Once upon a time… and still is today… and should still be in twenty years. That was the short version. For those who like to read longer stories, here is the GT story:
It all started in the guitar-shop called “Slowhand” situated behind Zurich’s main train station. An insider tip for lovers of quirky guitars. Thomas Fessler and Reto Fürst looked after the store – and soon set up a small workshop on their own to heal their best customers’ loved ones from their ailments. When the store fell victim to the station expansion, two things were clear: Thomas and Reto wanted their own store: “Gitarren Total”. Without further ado, the clientele was redirected to the charming new store on Aemtlerstrasse – which, in keeping with GT’s reputation as a real insider tip, was only accessible through the backyard.
The backyard remained, but it was not secret for long: Soon a growing crowd of guitar lovers brought not only their guitars, but also amplifiers. It was time for the appearance of Carlo Milan. As a well-known guitarist and trained specialist in tube amps, he was the ideal choice and the first man in the amplifier department. Under his direction, all kinds of amps were repaired, maintained and optimized. GT also started developing new, innovative products like the legendary BPA2, a preamp for vintage basses that optimizes the tone of weak vintage pickups.
When Reto Fürst left GT in 1995, a replacement had to be found as quickly as possible. With Werner Sahli, we found a real handyman: He had not only acquired many years of experience in painting and repairing in his own workshop, but also knew a lot about electronics. After Thomas Fessler, as an increasingly sought-after producer, was rarely seen in the shop, Patrick Geser stepped onto the scene. Patrick had been running a small guitar shop in the Zurich Oberland, keeping his head above water with lessons and repairs and with only guitars on his mind. As the new manager, he completed the team.
Where real enthusiasts are at work, new ideas are not long in coming. GT made a name of itself with innovative developments. Werner, for example, developed GT’s own brand “Chat Guitars” – which unfortunately became a loss-making business due to a fraudulent guitar maker and had to be discontinued. Despite such setbacks, we still try to turn our ideas into innovative or simply practical methods and products, and delight the guitar world with things like our pedalboard cables or the popular GT strings.
Thanks to Patrick’s good taste, the store gradually filled up with an ever-increasing number of high-quality instruments – and would probably have long since been bursting, had it not been for our neighbor’s rooms and, later, the cellars and the storefront facing the street. The backyard store became the charming, winding Mecca for guitarists and bassists – with the workshop as the heart, the store with all the wonderful instruments as the soul and the amplifier test rooms for the ears. And with a real, official store entrance!
Of course, we also think about the personnel future of our store: Since 2007 we officially train apprentices. This not only work against youth unemployment, but also improves the rejuvenation of GT.
