Are Kalamazoo guitars any good?
These are ladder braced, but very lightly built and very nice guitars for the kind of guitars they are. They are a nice compliment to a more complex x-braced guitar because they are so fundamental. Many people swear by them for blues or ragtime. I have a Kalamazoo arch top and I absolutely love the guitar!
Who made Kalamazoo guitars?
Gibson
Kalamazoo is the name for two different lines of instruments produced by Gibson. In both cases Kalamazoo was a budget brand.
How do you date a Kalamazoo guitar?
The headstock shape is the best dating feature of the guitar, since Kalamazoo serialization does not follow Gibson’s. The top of your headstock tapers up to a point, placing the date of manufacture between 1938 and 1940.
What guitars are made in Kalamazoo?
Although the classic Gibson guitar, used by such greats as Prince, Keith Richards, Johnny Cash, and B.B. King, might bring to mind its current Nashville home, the guitar’s roots are actually in the Michigan city of Kalamazoo. Built in 1917, the Gibson Factory there created some of the most iconic guitars ever made.
What is a flat top Kalamazoo?
Student Hawaiian guitars were common in the 1930s, but this instrument appears to have been made in fairly small numbers and is far less abundant than its “standard” 14-fret neck sister. This one has a factory order number on the heelblock dating to 1936.
Why did Gibson leave Kalamazoo?
James Deurloo, plant manager, said the reason for closing the Kalamazoo plant is purely economic. The company, now owned by Norlin Industries, has a surplus of manufacturing space. Sales have declined dramatically. Gibson sold $20 million worth of instruments in 1982 and only $14 million last year.
What is Kalamazoo famous for?
Kalamazoo is famous as the home of the United States Tennis Association Boys 18 & 16 Championships for the past sixty years. Did you know? Kalamazoo was once the manufacturing domain for Checker cabs, Gibson Guitars, Kalamazoo Stoves, Kalamazoo Corset, Kalamazoo Sled, and Shakespeare fishing rods and reels.
What year did Gibson stop making guitars in Kalamazoo?
1984
The company closed its Kalamazoo factory in 1984 and moved its headquarters to Nashville. That factory was later adopted by former Gibson employees who started Heritage Guitar Inc. to make handmade guitars.
Does Gibson still make guitars in Kalamazoo?
When Gibson left Kalamazoo, a number of former employees picked up right where they left off in the Parsons Street factory with Heritage Guitar Inc. After more than three decades, Heritage is still producing some of the highest-quality guitars in the world right here in Kalamazoo.
Is Gibson still in Kalamazoo?
Ultimately, in 1985 the Gibson factory left Kalamazoo and headed for Nashville. However, a few Gibson employees stayed behind and created Heritage Guitar on the site of the old Gibson factory, so Kalamazoo’s rich history of instrument-making lives on.
What makes Kalamazoo special?
It’s a major international pharmaceutical and life sciences center; it’s the original home of the Upjohn Co., Stryker Corp, Gibson Guitars, Checker Motors and Bell’s Brewery, among many others; the Kalamazoo Gazette is the second oldest newspaper in Michigan; and a century ago, Kalamazoo was so famous for one crop, it …
What kind of guitars were made in Kalamazoo?
Kalamazoo guitars in the 60’s featured bolt-on necks, single sheet plastic pick guards, open-back tuners and Masonite bodies in order to keep the cost down. There were two main body styles of Kalamazoo guitars in the 60’s.
What’s the difference between an epi and a Kalamazoo?
After Gibson’s buyout of Epiphone, Epi’s were marketed as a middle-tier electric guitar, whereas Kalamazoo was strictly marketed as a low-cost, beginner guitar. “U.S.A.” was added to the headstock of these guitars to differentiate them from the cheap import guitars that served as competition at the time.
What was the purpose of the Kalamazoo brand?
Kalamazoo was an American budget guitar brand, created by Gibson to market cheaper guitars than the fine instruments they were already making for professional musicians. This marque had been used by Gibson previously in the 1930s and 1940s, and was resurrected to cope with the massive demand for entry level guitars after the beat boom of 1964/1965.