| Trying to find the value of your guitar?
|
Latest vintage guitar updates
|
|
1964 Gibson Melody Maker - a classic vintage guitar
|
 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
|
|
1966 Kalamazoo KG2a electric guitar
|
 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.
|
|
Gibson / Monzino (Italy) guitar catalogue, 1971
|
 Gibson / Monzino guitar catalogue, 1971. America saw numerous promotional publications from Gibson in the first years of the 1970s, but new models were coming and going at such a rate, that some never made it into print. Just one US catalogue was printed in 1971: the Low Impedance for High Performance mini-catalogue, which contained just the Gibson Les Paul Recording guitar, and the Gibson Les Paul Triumph bass. However other countries were producing their own literature, capturing a snapshot of the Gibson range not seen in print in the US. This brochure was printed by the new Italian distributors, Monzino, and shows several instruments yet to be seen in US catalogues (the SG range in particular) and one that would never make it: the Gibson SB400 bass.
|
|
Gibson Victory MV series
|
 The Gibson Victory MV (multi-voice) guitars were launched towards the end of 1981, with a production period lasting just over two years. There were two models, the Gibson Victory MV2 and the Gibson Victory MVX. Both were very fine passive guitars with maple bodies and set maple necks. They had coil-tapped pickups for either humbucking or single coil sounds, but neither managed to give Gibson the Victory they required in terms of sales.
|
|
1969 Gibson SG Special
|
 The Gibson SG came in several varieties; and the Special is a typical 60s Gibson in many ways. Naturally, it has a mahogany body with a set mahogany neck, in true Gibson style. The pickups are typical Gibson single coil P90s, and the control layout, too, is classic Gibson. Have a closer look, or check out the SG Special soundclips of this guitar, through various vintage amps.
|
|
1979 Gibson ES-175D
|
 A closer look at a 1979 Gibson ES-175D. By the late 1970s, the ES-175D had followed the path of most Gibson guitars and changed it's mahogany neck, in favour of a maple neck with volute. It didn't last long, and the neck was again mahogany by 1983. Details of the changes in the ES-175D over time are detailed in the ES-175 timeline.
|
Older updates here
|
|
|
|
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
Kalamazoo KB Bass Guitar
Short scale SG-style bass, made by Gibson
|
|
The Kalamazoo KB bass
The Kalamazoo bass, or KB (sometimes referred to as KB1), arrived in 1966, as a companion model to two Kalamazoo KG guitars that had been launched a year earlier.
 Modern styling in solid-body 4-string bass that offers full, true bass tones in a sleek, rugged economically priced instrument. With one pickup of extremely powerful design and full volume and tone control, the Kalamazoo Bass creates the full driving bass sound that sells a combo. |
There were two body shapes - later models are SG shaped, but the majority are more like a Fender Mustang. They have a bolt-on maple neck; something that Gibson (up until this point) didn't do, rosewood fingerboard, and were short scale. There were two subtley different headstock shapes, the first again suggests Fender, though a bit rounded off - the second has the characteristic 'beak' and is almost identical to that of the non-reverse Thunderbird (see images below). The Kalamazoo logo is engraved on the headstock. This bass used some standard Gibson components; a typical EB series humbucker right up at the neck, as used in the EB0, EB2, EB3, Melody Maker bass and Epiphone Newport This pickup in this position, has more affect on the sound than anything else. This bass does sound quite a lot like an EB0. Tuning keys are the japanese-made closed keys that were also used on the Melody Maker bass and a few EB0s. The bar bridge had been in use on all bass models, but around 1966/67 this was replaced by the two-point intonatable bridge. From this point, the KB bass was the only one using these bridges - likewise the only one using the old-style (and position) chrome handrest. The scratchplate is almost identical (except some minor screw hole differences) to the Melody Maker bass, but the fingerrest is not rosewood as on all Gibsons, but actually plastic. The body material is not specified in Kalamazoo literature, but is supposedly a wood-laminate of one or more unspecified species, produced by a toilet-seat manufacturer in Wisconsin. There were three colours: Flame Red, Glacier White, and Las Vegas Blue. These were not the expensive nitrocellulose finishes applied to Gibsons, but again catalogue descriptions are not specific, perhaps some form of polyurethane?
Gibson, Epiphone and Kalamazoo
 | Dianne Bowens, of Tony Bowens and the Soul-Choppers with a Kalamazoo KB bass. Have a listen to Dianne getting down with her KB bass on the track Boilin' Water from the album The World's Rarest Funk 45s on Jazzman records. The deep mellow bass tone is perfect for this kind of early seventies funk - doesn't it sound great? |
Kalamazoo, rather than Epiphone was Gibsons Budget brand. A common misconception about Epiphone is that its 1960s guitars and basses were cheaper imitations of the Gibson lines. This is simply not true. From the late 1950s until 1969 Gibson and Epiphone instruments were made side by side at the Kalamazoo factory in Michigan, using the same woods, techniques and components. The purpose of the Epiphone range was to continue to provide Epiphones high-end instruments; those that had been Gibsons competition, and to circumvent certain supply agreements (Gibsons protective territorial policy).
There was actually a waiting list to become a Gibson dealer, and to avoid upsetting existing dealers, Gibson was able to offer its (almost identical) Epiphone models to newcomers.
 | | Two Kalamazoo bass headstocks: above, the more angular Thunderbird-style, below the smoother Fender-style |
There were a lot of younger musicians, requiring cheaper guitars. Between 1965 and 1969, Gibson revived an older brand, Kalamazoo. Gibson had produced cheaper instruments with this name on the headstock during the depression of the 1930s and post war 1940s, but it had not previously been used on a solid-body guitar. Sales were initially good, and during 1966-67 this was by far the best selling bass made at the Gibson plant. See the compiled Kalamazoo bass shipping figures here.
This was a useful way to use up obsolete Gibson parts, and provide an affordable, American-made instrument, with many characteristic Gibson features. However, with the sale of Gibson from CMI to Norlin in late 1969 the business was once again restructured. The Kalamazoo brand was discontinued, and the new Japanese-made Epiphone range became Gibsons budget brand, a position it still holds today.
The two kalamazoo bass body styles are shown here, with the Mustang shape top, and the SG shape below. Back to the Kalamazoo INDEX | comment
Kalamazoo bass 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.
|
|
