![archtop guitar identification archtop guitar identification](https://i.pinimg.com/originals/f7/21/0f/f7210fb382df02dffec54f15c17d5c62.jpg)
The Matsumoku factory had been producing guitars for export for some time, but the 1820 bass (alongside a number of guitar models and the 5120 electric acoustic bass) were the first Epiphone models to be made there. Kalamazoo KG guitar shipping figures do not show body styles, but the Mustang body shape seems to be more abundant.īy the end of the 1960s, a decision had been made to move Epiphone guitar production from the USA (at the Kalamazoo plant where Gibson guitars were made), to Matsumoto in Japan, creating a line of guitars and basses significantly less expensive than the USA-built models (actually less than half the price). This was fairly quickly updated to a more appropriate SG style. Another nod to Fender came in the Fender Mustang style body of the early KG guitar and KB bass. 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. Necks were bolt-on and actually quite nice maple/rosewood, whilst the electronics were assembled on the pickguard, remote from the guitar and simply screwed into place. The bodies were actually some sort of compressed chipboard/fibreboard, outsourced to a 'toilet seat' manufacturer in Wisconsin. To keep the solid bodies cheap, Gibson used inexpensive, easy to work with woods and easy non-skilled construction. KG1 / KG2 Kalamazoo guitar specifications Smaller 14 3/4" wide body with square shoulders. Rosewood bridge and a tiger stripe pickguard.
![archtop guitar identification archtop guitar identification](https://reverb-res.cloudinary.com/image/upload/v1506003228/Gibson-Archtop_lej2cs.jpg)
Unbound mahogany neck with Brazilian Rosewood fingerboard. Spruce top with mahogany back and sides in sunburst (KG) or natural (KGN) finish. Brazilian rosewood fretboard, 24-3/4" scale. Bound spruce top, mahogany sides, back and neck. Pressed spruce top with mahogany back and sides. 16" pressed spruce top with mahogany back and sides. 25" scale maple neck, rosewood fingerboard with dot inlays. Carved spruce top with maple back and sides. Sunburst finish, natural (KGN-32) from 1940.
![archtop guitar identification archtop guitar identification](http://guitarsnjazz.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/10/peerless-martin-taylor-maestro-sb-front-3.jpg)
Effectively the same guitar as a Gibson L-50. Unbound mahogany neck with Brazilian rosewood fingerboard. Checkered binding on the top, plain white binding on the back. Carved spruce top, with maple back and sides. Kalamazoo guitars models included: Archtops The first run of Kalamazoo instruments was available between 19. 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 definitely a cut below Gibsons of the same period, most obviously in having no adjustable truss rod, and little ornamentation, e.g. Kalamazoo guitars typically had a KG model prefix. Most were good quality guitars, especially the higher end 1930s and 40s models, but even the 60s guitars were fitted with quality Gibson components. 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. 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. Kalamazoo is, of course, a city famous for it's guitars.