Kalamazoo KTG-21 Arch Top Acoustic Tenor Guitar (1935)
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Kalamazoo KTG-21 Model Arch Top Acoustic Tenor Guitar (1935), made in Kalamazoo, Michigan, serial # 291A, sunburst lacquer finish, mahogany back and sides, spruce top; mahogany neck with rosewood fingerboard, black gig bag case.
This is a cool and fairly rare pre-war Gibson-made arch top tenor guitar, basically the Model KG-21 with a 4-string neck. The tenor versions were not built in nearly as great numbers as the 6-string Kalamazoos, and don't turn up often today. This is a fairly lightly built guitar with a solid spruce "Arco Arched" (not carved) top, mahogany back and standard period fittings. The A-suffix Factory Order Number under the treble side soundhole indicates a build date of 1935. It has a snappy tone with plenty of volume and for the original price at around $20 was a very good bargain at the time, as indeed it remains.
Overall length is 39 in. (99.1 cm.), 15 in. (38.1 cm.) wide at lower bout, and 3 1/8 in. (7.9 cm.) in depth, measured at side of rim. Scale length is 23 in. (584 mm.). Width of nut is 1 1/4 in. (32 mm.).
This 90 year old tenor plays well and sounds good, it does show some general wear but no major repair. The all-original finish shows checking and dings, dents and scrapes overall with a large scrape mark to the back of the neck behind the second fret. The pressed-into-shape top arch is firm with no major shrinkage and the neck has an excellent angle. These ingredients help make for a "good one" with Kalamazoo arched models! All hardware is original except the bridge, which is a repurposed Gibson-style mandolin unit that works fine. The neck is nice and straight and the original frets are in excellent shape, this is a very solid prewar archtop tenor, resting in a modern gig bag. Very Good + Condition.
This is a cool and fairly rare pre-war Gibson-made arch top tenor guitar, basically the Model KG-21 with a 4-string neck. The tenor versions were not built in nearly as great numbers as the 6-string Kalamazoos, and don't turn up often today. This is a fairly lightly built guitar with a solid spruce "Arco Arched" (not carved) top, mahogany back and standard period fittings. The A-suffix Factory Order Number under the treble side soundhole indicates a build date of 1935. It has a snappy tone with plenty of volume and for the original price at around $20 was a very good bargain at the time, as indeed it remains.
Overall length is 39 in. (99.1 cm.), 15 in. (38.1 cm.) wide at lower bout, and 3 1/8 in. (7.9 cm.) in depth, measured at side of rim. Scale length is 23 in. (584 mm.). Width of nut is 1 1/4 in. (32 mm.).
This 90 year old tenor plays well and sounds good, it does show some general wear but no major repair. The all-original finish shows checking and dings, dents and scrapes overall with a large scrape mark to the back of the neck behind the second fret. The pressed-into-shape top arch is firm with no major shrinkage and the neck has an excellent angle. These ingredients help make for a "good one" with Kalamazoo arched models! All hardware is original except the bridge, which is a repurposed Gibson-style mandolin unit that works fine. The neck is nice and straight and the original frets are in excellent shape, this is a very solid prewar archtop tenor, resting in a modern gig bag. Very Good + Condition.