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Category
Makes
Condition
Price
Colors
Found 17 matches
1935 Oscar Schmidt UAC 'Stella'
$675
Oscar Schmidt UAC Hawaiian c 1935 | $675 | (v2314) The Hawaiian music craze in America had wide-ranging ripple effects in the first part of the 20th century, and this Schmidt-made guitar is a direct result of that craze. Schmidt, among others, marketed guitars made from koa, often with Hawaiian themed labels, created the First Hawaiian Conservatory of Music to sell Hawaiian music and...
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~1905 Unknown Thornward
$1,500
Thornward Guitar c 1905 | $1500 | (v2305) Thornward was a brand of the Montgomery Ward company, early pioneer of the mail-order catalog. The Thornward brand was used on a variety of items in the early catalogs including cameras, music boxes and stringed instruments. The history of the name is a bit elusive, but it's evident that the 'Ward' part comes from Montgomery Ward, who founded the...
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~1969 Harmony H1270
$850
Harmony H1270 Jumbo 12-String c 1969 | $850 | (v2248) Harmony in Chicago offered a variety of 12-string guitars, covering a number of price ranges. The H1270 was surely their top of the line, flagship 12-string offering. We've had a number of them over the years and have found that they don't di1sappoint. The jumbo body, quality woods and appointments like the radiused fingerboard and...
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~1935 Victoria Standard size
$675
Victoria Standard-size Guitar c 1935 | $675 | (v2313) This is a nice example of the quintessential 'catalog' guitar from the 1930s. We're not exactly sure who made it or where it was made, but it has all the hallmarks of a cheaply produced, factory guitar. Victoria was a brand name of the large NYC jobber B & J, who purchased and relabeled guitars from many manufacturers. That said, it's...
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1962 Gibson B25N
$2,350
Gibson B25N 1962 | $2350 | (v2307) The B25 series, introduced by Gibson in 1962, is essentially the third iteration of the mid-sized flat top acoustics produced in Kalamazoo. The evolution begins with the L-series in the early 1930s which evolved into the LGs in the 1940, and by 1962 became the B-series. Each generation has proved to be a popular guitar for players seeking a mid-sized...
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1917 Vega Little Wonder Banjo Mandolin
$525
Vega 'Little Wonder' Banjo Mandolin 1917 | $525 | (v2309) The Fairbanks/Vega company was a well know producer of banjos in the early part of the twentieth century. Their Little Wonder banjo mandolin was marketed to violin players claiming one only has to adjust to the use of a plectrum to become accomplished on the instrument. The Little Wonder is made from quality materials by skilled...
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~1940 Beltone Reso Chamber
$195
Beltone Mandolin c 1940 | $195 | (v2310) This is a pretty cool vintage mandolin that plays and sounds great, with good looks to boot! Beltone was a brand of student-level instruments made by various guitar factories through the mid-twentieth century. Based on construction features, we'd guess this one was made by the United Guitar Corp. located on Johnston Ave in Jersey City, NJ, although...
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1964 Martin 0-18
$3,350
Martin 0-18 1964 | $3350 | (v2250) By the mid-sixties, baby boomers were hot into folk guitars and Martin produced the 0-18 in pretty decent numbers to help fill that need. In 1964, 550 0-18s were made and cost $150, so a mid-sixties hippie would surely need a job to afford one! The model has become a popular one with guitarists in the past decade or so, with much appreciation of the power...
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~1960 Kay Beltone
$450
Kay "Beltone" Auditorium-size Flattop c 1960 | $450 | (v2218) Beltone was a brand of Perberg & Halpin, an instrument distributer in New York begun at least in the 1920s that ordered guitars from various makers and rebranded them for sale under the Beltone name. This particular example dates to about 1960, and its doppleganger appears in the 1960 Kay catalog as the 'Kay K5160'...
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~1937 Kalamazoo KM21
$950
Kalamazoo KM21 Mandolin c. 1937 | $950 | (v2233) Gibsons in-house budget brand was a pretty successful line when you consider how many Kalamazoo instruments appear in the vintage market. Made by Gibson from the same quality materials and workmanship, the only difference in this mandolin and the Gibson equivalent is the lack of an adjustable truss rod. We can date this example to the period...
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~1937 Oscar Schmidt Decalcomania
$850
Oscar Schmidt 'Decalcomania' c 1937 | $850 | (v2235) The decade following the productive 1920s was tough for the Oscar Schmidt company. Oscar himself had died in '29, and then the depression came along. By the mid-thirties the company had sold off most of its factories but for the Ferry St. factory in Jersey City, with records showing that a new owner had taken control. Sometime between...
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1932 Harmony Supertone
$650
Harmony Supertone 1932 | $650 | (v2230) In the first part of the twentieth century, most guitar makers used the popularity of Hawaiian music to market their products, and Harmony was no exception. This example was made in 1932, pretty much at the tail end of the Hawaiian boom, and is a good example of the so-called 'catalog guitars' that were popular and affordable in the depression era....
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1962 C.F. Martin 00-18
$4,950
C.F. Martin 00-18 1962 | $4950 | (v2225) The 00 body size has been a staple for C.F. Martin since the end of the 19th century, through at least the 1970s. A glance at the production numbers show the 00-18 to be among the best sellers from the 1930s through the early 1970s. It's easy to understand its popularity; the overall body is not too big nor too small, and produces a rich and...
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~1930 Oscar Schmidt Decalcomania
$1,650
Oscar Schmidt 'Decalcomania' Standard-size c 1930 | $1650 | ( v2162) Very clean example of an OS 'Decalcomania' guitar. The Schmidt factory produced their 'Decalcomania' line from the early 1900s through the mid-thirties when the factory was sold. Although fancy looking, the move to decals was likely a way to produce glitzy guitars for less cost, since inlaying purfling was time consuming...
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1953 Harmony H39
$525
Harmony H39 Electric Archtop 1953 | $525 | (v2106) Post WWII, electric guitars became 'the thing', and Harmony jumped right on the band wagon. The single pick-up H39 first appears in 1952 as an 'affordable' arch top electric with solid birch body and a single 'Hershey Bar' pick up. This particular pick-up lasted until about 1958 or 59 when it was replaced with a gold foil pick-up. This...
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~1938 Kay Aloha National Studios
$250
Aloha National Studios was similar is scope to the music schools that sprung up in the first quarter of the twentieth century, such as First Hawaiian Conservatory and OAHU. They didn't manufacture guitars, they simply had guitars rebranded, mostly by Kay in Chicago, and then sold them to students who enrolled for guitar lessons. OAHU is very well known, and many examples exist today. The Aloha...
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~1933 Oscar Schmidt Floral Decalcomania
Call
In the throes of the Great Depression, many guitar makers altered their manufacturing to weather the hard times, some more radically than others. The Oscar Schmidt Company, in Jersey City, NJ, introduced a line of guitars produced from less expensive materials, but gave them a glitzy look to attract buyers in these grim times. These instruments were cataloged as 'Decalcomania', and the guitars...
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