- Airline Acoustic Guitar Serial Numbers Prior To 1977
- Airline Acoustic Guitars History
- Airline Acoustic Guitar Serial Numbers Chart
Airline Acoustic Guitar Serial Numbers Prior To 1977
Airline was a store brand of consumer electronics and musical instruments originally marketed and sold by American retailer Montgomery Ward via their catalog and retail stores. Products included radios, televisions, record players, guitars and amplifiers. In the early 2000s, Eastwood Guitars acquired the rights to use the 'Airline' brand-name. And the typical Harmony glue drops! This, folks, is genuine hide glue (a 1500$ upcharge at the Martin Custom Shop nowadays). The serial number is not visible on this guitar so there’s no way to date it precisely. The pickguard material leads me to think it was made in the early to mid 1960′, as by 1968 or 1969 they switched to black pickguards.
Summary of Rory’s Equipment
A - These stamped numbers inside Harmony made guitars were not intended as real serial numbers. They were used to keep together various parts of the same guitar on the assembly line. As they were building similar models on the same line at the same time, we often see this kind of glitches between the model and the stamped number.
Rory’s main and best-known guitar was a 1961 Fender Stratocaster that he acquired for £100 in 1963. According to the legend, this was the first Stratocaster to ever reach Ireland, and prior to Rory, it spent some time with Jim Conlon of the Royal Showband. Over the years, Rory modified his Stratocaster somewhat extensively – most importantly changing the pickups, and moving over to the master tone configuration.
Aside from the Stratocaster, he often used a 1960s Fender Telecaster as well as a 1950s Fender Esquire. Both of these guitars were also modified, but more so the Esquire, which at one point sported three single-coil pickups, as opposed to one (stock).
Greco brand guitars (made for yet another company) were also made in the Fujigen factory. Your guitar sounds like a model similar to an Ibanez 2370, which is itself a clone of the Gibson ES345. The 'Super 70s' sticker refers to the pickups in the guitar, which are, coincidentally, 'Super 70' pickups, also used in Ibanez guitars of that era. Find the current Blue Book value and worth of your new and used guitars, both acoustic, electric and amplifier. The number one source of guitar and amplifier pricing and information so you can find the price and value of your used guitars and amplifier. Use this site for a pricing guide and source of information on all guitars.
Of course, Rory didn’t only use Fenders. His first electric guitar, for instance, was a Rosetti Solid 7, and he often pickup up his red 1957 Gretsch Corvette for slide, on occasions even preferring it to the Esquire.
Regarding acoustic guitar, Rory most often used a 1968 Martin D-35, which was probably his favorite. For slide, he loved using the 1932 National Duolian Resonator.
Rory played his electric guitars most often through a vintage Vox AC30 combo amp. Starting from around the late 70s, he began pairing the AC30 with amps such as Marshall 2104 JMP 50-watt Combo, Marshall Bass Head, or a Fender Twin. However, he most liked the combination of his trusty AC30 and a vintage Fender Bassman 4×10.
Airline Acoustic Guitars History
As far as effects, even though most people wouldn’t expect this since Rory is viewed as an old-school guitarist, according to his nephew Daniel, Rory archive counts more than 100 effect pedals. Most of these were probably bought out of curiosity and weren’t used much, but Rory did count heavily on a number of them.
Airline Acoustic Guitar Serial Numbers Chart
For example, he used Dallas Rangebooster extensively during the 70s. When the pedal went out of production and became harder to find, he began using various “drive” pedals such as Boss DB-5 Driver, Ibanez Tube-Screamer, and the unique and rare Boss FA-1 FET. He also used compression extensively (MXR Dyna Comp), and occasionally used a flanger (usually a Boss BF-2).