Chris Griffiths started his first company in 1993 at the age of nineteen, which was called Griffiths Guitar Works. They sold high end instruments only and did repair work. Towards the end of the 1990s the idea of Garrison guitars was in full swing and the Garrison guitar was released at the 2000 NAMM show. What separates this guitar from others is the Griffiths Active Bracing System. This system intergrates the binding, bridge plate, neck and bracing all into one glass fiber component. Guitars can be produced at a rate of forty-five seconds each. In August, 2007, Gibson purchased Garrison Guitars, and after continued to produce Garrison-branded guitars for a short while, but quickly converted the factory to produce the Gibson-branded Songmaker Series that lasted about a year.
Instruments previously produced in St. John's, Newfoundland, Canada between 2000 and circa 2008.