National Style O
Although it has never been the favorite guitar of Hawaiian players, National's Style O, with its shining metal body and tropical imagery, stands today...
Stella Concert
Circa 1932 Stella Concert. Photo: Michael Wright.
Had blues legend Huddie William Ledbetter (a.k.a. Leadbelly) not played a Stella 12-string, the brand might only have...
Epiphone’s Zephyr Emperor Regent
1955 Epiphone Zephyr Emperor Regent. Instrument courtesy of Lloyd Chiate. Photo: Billy Mitchell, courtesy George Gruhn.
Epiphone's Zephyr Emperor Regent of the early 1950s represents...
Grammer Guitars
Photo: Kelsey Vaughn. Instrument courtesy Jason Davis.
Grammer guitars, made in Nashville in the '60s, are easily recognizable by their oversized pegheads, pickguards and bridges...
Kay Violin-Style Guitar
1938 Kay Violin-Style Guitar.
One prominent thread in the story of the guitar is a quest for more volume - a search that was effectively...
The Gibson Les Paul Model
Photo: Robert Parks, courtesy George Gruhn.
Its official name – Les Paul model – doesn't do it justice. After all, Gibson has made over a...
Martin EB-18
Circa 1980 Martin EB-18, serial #3443. Photo: VG Archives. Instrument courtesy of The Music Shoppe.
The musical instrument business is replete with examples of companies...
Gibson Super 400
1934 Super 400. Photo: Robert Parks, courtesy George Gruhn.
Much of America was still recovering from the Depression in 1934 when Gibson introduced a guitar...
Alembic Distillate DMSB
1982 Alembic Distillate DMSB. Photo: Bill Ingalls Jr.
Active pickups in electric guitars and basses have been around for more than four decades; in 1962,...
Kawai MS-700 MoonSault
1982 Kawai MS-700 MoonSault. Photo: Michael Wright/The Different Strummer.
Most of us tend to think of guitars made in Japan as dating to the 1960s,...