Comments on: Out-of-Print-Book-Report: “The Guitars Friend” 1977

By: Dorian MacDougall

Dorian MacDougall — Sun, 21 Dec 2025 15:17:15 +0000

On the night of February 9, 1964, (you all know the moment) a quartet of musical sorcerers, magically transformed me into an inveterate guitar geek, and the spell has yet to wear off. So ten years on, and several guitars later, when I discovered this book in the Grossmont College bookstore, in San Diego, California, I felt compelled to take it home with me, and that is where it remains to this day. What might have been considered no more than an info-manual and buying guide for young guitarists, has since become a beautifully illustrated antiquity which offers a peak into the heart of a subculture that has long since slipped away. Though I have never met any of the people depicted in this book, I knew them, and I believe most of my contemporaries could say the same. What a wonderful time to be young. I don’t know what the kids of today will say about the world they will too soon leave behind, but I hope they will wish to place as high a value on their early days as I do on mine. And glancing over the pages of this books brings, at least a very “groovy” segment of that world, into sharp, rose-colored focus.

By: Michael Guthrie

Michael Guthrie — Fri, 31 May 2024 01:15:17 +0000

In reply to James Bryant. Yes Lawerence! I bought a nice 000-28 from him in Sandpoint! Still have it.

By: laury ostrow

laury ostrow — Sun, 10 Aug 2014 03:49:24 +0000

you can find me at ljosew.com

By: laury ostrow

laury ostrow — Sun, 10 Aug 2014 03:47:58 +0000

Guitars Friend was my creation. After that Chi Pants and Dancing Helix. You can find me at the web site above. It means a lot to me, to see how our creative effort during a very special time and place has meaning for others.

By: Pat Ryan

Pat Ryan — Tue, 29 Jul 2014 23:18:57 +0000

Leib and Laury (I think it was Laury) played at my sister Sheila Ryan’s wedding in Hortonville, Indiana (north of Indianapolis) back in 1975. I think Leib and Laury were traveling across the country that summer. Sheila did the artwork for at least one of the Guitar’s Friend catalogs. Peter, her husband, made guitars and dulcimers. I always thought they set up shop in San Francisco around Haight and Ashbury.

By: Sam Nitzberg

Sam Nitzberg — Thu, 30 May 2013 20:42:37 +0000

I still have my copy. Got it in the mid-70’s and liked it so much I visited the store in Sandpoint when hitchhiking out west (I’m from Maryland). Fell in love with a Franklin guitar they were selling, wasn’t planning on buying anything — didn’t know of the guitar before I arrived, they put it in my hands saying “we really like these guitars, and the guy who makes them does that here” — but when I got home I ordered one and I’ve still got it. Along with a soft spot in my heart for a beautiful place in the Northwest.

By: Laury Ostrow

Laury Ostrow — Fri, 19 Apr 2013 03:57:34 +0000

In reply to James Bryant.

I’m the Laurence of Guitars Friend. The full long version is now available as Guitars Friend: Song of the Seventies, as an ibook at itunes. Also as a PDF at http://www.blurb.com/b/3581949-guitars-friend-song-of-the-70-s

By: Jerry Andrew

Jerry Andrew — Wed, 06 Mar 2013 21:07:44 +0000

I bought my first real guitar from The Guitar’s Friend in 1975. It was a Yamaha FG260 12 string. I was a junior at Iowa State Univeristy. Those were the days. I wish they were still around today.

By: Laury Ostrow

Laury Ostrow — Tue, 19 Feb 2013 01:37:18 +0000

In reply to Dave Sweet.

Would enjoy talking with you.

Check out:
http://itunes.apple.com/us/book/id573032879

By: Laury Ostrow

Laury Ostrow — Tue, 19 Feb 2013 01:36:42 +0000

In reply to James Bryant.

Would enjoy talking with you.

Check out:
http://itunes.apple.com/us/book/id573032879