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We have a limited number of the new Airline Jupiter Pro – Dallas Green Signature Model coming in early June 2013. We are taking PRE-ORDERS now. (adjustment to shipping will be billed week of shipping). This model features dual Airline Argyle pickups, three way flipper switch, two volume, two tone controls and a unique “blend” [...]

In the 1960′s Maurice Lipsky Music Co., a prominent importer and distributor in New York City, developed the Domino brand of guitars. One of my favorites from them was the Californian Rebel. Lipsky was also the company that offered the Orpheum brand of guitars from the 1950s on. Many Orpheum’s were made by United Guitars of Jersey City, NJ, the successor to the Oscar Schmidt Company. There is some evidence that Lipsky’s Orpheum name was used on some Italian Wandré guitars, as well.

We have a limited number of the new Airline Jupiter Pro Model coming in early June 2013. We are taking PRE-ORDERS now. (adjustment to shipping will be billed week of shipping). This design is based around the early 60′s Silvertone Jupiter H49 which was also available with the Airline brand. Here we have upgraded our [...]

Airline guitars were being made in USA from 1958-1968 by Valco Manufacturing Company and sold primarily through the Montgomery Ward catalog company. Valco also made other popular brands like Supro and National. Today they are being made through Canadian company Eastwood Guitars. By the early 1960′s Airline were producing many different models – most in those early days were solid wood designs like the Town and Country, but the more valuable vintage models were made of res-o-glas. This model is often referred to as the Jetsons model.

One of the highlights of life back when I was a youngster was the arrival of the latest Sears or Montgomery Ward catalog. Anything you desired could be delivered right to your door. A lot of my early knowledge about guitars (and lingerie) came out of those “wish books.” One piece of that knowledge, however, wasn’t about this Sears Silvertone because when it was made in 1965, Sears only sold Japanese-made guitars through its retail store outlets, not through its catalogs!

One of the most legendary musicians of all time was also quite the great guitar player. Many don’t associate John Lennon with being a great guitarist, but in actuality he was. Sure in the early Beatles’ days, he played standard rhythm guitar, but in later years he was soloing along side George Harrison. So what guitars did John use as a Beatle? Lets take a closer look.

Since 2005, Rob Roberge has been entertaining the My Rare Guitars subscribers with his insightful and often hilarious stories. Ranging from The Close Relationship Between Booze & Lost Gear to his curious observations from our annual trip to the NAMM Show, and a bunch of interesting articles about oddball vintage amps.

Aria was formed in Japan in 1953 by Shiro Arai as Arai and Company. They began retailing acoustic guitars in 1960, although the company didn’t actually start manufacturing their own until 1964. Aria arranged for Matsumoku, the musical instrument maker, to build the guitars for them under contract. Arai and Matsumoku started building acoustic guitars in 1964, and then electric guitars in 1966, using Arai, Aria, Aria Diamond, Diamond, and much less frequently, Arita brand names.

UPDATED April 26, 2013: All the planets have aligned for the LEFT-HAND crowd this month, as a strange fluke in production has created some EXTREMELY Rare limited left-hand models. Seriously, most of these have never been made before and will not be made again. On top of that, for some of these models, we only [...]

Here are a pair of Airline Barney Kessel models from the 1960′s. It was also known as the Swingmaster, and could be found under the Kay brand and the Old Kraftsmen brand.