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Latest vintage guitar updates
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1964 Gibson Melody Maker - a classic vintage guitar
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 A closer look at a Gibson Melody maker from 1964. The Melody Maker is one of Gibson's best ever selling guitars - despite it's comparatively low price it didn't skimp on Gibson tradition: well-built instruments, constructed from the finest materials. The body and set neck are both of South American mahogany whilst the fingerboard is South American rosewood. With a sunburst nitrocellulose finish the Melody Maker certainly looked the part. In fact the Melody Maker had more in common with many higher end Gibson instruments than guitars of a similar price bracket made by other manufacturers. The circuitry was simple; just a volume and tone control for one single coil pickup. See also Gibson Melody Maker shipping figures
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1967 Vox (JMI) electric guitar catalogue
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 This was the last guitar and bass catalogue produced by Vox under the ownership of JMI. The cover features Brian Jones of the Rolling Stones, playing his trademark Vox Mark VI teardrop, and features a line up of British and Italian built vox guitars and basses; Vox Phantom, Vox Mark, Vox Spitfire, Lynx, Super Lynx and the Jones' Stones colleague Bill Wymans signature Wyman Bass. Twelve pages.
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1966 Kalamazoo KG2a electric guitar
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 Details and information on the Kalamazoo KG2a electric guitar. The beat boom of the mid 1960s heralded a huge demand for electric guitars; youngsters up and down America were looking for affordable, well-built solid-bodies, with modern looks and a great sound. Gibson, better known for it's high-end jazz guitars, responded by producing the KG guitar and KB bass lines, under the Kalamazoo brand. They were initially modelled on the Fender Mustang, though soon took the shape of the Gibson SG, which was rapidly rising in popularity. The resulting instruments used modern composite wood technology, Fender style construction and actual Gibson hardware. They looked good, played well, and sold in large quantities. See also Kalamazoo KG shipping figures, a 1966 Kalamazoo KG1 (single pickup) and listen to the Kalamazoo KG soundclips.
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1961 Gibson EB3
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 A 1961 Gibson EB3 bass. 1961 was the first year of EB3 production, and the year Gibson first used the classic SG shape. Like the SG guitars, the EB3 was built at the Gibson plant in Kalamazoo. Early EB3s are characterised by their chunky necks, wide-spaced controls, nickel hardware and bakelite neck pickup cover. Have a listen to the soundclips of this bass, through several vintage amplifiers.
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1966 Gibson EB0
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 Profile of a 1966 Gibson EB0 bass. The EB0, like it's big brother the EB3, is something of a 1960s classic; the construction (short scale, mahogany body, set mahogany neck), and the famous Gibson EB humbucker positioned at the neck, gave a deep rumble that perfectly suited the musical environment of the early-mid sixties. But by the early-mid seventies things were going long-scale and maple... Nonetheless, this is a finely built instrument, capable of some terrific sounds that really suit certain musical situations. Have a listen to the soundclips of this bass, through various vintage amplifiers.
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1966 Hagstrom Coronado IV bass
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 The Hagstrom Coronado is one of the most distinctive bass guitars ever manufactured; the quirky controls, 32" scale, and unique shape. The body and neck are mahogany, but with bolt on construction. This 1966 Coronado is one of the later guitars, so does not have the Hagstrom Bi-Sonic pickups, but it is still a great sounding, and highly playable bass. Check out the short Hagstrom Coronado bass sound clips on this site.
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Older updates here
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Vintage Kalamazoo
Guitars, basses and amplifiers
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Kalamazoo guitars
Kalamazoo is, of course, a city famous for it's guitars. It was the hometown of Gibson for most of the twentieth century, until 1984; many people would say the best Gibson guitars ever built were the Kalamazoo-built models.
But Gibson also produced a US-built budget line in the 1930s, and again in the mid-late 1960s, and these guitars were branded Kalamazoo - in honour of the town in which they were produced.
1930s-40s Kalamazoo
In the years before and during the second world war, the Kalamazoo line consisted of acoustic guitars, banjos and mandolins; relatively well-built with quality woods, but definately a cut below Gibsons of the same period.
1960s Kalamazoo
In the mid-1960s, guitar sales increased dramatically; though many of these sales were to new players, inspired by the rock and roll and beat booms of the previous years. A high-end Gibson was out of the question to these players, so Gibson re-introduced the Kalamazoo line, with great sucess.
There was one acoustic guitar, the KG10, four versions of a solid body electric the KG1/KG1A/KG2/KG2A, and one bass, the KB.
To keep the solid bodies cheap, Gibson used cheap wood and easy non-skilled construction. The bodies were actually some sort of chipboard/fibreboard, outsourced to a toilet seat manufacturer in Wisconsin. Necks were bolt-on, electronics were assembled on the pickguard, remote from the guitar and simply screwed on. They did have the foresight to use all Gibson hardware - admittedly some of it was obsolete, having been replaced on Gibson models, but it was still quality hardware none the less. Another nod to Fender came in the Fender Mustang style body of the early KG guitar and KB bass. This was later updated to an SG style. Kalamazoo KG guitar shipping figures do not show body styles, but the Mustang body shape seems to be more abundant. Back to the KALAMAZOO INDEX | comment
Kalamazoo guitars for saleIf you are looking for specific vintage guitars for sale, you may have to keep an eye on numerous vintage guitar stores, classifieds websites and ebay listings. Below are just the auctions - Vintage guitar stores tend to advertise theirs in their ebay online vintage guitar stores - have a look because there are some different listings.
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