• The Peoples’ Guitar

    L.B. Fred

    The Peoples’ Guitar

    Gibson’s Depression-Era Exports

    Many aren’t aware that some of the archtop guitars Gibson produced during the Depression were marketed under different brand names, including Kalamazoo, Recording King, Cromwell, Fascinator, and Kel Kroyden, among others. These shared similar features and construction techniques with the low-line Gibson-branded instruments such as the L-30 and L-50: a spruce top, mahogany body and…

    Read more >>

  • The Peoples’ Guitar

    L.B. Fred

    The Peoples’ Guitar

    Gibson’s Depression-Era Exports

    Many aren’t aware that some of the archtop guitars Gibson produced during the Depression were marketed under different brand names, including Kalamazoo, Recording King, Cromwell, Fascinator, and Kel Kroyden, among others. These shared similar features and construction techniques with the low-line Gibson-branded instruments such as the L-30 and L-50: a spruce top, mahogany body and…

    Read more >>

  • Gibson’s Depression-Era Exports

    L.B. Fred

    Gibson’s Depression-Era Exports

    Many aren’t aware that some of the archtop guitars Gibson produced during the Depression were marketed under different brand names, including Kalamazoo, Recording King, Cromwell, Fascinator, and Kel Kroyden, among others. These shared similar features and construction techniques with the low-line Gibson-branded instruments such as the L-30 and L-50: a spruce top, mahogany body and…

    Read more >>

  • Epiphone Zephyr De Luxe Regent and Zephyr Amplifier

    L.B. Fred

    Epiphone Zephyr De Luxe Regent and Zephyr Amplifier

    The Zephyr De Luxe Regent was Epiphone’s second-from-the-top electric guitar produced from the late 1940s through the mid ’50s. The instrument went through several name changes, from Zephyr De Luxe Cutaway, in 1948, to Zephyr De Luxe Regent, in 1950, to the DeLuxe Electric, by 1954. In Epiphone nomenclature, the word “Zephyr” indicated “electric” and…

    Read more >>