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Galveston Guitars - History - 1980s - USA Made?


tewksbdg

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I just bought a 1980s-era Galveston ES-335 copy, purportedly made in the USA and I'm looking for more info on this company.

 

I know that Galveston presently is a Chinese/Korean low-budget guitar company, but this one seems pretty legit. Nice guitar anyway.

 

Does anyone know anything about this company's early days? The seller said that it was a company based in Texas that soon sold its name to an importer, who uses it now for a line of questionable quality (but cheap) instruments. It looks like a real quality instrument, and was a steal for a somewhat vintage USA-made 335 style.

 

Anyone have any info?

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I don't think so. No web or Wiki entries, and nobody would pay for an unrecognisable name. Does the guitar have "Made in USA" or some such on it? I can't think of an example of a recent US built guitar that doesn't have the fact identified pretty prominently.

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Never, ever seen a US- made Galveston guitar. As a matter of fact, the only Galvestons I know of are the Korean, and later China- made models.

 

A lot of those guitars are really excellent, too.

 

The whole 'used to be made in the US' angle is likely shopkeeper jive. Some folks harbor a prejudice against MIA instruments, so playing on that is a way to get them to spend $$$.

 

Your 335 = likely CNC machined in either Korea or China.

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I don't think I've ever run across one made in the early 80s, but in the early and mid 90s, they were made in Korea for sure and they were pretty nice guitars. A shop here used to carry the guitars and basses and another shop used to carry just the basses for some reason, not the guitars.

 

Funny thing is, I used to live in Galveston, Texas (and Houston and Richardson in the Dallas area) and I never saw a Galveston guitar until we moved back to Indiana.

 

If you like the guitar, then HNGD, but I wouldn't try to sell it as Made in the USA.

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The link and pictures are here:

 

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=110337950708&ssPageName=ADME:X:AAQ:US:1123

 

Don't laugh! Apparently, the guy adds the religious logos to the headstock of different guitars as a way of starting religious conversations. I'll be stripping the logo off (nothing against Christianity or this guy, who seems perfectly nice - Just not my thing on my guitar).

 

It looks like quite a nice guitar - it's obviously at least 15-20 years old. I thought it was a pretty good find. If it's USA and 1980s, then it's a steal at $450 after shipping including new case. Worst case scenario, it's made in Asia somewhere, it's still a pretty great deal for a 20+ year old guitar + case.

 

Or maybe it's not a Galveston at all, or maybe there really were USA-made Galvestons in very small numbers? Maybe Galveston was a name of a small guitar company that happened to be the same as the Korea/China Galveston but was no relation? Don't know anything yet - hopefully I'll be able to tell a bit more about it when it arrives.

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I paid $125 for a 5 string Galveston bass. It was a kickass bass that had horribly loud pickups. No big deal. It was probably made by Chinese prison labor, but it rocked. If they were once made in the US, cool. I doubt any US made Galveston would ever be worth money, though. Just enjoy the ride, wherever it was made.

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  • 10 years later...
  • 3 weeks later...
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20200101_194310.thumb.jpg.eeabfdc422d7b2501cc965b8cc339866.jpg20200101_194305.thumb.jpg.714c6901c6dc85d0ccb46ae82a0bb232.jpgMy name is danny I messaging all the way from nampa idaho. I have come across this guitar. It is a steve via replicala of his white jem Ibanez with gold hardware floyd rose presise tuning. Monkey grip. But it's made by  Galveston? I have taken it to every possible specialist within my area and all I get is no body knows

IMG_20190813_061441558.jpg

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what are you trying to find out? Galveston guitars have been on the market for over a decade. Knock-off manufacturers are all over China, and whoever owns the Galveston name can slap it on anything they want.

Is the guitar any good? Who knows? Maybe...did you buy it? Did you try it out?

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