bass guitars

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Bass_guitar

ALVAREZ

The Alvarez trademark was established in 1965,  and the mark was used on Asian-made guitars distributed by The St. Louis Music Supply Company. This company was founded as a violin shop in 1922 by Bernard Kornblum.  St. Louis Music also distributed the Electra and Westone solid body electrics, and manufactures Crate and Ampeg amplifiers.

The first Alvarez guitars were built in Japan during the late 1960s. The company was one of the first to offer Asian-made solid top acoustics. Later models were made in Korea.

Alembic

Ron and Susan Wickersham founded Alembic in 1969 as a consulting firm that worked with the Grateful Dead, Jefferson Airplane, Crosby Stills Nash & Young to improve the quality of their live sound and live recordings. After improving the technical aspects of the PA systems and live recording techniques, Alembic turned their attention to the electronics used in the guitars and basses the musicians were playing to further improve the live sound. Touring bands were experiencing was too much electrical interference and unreliability with their instruments. Ron Wickersham designed low impedance pickups to increase the bandwidth. This also made the pickups low output and so he had to design an active on-board preamp to boost the signal. These were the first guitars with active electronics.

Tanglewood

Tanglewood Guitars was established in 1989 in London. The company supplies electric, steel-string acoustic and classical guitars, bass guitars, banjos, mandolins, ukuleles, and guitar amplifiers which are made in China. Tanglewood moved to Biggin Hill, Kent and have also a opened distribution centre in Yorkshire. While their early focus was distribution in the UK and Europe by 2005 they were also selling their guitars in the USA.

Source: Tanglewood website (22 December 2020)

Overwater

Overwater Basses had its origins in a cellar workshop in Denmark Street, London in 1977 where Chris May and business partner Andy Preston made and repaired guitars and basses. Overwater was officially established in 1979 and soon an additional workshop was opened in Newcastle and then an Overwater factory near Alston. In the early years Overwater made guitars and basses, but by the mid 1980s it became best known for its innovative bass designs. Chris May and the original Overwater team then split from the Newcastle and London businesses to form a separate company. Overwater Basses is now located in Carlisle in the old Atlas Works, where the Overwater team continue to make innovative electric basses.

Source: Overwater Basses website (30 October 2018)

KRAMER

Kramer was founded in 1976. It is best known for electric solidbody guitars (played by Edward Van Halen). The Kramer company went bankrupt in 1990, was revived in 1995 and acquired by Gibson in 1996. The current Kramer line includes electrics, acoustics and gear, made overseas since 1998 and sold though MusicYo.

Philippe Dubreuille

Philippe Dubreuille started making guitars in the early 1980s. Dubreuille grew up in Paris then Geneva, he made his first guitar to replace his own lost instrument. He began making guitars for his friends and ended up working in a Geneva guitar repair shop. After working in  a Portugese guitar factory for a while he ended up in London, where he has a workshop in Denmark Street.

Source: Dubreuille Guitars website (17 March 2017)

John Birch

John Birch (1922 - 2000) was an important figure in the 1970s UK electric guitar industry. He is known for making eye-catching guitars for many famous UK guitarists of the era including Roy Wood, Brian May, Ritchie Blackmore, Tony Iommi, and Barry Devlin. He started out making pickups in the early 1960s while working as a service engineer for Ampex. He founded a business in Birmingham selling his pickups and other guitars parts. He also modified guitars - by adding his own pickups, hardware and refinishing them (these changes were not always an improvement!).

Gordon Smith Guitars

Gordon Whitham and John Smith founded Gordon Smith Guitars in 1974 and it is the longest running UK guitar maker.

In 2015 Auden aquired the Gordon Smith Guitars brand, when John Smith retired and it continues to trade as a stand alone business producing hand crafted British built electric guitars. John Smith spent his final year with the company helping to set up the processes in Auden's workshop and ensure that the Northhampton made instruments carried on the GSG tradition.

Source: Gordon Smith Guitars website (9 February 2017)

Kimbara

Kimbara is the brand name used on a series of n classical, steel strung, and electric guitars and basses made for UK instrument distributer Fletcher, Coppock and Newman (FCN) Music. The brand name was first registered on the 2nd of January 1968 and the guitar production involved FCN Music commissioning guitars from various different factories across the Far East. Initially guitars were produced in Japan, then in the late 1980s guitars were sourced from Korea, and in the late 1990s instrument production moved to factories in China. The price of a Kimbara guitar puts it in the 'budget' range of guitars (The 8/Y model was available from 1977-1990 and its last UK RRP was £186.00). But they were nonetheless attractively designed, well made, and had surprisingly good tone for the price. In 2012 FCN ceased trading.

Source: FCN Music website (archived 2012)

GUS GUITARS

Gus guitars are a small UK electric guitar and bass brand. The styling on their instruments is refreshingly unique .Current models use a 3mm thick carbon fibre skin over a solid red western cedar wood core, for both the body and neck. The body is also surrounded by a decorative curving chromed pipe. All models are made to custom order, so there are a wealth of options available.

Almost every part of a Gus guitar or bass is made by hand in their workshop. So bridge, pickups,  truss rod and control knobs are all completely unique.

Take a tour of Gus guitars' worshop

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