As a side note, this wood is the exact same species of Alpine spruce used by Stradivarius, but approximately 200 years older.”
“That was the first guitar that I actually completed,” Andrew explains. “I did it all under the supervision of my dad; I would just do what he told me. He had only bent the sides and made the rosette. I also took it to Minnesota to have James Olson help me with the binding.”
Andrew did everything else – bracing, neck, bridge – by hand. “The back and sides are AAAAA Brazilian rosewood. It helped to have that incredible spruce top. It’s got music in it. Because of its age, it had all kinds of blemishes and worm holes, but we preserved it that way intentionally, with a satin finish, to keep the history intact.”
On April 6, 2024, acclaimed country/gospel fingerstylist Doyle Dykes premiered the Resurrection during a concert near Bowen’s shop in Pleasanton. “It’s an extraordinary story,” he says. “I didn’t know what to expect. I carry another guitar on tour, just in case, and I’d never met George in person or played the guitar. But it blew me away. It already sounded seasoned. I’ve been flying it around and playing it pretty much every weekend since.”
“An accidental meeting led to a wonderful relationship, and his friendship and his wonderful guitar craftsmanship meant so much to me,” Arlen Roth adds. “George was a great man with a truly great legacy that will live on always.”
Andrew, who is now building Bowen guitars full-time, says, “Through working with my dad and Jim Olson, I fell in love with it. A big part of that is my dad’s legacy. Continuing his work gives me a closeness with him. I kind of inherited an entire guitar shop!”
© 2024 Dan Forte; all rights reserved by the author.
This article originally appeared in VG’s January 2025 issue. All copyrights are by the author and Vintage Guitar magazine. Unauthorized replication or use is strictly prohibited.
