Airline Unknown

This is an archtop that I'm guessing to be circa 1960. It has a flamed maple veneer top, sunburst finish going from dark at the edges to a nice aged honey color in the middle. Front, back and sides have the flame maple effect. The body binding is painted on, as is the Airline logo on the headstock. On the back of the headstock is the music stand logo stating "steel reinforced neck". This guitar has two f-holes, unbound, looking inside the holes, stamped in the back of the body are the numbers L7672, maybe a serial or catalog number. Looking at the wood on the inside back of the body, it appears a light birdseye maple, I don't have a mirror small enough to see the back side of the top, so I can't say if the entire construction of the body is of this wood. The neck is V-shaped, maple fretboard with 19 well played brass frets, the neck joining the body at the 14th fret. Two of the dot markers are missing, and I doubt the first three on the neck are original, being as I have never seen them made in see-through red. The nut is not original, as are the tuners, being the sealed type. I can see where the original screw holes for the tuners have been filled. The strap knob on the end of the guitar is almost perfect, there is no other strap button, suggesting the strap may have been wound around the headstock. The original wooden bridge is in nice shape, the tailpiece is of the metal trapezoid variety, held at the end with 3 metal screws. The pickguard is missing, the screw holes are evident, however, doesn't take away from the appearance because more of the top is exposed to the viewer. I bought the guitar still in its original (flimsy) case, with the original cloth strap/rubber tubing over steel capo.

I strung it with a set of Martin bronze 11's, it has decent bottom end, good highs, it doesn't project as much as I expected, given the wood type of the body, I expected a brighter sound, some of the reason may be because of the f-holes as opposed to a round sound hole.

Considering the age of this guitar, it plays OK, the action could be improved by massaging the bridge a little to lower it. There is a little fret buzz at the 9th fret, still nothing unexpected due to the over 40 years of wear. The neck joint has about a 1/64" gap between the body and neck, if repaired could possibly lower the action a bit. The usual nicks and scratches, nothing hideous.

Well, this guitar is almost as old as I am, the years have been kind to the body, no visible cracks in the body, the neck is fairly straight, so I believe this one was built for the long haul. I'm not sure it would survive frequent live gigging, but it does well with the occasional playing in my music room.

Find a good luthier with lots of patience.

I'm not a serious player, though I have always had guitars in my home, this is the first acoustic of any type I've owned since childhood. I love this guitar mainly for the cool factor. Other guitars of this era costing many times the price have fallen apart, and this one is still here.

okay i don't know where to begin i've had this guitar maybe two months its made in the usa with some sufring on the great internet super highway i managed to come across this site it is an airline guitar i found in a trash heap literally the only thing wrong with it is a crack in the top of the body and a tuner nut missing i am not a guitar player i am a singer but for some reason i found this guitar when i looked at it i knew i was dealing with something vintage where the strings connect to the bottom is steel and the bridge is made of wood it has 18 brass frets

my honest opinion about the sound is a ten my aunt had an old vintage acoustic and it sounded more like a thud when i plucked around on it than this one did for having a crack in the body it resonates really good so thats why i gave this old thing a ten its been through hell and back and still sounds good

i don't know how well this guitar was setup or what it looked like in the height of its glory but i think with some new srtings and a little work it will be a pleasure to learn how to play

after being thrown in the trash and sounding the way it sounds i give this old guitar a ten i think it is very reliable whoever threw it away is sure missing something good

This guitar is a strange combination of very bad and excellent features. The body is solid, not sure what it's made of. It has two terrible sounding humbuckers (they're old though, so maybe something isn't quite right in there anymore), with a 3 way switch and 5 pots, a seperate volume and tone for each pickup, and a master volume for any setting. The neck is fairly decent, with a chunky feel. Wooden bridge that moves around, with height adjusters. Tuners are typically stiff for a cheap guitar. Tailpiece is brass, off the body. Clear, glitter tuners! Made in the late 60's, very durable guitar. Maybe with a little money it could be a nice one, i.e., new pickups, tuning machines. Body style is kind of like the Les Paul, except with a small cutaway on the upper bout.

Um, well, not much going on in this category! It's fun to play around on at home.

Nice sunburst finish. The neck and headstock were HAND painted with a brush! Hilarious, you can see the paintbrush lines! Cool looking dual pick guards. Again, sparkle tuners!

This is a very durable, solid guitar. I would be hesitant to play it live, as the bridge tends to wander around and before you know it, you're horribly out of tune! All other hardware is very solid.

Who knows? It's an Airline... Weren't they made for the Sears catalog or something?