Kalamazoo Guitar c.1938

Kalamazoo Guitar c.1938

Named after Gibson’s home-town in Michigan, in 1933 Gibson created the ‘Kalamazoo’ brand as a budget line to keep the company afloat during the 1930s ‘Depression’ era. This first iteration of Kalamazoos continued on into the WW2 years.  The ‘KG-32’ model, is a 16″wide 3-1/4″ deep archtop with solid spruce top and maple back and sides.  Interior stamped numbers are obscure but we date this to c. 1938. A noticeably light weight guitar at 4lbs 7oz , the 16″ wide maple body with arched spruce top is braced with a hybrid fan-ladder style. The combination of bracing and light but strong construction incuding a slightly arched back gives these guitars a warmer, more sustaining voice than a typical ladder braced archtop, making for a useable and toneful vintage archtop acoustic.  Cosmetically this guitar is very attractive in a dark burst with checkerboard binding and a lovely patina and feel. Comes with a vintage 1960s fibreboard black hard case.