Gibson Kalamazoo

Kalamazoo is the name for two different lines of instruments produced by Gibson. In both cases Kalamazoo was a budget brand. The first consisted of such instruments as archtop, flat top and lap steel guitars, banjos, and mandolins made between 1933 and 1942, and the second, from 1965 to 1970, had solid-body electric and bass guitars.

The first line of instruments included guitars with bodies between 14" and 16", which in 2009 were worth up to $1800.

The name was revived during the guitar boom of the late 1960s; at the time, guitar manufacturers "could sell just about anything they could make or lay their hands on". Gibson already had the Epiphone brand which it used to market more affordable guitars, but Epiphone was already a mid-level brand and Gibson desired something truly cheap. The Kalamazoo brand, whose guitars had bolt-on necks, filled that slot. "USA" was added to the name on the headstock to set it apart from cheaper, imported guitars.

While the bolt-neck design was already a money saver, Gibson sought cheaper materials as well and found them in MDF (also known as Masonite). Money was also saved on the pickguard (a single sheet of plastic, not laminated) and the (open-back) tuners.

The first design, made from 1965 to 1968, was really a copy of the Fender Mustang; the other, made from 1968 to the early 1970s, resembled the Gibson SG. Models were the KG-1 (with one single-coil pickup), KG-1A (single-coil pickup and tremolo arm), KG-2 (dual single-coil pickups), and KG-2A (dual single-coil pickups and tremolo). As of 2009^[update], those guitars fetched between $275 and $375.

The Kalamazoo Bass was introduced in 1966 and like the guitar model had two body styles resembling the Mustang and the SG. The earlier headstocks were, again, reminiscent of Fender models. Later headstocks bore a resemblance to that of the Gibson Thunderbird bass guitar. Several standard Gibson components were used in the KB, namely a typical EB series humbucker pickup used in many Epiphone basses. Sales were initially good, and during 1966-67 this was by far the best selling bass made at the Gibson plant. Production of the KB ceased in 1969.

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