Stromberg Guitars was an American company producing

guitar The guitar is a fretted musical instrument that typically has six strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming or plucking the strings with the dominant hand, while simultaneously pressing selected stri ...

s, mainly for jazz musicians, between 1906 and 1955. They produced only around 640 guitars, and are noted for their craftsmanship, similar to the high standards of

John D'Angelico John D'Angelico (1905 in Little Italy, Manhattan – September 1, 1964 in Manhattan) was a luthier from New York City, noted for his handmade archtop guitars and mandolins. He founded the D'Angelico Guitars company, where other notable luthiers lik ...

. Stromberg's guitars are praised for their superb sound quality and for their contribution to the development of the

jazz guitar Jazz guitar may refer to either a type of electric guitar or a guitar playing style in jazz, using electric amplification to increase the volume of acoustic guitars. In the early 1930s, jazz musicians sought to amplify their sound to be hear ...

History

The company was founded by Charles Stromberg, a Swedish immigrant to

Boston Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- mo ...

Massachusetts Massachusetts (Massachusett language, Massachusett: ''Muhsachuweesut assachusett writing systems, məhswatʃəwiːsət'' English: , ), officially the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, is the most populous U.S. state, state in the New England ...

, in 1906, who had learned the trade at the local Thompson & Odell company. His oldest son, Harry, worked with him until 1927, and in 1910, his son Elmer (later praised as responsible for "some of the finest archtop jazz guitars ever made") joined him in the business. Initially Stromberg was making mainly

banjo The banjo is a stringed instrument with a thin membrane stretched over a frame or cavity to form a resonator. The membrane is typically circular, and usually made of plastic, or occasionally animal skin. Early forms of the instrument were fashi ...

s and

mandolin A mandolin ( it, mandolino ; literally "small mandola") is a stringed musical instrument in the lute family and is generally plucked with a pick. It most commonly has four courses of doubled strings tuned in unison, thus giving a total of 8 ...

s, but when in the 1920s the guitar began to replace the banjo among professional musicians Stromberg followed suit and in 1927 produced their first carved-top guitars. The first series was the G-series, 16 inches wide. In the 1930s, Stromberg followed the direction indicated by

Gibson Gibson may refer to: People * Gibson (surname) Businesses * Gibson Brands, Inc., an American manufacturer of guitars, other musical instruments, and audio equipment * Gibson Technology, and English automotive and motorsport company based * Gi ...

and other companies, and began increasing the size of their guitars, widening the G-series (G-1 and G-2) and the Deluxe models to 17 inches. The company's reputation is based mainly on its Master 300 and 400

archtop guitar An archtop guitar is a hollow electric or semi-acoustic guitar with a full body and a distinctive arched top, whose sound is particularly popular with jazz, blues, and rockabilly players. Typically, an archtop guitar has: * Six strings * An ar ...

s (the latter inspired by the

Gibson Super 400 The Gibson Super 400 is an archtop guitar. It is a highly influential guitar model that inspired many other master guitar builders (including Elmer Stromberg and John D'Angelico). It was first sold in 1934 and named for its $400 price, like many ...

). They were first introduced in 1937, during the

big band A big band or jazz orchestra is a type of musical ensemble of jazz music that usually consists of ten or more musicians with four sections: saxophones, trumpets, trombones, and a rhythm section. Big bands originated during the early 1910s an ...

era, and their "mammoth" size (19-inch width) gave them the necessary volume to compete with horn sections. Just before

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

they started producing instruments with a cutaway as well, most notably the G-5. Their guitars were admired by players like

Barry Galbraith Joseph Barry Galbraith (December 18, 1919 – January 13, 1983) was an American jazz guitarist. Galbraith moved to New York City from McDonald, PA in the early 1940s and found work playing with Babe Russin, Art Tatum, Red Norvo, Hal McIntyre, an ...

, who introduced the guitar to

Hank Garland Walter Louis Garland (11 November 1930 – 27 December 2004), professionally Hank Garland, was an American guitarist and songwriter. He started as a country musician, played rock and roll as it became popular in the 1950s, and released a jazz al ...

, a

Nashville Nashville is the capital city of the U.S. state of Tennessee and the seat of Davidson County. With a population of 689,447 at the 2020 U.S. census, Nashville is the most populous city in the state, 21st most-populous city in the U.S., and the ...

studio musician, who also ordered one. Innovation came from Elmer, who devised a new system to brace the top of the guitar. Charles Stromberg died in 1955, followed at the end of the year by Elmer.

Legacy

Stromberg guitars are highly collectible and fetch significant prices: in the late 1960s or early 1970s

Douglas B. Green Douglas Bruce Green (born March 20, 1946), better known by his stage name Ranger Doug, is an Americans, American musician, arranger, award-winning Western music songwriter, and Grand Ole Opry member best known for his work with Western music (Nor ...

reported being unable to afford an eight-thousand dollar Stromberg.

Notable users

Laurindo Almeida Laurindo Almeida (September 2, 1917 – July 26, 1995) was a Brazilian guitarist and composer in classical, jazz, and Latin music. He and Bud Shank were pioneers in the creation of bossa nova. Almeida was the first guitarist to receive Gra ...

Freddie Green Frederick William Green (March 31, 1911 – March 1, 1987) was an American swing jazz guitarist who played rhythm guitar with the Count Basie Orchestra for almost fifty years. Early life and education Green was born in Charleston, South Ca ...

* Fred Guy * John Payne * Tony Rizzi * Chester J. Krolewicz "Chet Kruly" *

Mary Osborne Mary Osborne (July 17, 1921 – March 4, 1992) was an American jazz guitarist and guitar manufacturer. She began performing at a young age and was featured on a radio program in North Dakota, where she grew up. In New York City during the 1940s, ...

Frank Stallone Francesco Stallone Jr. (born July 30, 1950) is an American actor and musician. He is the younger brother of actor Sylvester Stallone and has written music for Sylvester's movies. His song " Far from Over" appeared in the 1983 film '' Staying Al ...

References

External links

Stromberg Guitars website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Stromberg Guitars American luthiers Manufacturing companies established in 1906 Manufacturing companies disestablished in 1955