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Instrument of the week,
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On this page every week a particular instrument from the collection will be highlighted. You get to see exampes from chapters that have not yet been published on this website, as a kind of preview. It will make you extremely curious and hungry for more.
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Futurama II, c. 1962
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Oahu (by Dickerson) "Student" electric lap steel, c. 1939
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Gibson has always strived to sell student quality instruments and amps without associating them with their quality products. In the 1930s they used brand names like "Recording King", "Cromwell" and "Kalamazoo" on a range of cheaper guitars and amps. The latter name was resurrected in 1965 for a separate line of electric guitars, basses and amplifiers. Clearly these were intended to compete with Fender on the student market, and it is no coincidence that the first version of the KG-1, with one single coil pickup, and the KG-2, with two, strongly resemble Fenders Musicmaster and Mustang models. The "solid" body of the “KG” guitars was made from cast particleboard, essentially sawdust mixed with glue, while the maple necks with six-in-a-line tuners were bolted on. They could be obtained in flame red, glacier white or Las Vegas blue. The "A" designation, as for the guitar presented here, stood for an optional Maestro vibrola unit. The neck is quite playable, and due to the electronics of the Melody Maker type, combined with the composite material for the body, this guitar actually does not sound bad at all.
Later the body outline changed to a more "SG" -like shape, with two nearly symmetrical cutouts with sharp ends, but at the advent of the 1970s, the Kalamazoo line was discontinued. Gibson started using the Epiphone brand name for cheaper versions of their current models, now produced in the Far East. Between 1965 and the early 1970s, Gibson also released "Kamalazoo" amplifiers, with Model 3 being the cheaper solid-state version. This compact combo was actually made by CMI Electronics in Chicago and was equipped with a 10 inch speaker. The “golden” front panel and stylish black speaker cloth with “gold” wire were chosen to convince any aspiring musician on a budget |
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Mailorder catalogues from the 50's and 60's Week 44:
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Supertone (by Harmony) black parlour guitar, c. 1930
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Custom Kraft (Lectrolab) Model 600 tube amp, 1960s
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Crucianelli (HF)
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Harlin Brothers squareneck acoustic, 1930's
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Regal model 1206 archtop, 1940's
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Rex Faux Resonator , 1930's (with a photo of the original owner)
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Hofner Club 50
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Silvertone (Danelectro) amp-in-case model 1457
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Herrnsdorf semi acoustic guitar
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Watkins Rapier 22
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Keykord (Kay)
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Crystal Radio Receiver, c. 1920
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Domino Californian
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J.R. Stewart "Le Domino" ukulele
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During the “uke craze” of the 1920s, hundreds of painted, stenciled, or otherwise decorated ukuleles were made, but few are as attractive and instantly recognizable as the "Le Domino". Adorned with stylish decals of small dominoes, this uke simply emanates charm and delight. Each domino on the fingerboard bears the same number of dots as the fret it marks—a three-dot domino at the 3rd fret, a five dot at the 5th, etc.
Although the ukulele’s painted body and neck were built from inexpensive birch wood, the "Le Domino" was a relatively well-constructed instrument with some classy touches, including white celluloid binding around the top. Curiously, it has an unusually long scale for a soprano-sized instrument: 14-1/8 inches long, as compared to the 13-3/4-inch scale most commonly used on Martin, Gibson, Lyon & Healy, and other soprano ukes of the period. The "Le Domino" model was the brainchild of James R. Stewart, a Chicago luthier who, in the early 1920s, had worked for the Harmony Company. In 1925, he started his own fretted instrument company and within a couple of years, he had patented the Le Domino’s unique headstock design. After J.R. Stewart's bankruptcy in 1930, Regal of Chicago took over the company, including the "Le Domino" model. |
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Hopf Saturn 63
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Egmond Rambler. Week 1:
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