JONATHAN ROSE GUITARS

Luthier Jonathan Rose moved to the Nashville, TN from Oregon in the late 1970s. In 1981, he launched the Rose Guitar Center in Henderson, TN and Jonathan Rose Guitars. The Rose Guitar Center featured both new and used instrument sales as well as repair and custom work. At first, all Jonathan Rose guitars were entirely custom made, but beginning in the mid-1990s, Rose fell into a personal downward spiral (the exact circumstances are unknown). Many of the guitars built in the mid-1990s were actually all built out of Warmoth parts for a fraction of the price. According to reports, Jonathan Rose was an alias this luthier used and the FBI had uncovered him due to some earlier drug-related problems when he still lived on the west coast. Rose skipped town in the middle of the night taking all consignment cash and any unfinished guitars with him. Several customers and a few famous personalities who were ordering guitars from Rose never heard from him again and lost a lot of money in the deal. Any further information on Jonathan Rose or Jonathan Rose guitars can be submitted directly to Blue Book Publications.