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Marvel archtops - Harmony? Kay? other?
I recently got a fixed up Marvel archtop from Craigslist, circa 50s or 60s? Not sure if it's Harmony or Kay or something else... Does anyone know anything about these guitars?
Last edited by blues4fatty; 08-22-2013 at 04:14 PM. Reason: fix photo links |
#2
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...headstock design would indicate a Kay...interestingly the shape would suggest a later instrument...(late50's,early 60's)...but the celluloid overlay suggests earlier 40's/50's design....have alook around....
https://www.google.com/search?q=kay+...w=1366&bih=596 heres a similar one from an ebay listing... http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Vintage-40...p2047675.l2557 Last edited by J Patrick; 06-20-2013 at 08:33 AM. |
#3
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...No clue, but it's a beaut, nice find!
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#4
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Marvel was a brand name for guitars distributed by the Peter Sorkin Music Company of New York in the 1950s up to the mid-1960s. These were considered "beginner" level instruments, The headstock does look very Kay-ish but one of the rumors about these guitars is that they were put together with parts made by different builders.
__________________
"You start off playing guitars to get girls & end up talking with middle-aged men about your fingernails" - Ed Gerhard |
#5
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The headstock is definitely Kay. As others have suggested, that type of overlay is very early-mid 50's Kay.
Cool guitar! Have fun with it.
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Cutting masters for vinyl record production since 2010. |
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#7
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Thanks! I like it a lot!
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#8
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Thanks, C-Cowboy! Yeah. Seems like Kay is the verdict. Early-mid 50s matches my intuition about the age, too. Definitely enjoying it!
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#10
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Marvel are Premier/Multivox products (Sorkin Music being the parent company).
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Multivox_Premier Certainly some of their guitars were made with some parts that were outsourced, such as United-Code laminated bodies. I could certainly believe that neck was made by Kay. But they did at least some of their own manufacturing as well before going import-only sometime in the mid to late 60s. I have a couple of Premier electrics and have seen many others. Marvels are not as common but I have seen a few, both acoustic and hollowbodies with pickups (I think all of those I have seen were non cutaway archtops). |
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To the best of my knowledge Premier/Multivox manufactured the necks of both of my two Premiers (and the body of one but not the other), and they are both huge, I mean, I think they may have the deepest profiles of any guitar necks I have ever felt in my hands. And they're round all the way, with no hint of D or V in the shape. So I am confident that it's a Premier trait, at least up until the mid 60s or so. Which is not to say that Kay couldn't have made them, or someone else to Premier's specs. On one of them, on a scroll bodied electric solidbody with both neck and body made in NY by Premier, the neck/headstock is a single piece of brazilian rosewood (!). |
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In addition, the Marvel name was used on archtop guitars made by Regal and marketed by the Slingerland drum company in the 1930s to early 1940s.
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Acoustics: Martins 1936 00-18, 1958 00-28G, 000-18GE, OM-1, J12-65, B-65, Olson SJ, Dobro Duolian Electrics: Callaham S-model, Sadowsky Vintage P/J bass, Gibson '58 Historic Les Paul, Gibson '59 Historic ES-335, Afri-Can Art: http://www.brianandersongallery.com/ |
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I've seen "Marveltone" guitars made by Regal; to be clear, you're saying there are also some called just "Marvel" ?
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archtop guitar, marvel |
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