This harp guitar was made by the Gibson Mandolin-Guitar Company in Kalamazoo, Michigan in 1919. It is a sixteen course (6x1,10x1) Style U harp guitar with a spruce top, birch back and sides. The guitar is serial #56064 and bears the label: Patented Feb. 1 '98 [/] Patented March 30, '06 [/] Other Patents Pending [/] Gibson GUITAR Style U [/] Number 56064 is hereby [/] GUARANTEED [/] against faulty workmanship or material. Should [/] this instrument, with proper care and usage, go wrong, [/] we agree to repair it free of charge at our factory, or [/] to replace it with another of same style or value. [/] GIBSON MANDOLIN-GUITAR CO. [/] (MANUFACTURERS) [/] Kalamazoo, Mich., U.S.A.“ Gibson made four styles of harp guitars from about 1903 until the mid 1920s with the Style U being the most popular and the largest.
This guitar was made by the Gibson Mandolin-Guitar Company in Kalamazoo, Michigan in 1925. It is a six course (6x1) guitar, serial #80612, model L-3, with a spruce top, maple sides and back, and a mahogany neck. The guitar bears the printed label:
PATENTED Feb. 1, '98 [/] Patented March 30, '06 [/] Other Patents Pending [/] Gibson GUITAR Style 13 [/] Number 80612 is hereby [/] GUARANTEED [/] against faulty workmanship or material. Should [/] this instrument, with proper care and usage, go wrong, [/] we agree to repair it free of charge at our factory, or [/] to replace it with another of same style or value. [/] GIBSON MANDOLIN-GUITAR CO. [/] (Manufacturers) [/] Kalamazoo, Mich., U.S.A.”
The L-3 guitar was manufactured from 1906-1933. This guitar, without case, sold for $100.00 in a Gibson catalog from 1929.
This guitar was made by Gibson, Inc. in Kalamazoo, Michigan around 1940. The “Kalamazoo” brand of musical instruments including guitars, banjos, mandolins and violins were made from 1934 to 1942. Gibson made a small number of “Kalamazoo” instruments in the 1950s and a decade later, reintroduced the brand with a series of electric guitars and basses, and amplifiers. This six course (6x1) guitar is stamped “FW-566” and has an arched spruce top, maple back and sides, elevated celluloid pickguard, metal tailpiece, and a domed peg head with a pointed top.
This guitar was made by Gibson, Inc. around 1962 in Kalamazoo, Michigan. It is a 6-course (6 x 1) electric-acoustic arch top guitar, Johnny Smith model, serial #897087. This guitar was used by musician, composer, and band leader, Johnny Smith.
The “King of the Cool Jazz Guitar,” Johnny Smith was born in Birmingham, Alabama in 1922. Smith began working for the NBC Orchestra in New York in 1947, becoming a highly sought after musician for performances and recordings around the city. Smith played with such diverse figures as Benny Goodman, Arturo Toscanini, Zoot Sims, Art Tatum, Bing Crosby and the New York Philharmonic. He also led his own band, becoming a regular act at the famed Birdland nightclub.
In 1952 he made his first recording as a band leader, the influential “Moonlight in Vermont.” The recording, featuring like-minded saxophonist Stan Getz, was a major statement on the developing, relaxed “cool-jazz” sound, becoming one of the best selling jazz albums of the year.
Smith’s career took off after the album leading to more recording and touring with both the Stan Kenton and Count Basie Orchestras. In 1955 he penned his most well-known original composition, “Walk Don’t Run,” soon to become a Top 10 hit for the surf-rock outfit “The Ventures” in 1960.
This electric-acoustic guitar, serial #EH4685, was made by Gibson, Inc. in Kalamazoo, Michigan around 1937. Introduced in 1936, this was the first Spanish-style electric guitar to achieve commercial significance, thanks in part to Charlie Christian, an inventive jazz soloist who gained prominence with the Benny Goodman Sextet. Christian took what had been considered a novelty and brought it to the forefront as a lead instrument. Gibson's first electric Spanish guitar, the ES-150's design featured a one-piece steel bar surrounded by the pickup coil and two magnets below the strings, rather than the earlier horseshoe configuration with magnets directly surrounding the strings. This new pickup was nicknamed the "Christian" in honor of the great guitarist with whom it is associated.
The Gibson Guitar Corporation of Kalamazoo, Michigan manufactured this electric lap steel guitar from 1947 to 1959. This BR-9 model electric guitar was produced for beginners and includes fingerboard markers for ease of locating any position. This six course (6 x 1) guitar has a solid wood body, beige finish with Cremona Brown trim, combination hand rest and unit cover, and tone and volume controls. In a 1959 Gibson catalog, the BR-9 guitar sold for $75.00 or $165.25 for the complete outfit including the guitar, case, and GA-9 amplifier.