Valco
| Company type | Private |
|---|---|
| Industry | Musical instruments |
| Founded | 1940 |
| Founder | Victor Smith, Al Frost, and Louis Dopyera |
| Defunct | 1968 |
| Headquarters | |
| Products | Electricandacousticguitars,amplifiers |
| Brands |
Valcowas aUSmanufacturer ofguitar amplifiers[2]from the 1940s through 1968.
Apart from its original products, Valco also commercialisedelectricandacousticguitars andbassesthrough itssubsidiarycompanies.
History
[edit]
Valco was formed in 1940 by three business partners and former owners of theNational Dobro Company;Victor Smith, Al Frost, and Louis Dopyera. The company name was a combination of the three partner's first initials (V.A.L.) plus the common abbreviation for company (Co.)
Valco manufactured and soldelectric(since the 1950s),[3]resonator,[3]lap steel[3]andclassical[4]guitars andvacuum tubeamplifiersunder a variety of brand names includingSupro,Airline,Nationaland Oahu.[1]They also made amplifiers under contract for several other companies such asGretsch,Harmony,andKay.
Valco merged withKay Musical Instrument Companyin 1967; however financial difficulties[5]forced the merged company to fold the following year.[6]
Replicas and revivals
[edit]
Since Valco's demise a number of manufacturers have issued copies or derivatives of Valco instrument and amplifier models.Eastwood Guitarsproduces a variety of reissue Airline guitars,[7]as well as at least one Supro model,[8]though all of the former semihollow Res-O-Glas models are now wood solidbodies.
Several of Valco's earlier amplifier models are recreated by Vintage47 Amps of Mesquite, Nevada, usingoctalpreamp tubes, rather than the laterminiature novalpreamp tubes.[9]
In late 2013, Absara Audio of Port Jefferson Station, New York announced that it had purchased the rights to the Supro trademark from Bruce Zinky.[10]Zinky used the Supro name for a series of amps beginning in 2005 from his company, Zinky Electronics. Absara debuted a series of new Supro amps at the 2014NAMM ShowinAnaheim, California.[11]The new Supro amps are cosmetically reminiscent of their progenitors from the 1960s.
Bibliography
[edit]- Wright, Michael (2002)."Supro Guitars and Amplifiers Part I - Supro Part 1".Vintage Guitar Magazine(September 3, 2002).
Article about Valco'sSuprobrand - Wright, Michael (2007)."Supro Resophonic FolkStar".Vintage Guitar Magazine(April 4, 2007).
Article about Supro's resonator guitars - ADMIN (2001)."National Westwood and Glennwood - '60s Alt-materials Make Short run".Vintage Guitar Magazine(December 12, 2001).
Article about National's map guitars - Ray, Will (2012)."Resurrecting a 1957 Supro Dual Tone".Premier Guitar(March 2012).
- Vintage Guitar Info Guy (1995–2002)."National/Valco Vintage Map-shaped Electric Models".Vintage Guitars Info. Archived fromthe originalon 2010-11-19.Retrieved2010-11-01.
Notes
[edit]- ^Oahu Publishing Company, founded and presided by Harry Stanley, was a musical instruments and accessories distributor. Based inCleveland, Ohio,the company commercialised guitars (mainly fromSupro), amplifiers and importedaccordionsas well.[1]
References
[edit]- ^ab1956 Oahu-Supro Catalog
- ^"3 Times Electric Guitar Makers Tried to Ditch Wood".reverb.Retrieved2018-10-04.
- ^abc1964 Supro Catalog
- ^"Rare 1968 Supro Classical Acoustic Guitar with Case | Reverb".reverb.Retrieved2023-03-10.
- ^ Tony Bacon, ed. (2000).Electric Guitars: The Illustrated Encyclopedia.San Diego: Thunder Bay. pp. 243, 287.[verification needed]
- ^ "History of Henry Kuhrmeyer and the Kay Musical Instrument Company. Contains Engelhardt Information".Kay Bass Information and Registration (KayBass ).
- ^ "Airline Guitars".(eastwoodguitars ).Eastwood Guitars. Archived fromthe originalon 2013-04-12.
- ^ "Supro Dual Tone".(eastwoodguitars ).Eastwood Guitars. Archived fromthe originalon 2013-04-14.
- ^ "Vintage 47 Guitar & Harp Amps".(vintage47amps ).Vintage 47.(See also:About usby David Barnes)
- ^ "Supro USA - The Legend Returns".(suprousa ).Supro USA.
- ^ "Legendary guitar amp brand Supro set for rebirth in 2014".press release (suprousa ).Supro USA. December 4, 2013.
