For those who don't know, Kalamazoo's were Gibson's cheaper line of guitars. The Spanish style KG-11 and KG-14 guitars that I have seen are all 14 fret guitars. The guitars have Mahogany back and sides with a spruce top and are ladder braced.

I couldn't locate any pics of the Hawaiian model on the net and wondered if anyone else has one of these. The KHG-11 was made from 1936-1940 and the KHG-14 from late 1936-1941 and Gruhn's lists a KHG 3/4 as well from '37-'41. Gibson also made similar Oriole models and from what I read they also made a similar Hawaiian model under the name Recording King Model K.

The guitar has a rich deep sound with great sustain. Amazing bass response and so lightly built that the tone is noticeably dampened if, playing it flat on my lap, I let the middle of the back rest on my thigh. To get the full tone I need to move my leg so the edge of the guitar's lower bout rests on my thigh. I've never played a lap guitar that is so sensitive to damping from the back.

It also works great as a slide guitar held in a "normal" manor. I can fret a bit on the first two frets before the intonation gets too weird from the string height. I admit to a slight temptation to turn it into a normal Spanish style guitar because it sounds so good and the damping effect is easier dealt with when holding it upright but I'll probably leave it as is.

This was not a guitar I went looking for or even knew existed but when I started playing it I knew it was a keeper. Plus, my wife is from Kalamazoo!

[This message was edited by David Siegler on 08 June 2006 at 01:19 PM.]