Stormtiger
Joined: Dec 12, 2006
Posts: 2688
Ventura, CA
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Posted on Mar 10 2009 11:22 AM
http://i41.tinypic.com/34rdnw1.jpg
I haven't seen one of these guitars since 1970. This one is on craiglist for $325 if anyone is interested.
From Wiki:
The Kalamazoo Electric Guitar was produced by Gibson during the 1960s and 1970s. A budget guitar, the Kalamazoo featured a body constructed from Medium-Density Fiberboard (MDF) and inexpensive components.
During its release there were two prominent designs. The first was reminiscent of the Fender Mustang, and the other bore more resemblance to the Gibson SG. The initial run of the Kalamazoo featured the KG-1 and KG-2 options, which were differentiated by single and dual pickups, respectively.
During the Kalamazoo's production a variety of configurations and pickup options were available. These included a vibrola tremolo system, and single coil pickups, which were referred to as "melody maker" pickups.
It is worthy to note that the headstock of the Kalamazoo bore a "Kalamazoo USA" logo rather than the traditional Gibson decal.
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LHR
Joined: Aug 23, 2006
Posts: 2123
The jungle
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Posted on Mar 10 2009 05:24 PM
I used to own that exact guitar but in white, the KG-2. I do not know what you have heard about these, but they are most definitely not great instruments, despite being made in the USA and by Gibson.
In my opinion they fall squarely in the class of Teisco "surf" guitars. You know the kind: they made millions of them in Japan under every sort of brand name. They look cool in a wacky sorta way. And you can play them, sure, but it is always a fight.
The pickups are pretty good, by the way. They are the same kind as on the Melody Maker. Same goes for the vibrola gizmo; it is the same hardware. Though it is not a great vibrato design, IMO.
— SSIV
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Rio
Joined: May 22, 2006
Posts: 500
Hamilton, Ontario
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Posted on Mar 10 2009 06:20 PM
I used to have the same guitar as pictured, but a red, single pick-up version, with a wrap around bridge. I bought it used around 1976 or 1977. It was my first electric guitar, actually.
The neck was great, but the press-board body was useless. It had no punch or sustain. It would plink along through a 20 watt Traynor Guitar Mate, but I tried it once on stage at a show (through a Marshall) and it just fed-back terribly at stage volume and I had to put it down and borrow another band's strat to play our set. That was my also my first public performance, I remember it like it was yesterday.
I ended up trading in the Kalamazoo along with cash to buy a used LP a year or two later. Still have the LP.
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BillH
Joined: Feb 04, 2014
Posts: 1
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Posted on Feb 04 2014 02:07 PM
I believe this was a guitar I owned as a 12-13 year old. It was originally white, and on one boring day decided to paint it that powder blue color. Just hard to tell by the photo if that's my decidedly non-pro paint job...still, cool to see.
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