Why do you love the Gibson Budget Brands

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Gibson Budget Brand and Submastertone Fans

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Kalamazoo, Style 1, 2, 11, Recording King, etc. If you appreciate these fine Gibson-made instruments then come on down.

20 Members, Created 10/3/2013 -

Administrators: revellfa (owner) , pfox14

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From revellfa on 4/16/2014 7:40:48 PM

Ok, I'll start.

I've always loved the nostalgia, the construction, the sound, the performance of, and the simplicity of these fine instruments.

Just knowing that the that the genuine back-porch musicians played these great instruments during the depression brings some element of authenticity to the sound and music that they produce.

The fact that many of them have stood the test of time also attests to their worth.

5 Comments
	pfox14 says: 4/17/2014 3:58:37 AM I'm quite literally obsessed with everything Gibson, especially the budget brands. I spend countless hours researching them. I am convinced that the budget brands are what kept Gibson from going out of business completely during the depression. I discovered that they made over 12,000 Kalamazoo KG-11 guitars (that's not even counting 1933-34, because there are not shipping records for those years). That has to be the highest number of any one instrument model Gibson made during that era. Here are the shipping totals for all the Kalamazoo banjos, which Gibson made from 1933-1943: 216 - KMB - mandolin banjos 66 - KPB - plectrums 849 - KRB - 5-strings 1139 - KTB - tenors
	revellfa says: 4/17/2014 4:17:45 AM Wow over 12,000 KG-11s? Paul---do you think folks understand the supply/demand of these instruments. I've seen two plectrum banjos come up for sale in the last five years or so and I don't think either of them went for over $200. Do you think that if folks knew that they only made 66 of them that they would be willing to pay more?
	mutantmoose says: 4/17/2014 6:39:10 AM Rarity doesn't imply usefulness - why buy a plectrum banjo when the only use for it is to hang out with seniors in identical clothes at Straw Hat Pizza on a Monday night playing "Those Lazy, Hazy, Crazy Days of Summer"? :) But, as the proud owner of a KK-11 Plectrum (which I haven't taken to Straw Hat Pizza yet, but plan on doing so someday), and the proud owner of a Cromwell G2, both of which were owned by my wife's granparents, I have to say that the biggest thrill of these instruments is the quality of manufacture. Gibson hadn't declined yet, and these instruments offer a way to engage in the fantasy of owning a rare and valuable instrument at peasant prices. And they look really, really cool. Unfortunately, I think the horse is out of the barn when it comes to price on these instruments. A Cromwell fixer-upper like mine just went for over $900 on ebay, and the KK banjos have really bumped up in value too.
	pfox14 says: 4/17/2014 7:57:23 AM I'm no banjo expert, but it seems to me that the demand for plectrums back in the 30s and today, pales by comparison to tenors and 5-strings. There are a lot of KG-11s still around, but they still routinely fetch over $1000. I guess the demand for budget brand guitars is higher than for banjos, with the exception of the rarer brands like Kel Kroydon.
	black flag says: 5/31/2014 6:25:04 PM KG-14 guitars have been spotted as good candidates for conversion to X-bracing and it's become unusual to see one for as little as $1000, since the (more or less) equivalent L-00's have been going for $4k.
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Forum Post: (untitled) Linked by revellfa 8 years ago: /some 00 love.
Forum Post: (untitled) Linked by revellfa 8 years ago
Forum Post: (untitled) Linked by revellfa 8 years ago: More praise for the Kalamazoo banjo!
Forum Post: (untitled) Linked by revellfa 8 years ago: Pre-war Kalamazoo guitar for sale.
Forum Post: (untitled) Linked by revellfa 9 years ago: Recorded on a Trapdoor from 1923
Forum Post: (untitled) Linked by revellfa 9 years ago
Forum Post: (untitled) Linked by revellfa 10 years ago: A Kalamazoo conversion neck!
Forum Post: (untitled) Linked by revellfa 10 years ago: Is this an Oriole?
Classified: WTB: Kalamazoo 5-string Linked by revellfa 10 years ago
Forum Post: (untitled) Linked by revellfa 10 years ago: Kalamazoo also made one of these!