Post by Tony Ravenscroft on Sept 1, 2018 12:22:56 GMT -6
Rather than clog up this forum, I'm going to point you to the Wikipedia article Washburn Guitars for specific details about the brand's history. I put many hours into overhauling that piece, & am proud of the list of guitar models, especially the electrics, which can be sorted by series name or model prefix or first official production year.
Briefly, the "Washburn" part appeared in the company name from 1987 to 2002. For the rest of its history, Washburn is a brand name.
If you have an instrument that looks like it's from somewhere between the American Civil War and World War Two, that is a completely different company from what appeared in the 1970s. The modern company did not inherit ANY production records -- even if they'd survived over time, most early paperwork was destroyed in the Great Chicago Fire (1871) and a subsequent lesser fire, and from being passed between multiple owners and managers.
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A Chicago music retailer and distributor, Lyon & Healy, started turning out their own line of string instruments in the 1880s, and tagged it with George Lyon's middle name. These instruments were marketed skillfully and became very popular. By 1892, L&H could say they were producing more than 100,000 instruments a year. (They also once claimed "a thousand a day" which, if true, was likely a short-lived anomaly.)
However, just because you have your hands on "a vintage Washburn" doesn't mean it's valuable, or even a decent instrument. Most were what we would now call "budget" or "beginner" models. I'll get into the WHY of value in another thread; for the moment, note that Washburns aren't worth a lot UNLESS they are in top condition and preferably are "presentation" models with substantial decoration, like these two --
L&H got out of the business in the 1920s, passing Washburn on to Tonk Brothers, who fumbled it to the J.R. Stewart Company and Regal, where the ailing brand died about 1940.
The "Washburn" name may have been applied in the 1960s to some not-good cheap imports, but I have yet to see this verified.
Distributor Beckmen Music claimed the name in 1974 for a line of good-quality import Terada (Japan) acoustic guitars.Again, though, this was all about the brand name, and the Beckmens inherited nothing from its previous owners.
Rudy Schlacher bought the name in 1977, and ran the company from success to success until his retirement in 2009.
Present owner JAM Industries ended almost all mainstay Washburn models in 2010, the year I consider to be the beginning of the end for the brand. Time will tell.
Briefly, the "Washburn" part appeared in the company name from 1987 to 2002. For the rest of its history, Washburn is a brand name.
If you have an instrument that looks like it's from somewhere between the American Civil War and World War Two, that is a completely different company from what appeared in the 1970s. The modern company did not inherit ANY production records -- even if they'd survived over time, most early paperwork was destroyed in the Great Chicago Fire (1871) and a subsequent lesser fire, and from being passed between multiple owners and managers.
________________
A Chicago music retailer and distributor, Lyon & Healy, started turning out their own line of string instruments in the 1880s, and tagged it with George Lyon's middle name. These instruments were marketed skillfully and became very popular. By 1892, L&H could say they were producing more than 100,000 instruments a year. (They also once claimed "a thousand a day" which, if true, was likely a short-lived anomaly.)
However, just because you have your hands on "a vintage Washburn" doesn't mean it's valuable, or even a decent instrument. Most were what we would now call "budget" or "beginner" models. I'll get into the WHY of value in another thread; for the moment, note that Washburns aren't worth a lot UNLESS they are in top condition and preferably are "presentation" models with substantial decoration, like these two --
L&H got out of the business in the 1920s, passing Washburn on to Tonk Brothers, who fumbled it to the J.R. Stewart Company and Regal, where the ailing brand died about 1940.
The "Washburn" name may have been applied in the 1960s to some not-good cheap imports, but I have yet to see this verified.
Distributor Beckmen Music claimed the name in 1974 for a line of good-quality import Terada (Japan) acoustic guitars.Again, though, this was all about the brand name, and the Beckmens inherited nothing from its previous owners.
Rudy Schlacher bought the name in 1977, and ran the company from success to success until his retirement in 2009.
Present owner JAM Industries ended almost all mainstay Washburn models in 2010, the year I consider to be the beginning of the end for the brand. Time will tell.