For sale: 1939 Kalamazoo KG-22 archtop
A gorgeous and well-preserved Gibson-made archtop with spruce top and maple back and sides.
I’ve only had it for a year, and have decided to move on from this beauty.
Only the pickguard is aftermarket, otherwise the nut, tuners, tailpiece and bridge all appear to original and excellent.
The frets and fretboard also appear to be original.
The first 3 or 4 frets have play wear and grooving, as does the fretboard itself, but the previous owner seems to have kept the board oiled and the frets polished so they look and play beautifully.
The tuners must’ve been rehabbed with care, because they’re super clean, smooth, and hold tune for months at a time (no joke!).
The neck is straight and the bridge has room to be lowered or raised to your taste.
I don’t have a good enough eye to tell if it was ever reset, but I took close pics of the neck joint.
Aesthetically it’s super clean for an 85 year old guitar! I took pics of the finish crazing and scratches/scuffs, and called special attention to a deeper finish crack on
the top near the tailpiece.
It does not appear to be a wood crack… I photographed the underside of top through the F-hole and there’s no crack in the wood.
Comes with an ancient junky case that is about to fall apart, if you want it.
The Jake Wildwood blog site has a couple KG-22’s that dive deeper into their history and specs:
https://jakewildwood.
blogspot.
com/2012/09/c1939-gibson-made-kalamazoo-kg-22.
html?m=1
$1600.
If you have questions or want to come take a look, please email with your name and number so I know you’re not a robot.
Thanks!
-Dan
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