Airline Acoustic Guitar Serial Numbers



Guitar

(Redirected from Airline (guitar))
Airline
Brand
IndustryConsumer electronics
Area served
North America
ParentMontgomery Ward

Airline Acoustic Guitar Serial Numbers Lookup

Mar 04, 2013 Airline guitars were being made in USA from 1958-1968 by Valco Manufacturing Company and sold primarily through the Montgomery Ward catalog company. Valco also made other popular brands like Supro and National. Today they are being made through Canadian company Eastwood Guitars. By the early 1960's Airline were producing many different models - the more valuable vintage models were made of res. Airline was a store brand of consumer electronics and musical instruments originally marketed and sold by American retailer Montgomery Ward via their catalog and retail stores. Products included radios, televisions, record players, guitars and amplifiers. In the early 2000s, Eastwood Guitars acquired the rights to use the 'Airline' brand-name. Starting in 1947, a new serial number system was adopted that allows for reasonably accurate dating of instruments. Valco quickly became one of the leading manufacturers of lap steels, alongside Magnatone, Gibson and Rickenbacker, and the company also sold acoustic guitars with National necks and bodies by Gibson. One interesting line of guitars that WERE issued thru Montgomery Ward (from the late '50's thru the late '60's) was Valco. And they, of course, made the Airline guitar. It was a cheaply-made plastic-body guitar that didn't sound particularly good, but it was made famous years later by Jack White of The White Stripes, who actually loves the.

Jack White (The White Stripes) playing red Montgomery Ward Airline

Airline was a store brand of consumer electronics and musical instruments originally marketed and sold by American retailer Montgomery Ward via their catalog and retail stores. Products included radios, televisions, record players, guitars and amplifiers. In the early 2000s, Eastwood Guitars acquired the rights to use the 'Airline' brand-name.

Musical equipment[edit]

1962 Airline Town and Country (refinished)

The Airline brand was used by Montgomery Ward on a range of electric and acoustic guitars from 1958-68. These were made in Chicago, Illinois, by the Valco Manufacturing Co., Kay Musical Instrument Company, and Harmony Company.[1] Airline-branded amplifiers were manufactured by Valco and Danelectro.

Valco Airline guitars have been played by a wide array of bands and artists, including: Jack White,[2]J. B. Hutto, David Bowie, The Cure, PJ Harvey, Calexico, and Wooden Shjips.

Eastwood Guitars reissue[edit]

Airline Acoustic Guitar Serial Numbers Dating

After Eastwood Guitars purchased rights to the 'Airline' trade name in the early 2000s, they reissued the early 1960s 'JB Hutto' Airline shape as the 'Airline DLX.' The new version set aside the defining hollow fiberglass body of the Valco-made original[3] in favor of the simpler and less-costly chambered mahogany body, giving it a more traditional electric guitar feel and tone, rather than the unique playing feel and response of the original.[4][5]

Eastwood Guitars later released the 'Airline '59 Custom' in two- and three-pickup models in December 2008, which come with striped pickguards and rubber-bound bodies, in the spirit of the originals.

See also[edit]

Serial
  • Valco
    • National String Instrument Corporation — origin of Valco, via National Dobro Corporation

References[edit]

  1. ^Electric Guitars: the Illustrated Encyclopedia Edited by Tony Bacon. San Diego: Thunder Bay, 2000. Pp. 18 & 242.
  2. ^Robinson, Mike (April 14, 2014). MyRareGuitars.com. Retrieved October 7, 2014
  3. ^Electric Guitars: the Illustrated Encyclopedia Edited by Tony Bacon. San Diego: Thunder Bay, 2000. Pp. 18 & 243.
  4. ^'White Heat: the White Stripes' 21st Century Blues' by Darrin Fox. Guitar Player Magazine, edited by Michael Molenda, June 2003, Pp.72.
  5. ^'The House That Jack Built' by Christopher Scapelliti. Guitar World Magazine, edited by Brad Tolinski, May 2004, Pp.150.

External links[edit]

Airline Acoustic Guitar Serial Numbers Lookup

Media related to Airline Guitars at Wikimedia Commons

  • 'Eastwood Guitars'. — home of reissued Airline guitars.
  • 'Guitar Kits USA'. — home of Res-O-Glas guitar kits.
Retrieved from 'https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Airline_(brand)&oldid=991733839'
It has been 30 years since Sears ended its association with the Silvertone brand, but the public's association is so strong to this day that many still believe Silvertone is a Sears brand. It is a testament to the success and quality of Sears' Silvertone products that the public still associates the two names so closely. The Sears Silvertone radio and Silvertone guitar, two highly collectible items today, are largely responsible for America's fond recollection of the Sears-Silvertone connection.

In 1915, Sears introduced the Silvertone phonograph, a hand-cranked machine that came in tabletop and freestanding models. All phonographs came with a two-week, money-back guarantee.

Sears began selling Silvertone radios in the early 1920s, soon adding Silvertone radio tubes and batteries to the product line. In the late 1930s, however, Silvertone radios quickly took off in popularity. The era corresponded with the outbreak of military aggressions in the Pacific theater. With the approach of World War II, increasing numbers of people wanted radios not just for entertainment, but also to receive updates on the war's progress, according to contemporary company sales analyses.

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Airline Acoustic Guitar Serial Numbers Number

The Silvertone name replaced the Supertone brand on musical instruments in the 1930s. Struggling blues musicians of the 1940s and 1950s first popularized the Silvertone guitar, with legends such as Muddy Waters and Arthur 'Big Boy' Crudup among those who played Silvertones.

Airline Acoustic Guitars History

The Sears Silvertone guitar really made its mark in music history as the unofficial 'first guitar' of guitar's icons. Chet Atkins, Bob Dylan and Jimi Hendrix, among many others, played their first chords on a Sears Silvertone. Sears' guitars have even been immortalized by their mention in songs from artists as diverse as Mary Chapin Carpenter ('Girls With Guitars') and G. Love and Special Sauce ('Blues Music').

Airline Acoustic Guitar Serial Numbers List

Silvertones were popular with young musicians because of their solid construction and inexpensive pricing. Their legacy lives on today as literally hundreds of Internet pages are filled with fond recollections from people of their first guitar, the Sears Silvertone. As with the Silvertone radio, Sears Silvertone guitars are considered prized pieces of many guitar collections, particularly models such as the 1963 'amp-in-case' guitar, which featured an amplifier built into the guitar's carrying case.

Many other musical and audio items bore the Silvertone brand name. Sears introduced a Silvertone record label in the 1920s, featuring many of the era's most popular recording artists. In the 1950s and early 1960s, the Silvertone brand name appeared on all Sears electronic equipment, including console televisions, tape recorders, walkie-talkies, radio batteries, hearing aids and car radios.

By the end of the 1960s, the Silvertone brand name was only appearing on musical instruments and the top-of-the-line stereo equipment and televisions. Silvertone products last appeared in the spring 1972 catalog on televisions and stereo systems.