1941 Gibson-made Kalamazoo KG-32 Archtop Guitar

I'm pretty sure this gal is a KG-32, but my copy of The Other Brands of Gibson is on loan to a friend, so I can't be 100% sure. In the early '40s, the Kalamazoo line was changing a little bit and it puts my "sensors" off. This one features a solid spruce (press-arched) top over flamed ply maple back and sides and the look is slick. The figure is very pronounced on the back and sides.

Bracing on the press-arched Gibson Kalamazoo archtops is interesting -- it's somewhere between fan, ladder, and x-bracing. Despite having stout braces, these guitars are warmer and fatter than average period archtops which makes them superlative chord-chucking/rhythm guitars, though where they're lacking compared to actual carved-top instruments is in upper-mids velvet and treble pop. For straight backup I actually prefer the sound of these, for the most part, to carved-top Gibsons. Sacrilege, right?!

Work included: a fret level/dress, cleating and sealing to three hairline top cracks, general cleaning, compensation and adjustment of the original bridge, one replacement tuner button, a new bone nut, and a good setup. The neck is straight and it plays on-the-dot with 3/32" EA and 1/16" DGBE action at the 12th fret, strung with normal 12s in gauges 54w, 42w, 32w, 24w, 16, 12.

Scale length: 24 3/4"
Nut width: 1 3/4"
String spacing at nut: 1 7/16"
String spacing at saddle: 2 1/8"

Body length: 20"
Lower bout width: 16"
Upper bout width: 11 3/8"

Side depth at endpin: 3 1/4"+

Top wood: solid spruce
Back/sides wood: ply flamed maple
Neck wood: not sure, thinking it's maple
Fretboard: rosewood

Neck shape: f10-12" radius board, medium-V rear

Bridge: rosewood original

Nut: new bone

Condition notes: it's all-original save one tuner button, a strap button at the heel, and a new bone nut. There are several repaired hairline cracks on the top but all are cleated where possible, sealed, and good to go. There's general wear-and-tear with scratches, nicks, etc. all over, but it's "lived-in-lovely." The frets are the usual period thin-and-low Gibson stock.

The board has some wear and tear to it and mark-ups from where someone had attempted fret dressing in the past.

While the bridge saddle/topper is original, I did modify it by adding compensation to the top.