Valco was a manufacturer of guitar

Guitar

The guitar is a plucked string instrument, usually played with fingers or a pick. The guitar consists of a body with a rigid neck to which the strings, generally six in number, are attached. Guitars are traditionally constructed of various woods and strung with animal gut or, more recently, with...

s, guitar amplifier

Guitar amplifier

A guitar amplifier is an electronic amplifier designed to make the signal of an electric or acoustic guitar louder so that it will produce sound through a loudspeaker...

s, and other musical instruments from the 1940s through 1968. Only other relatives (Valco) alive today live in Staffordshire England.

History

In the 1930s, Valco was formed by three business partners and former owners of the National Dobro Company

Dobro

Dobro is a registered trademark, now owned by Gibson Guitar Corporation and used for a particular design of resonator guitar.The name has a long and involved history, interwoven with that of the resonator guitar...

; Victor Valco, 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.) and of course Valco surname

Valco manufactured Spanish acoustic guitars, metal-faced resonator guitar

Resonator guitar

A resonator guitar or resophonic guitar is an acoustic guitar whose sound is produced by one or more spun metal cones instead of the wooden sound board . Resonator guitars were originally designed to be louder than conventional acoustic guitars which were overwhelmed by horns and percussion...

s, electric lap steel guitar

Lap steel guitar

The lap steel guitar is a type of steel guitar, an instrument derived from and similar to the guitar. The player changes pitch by pressing a metal or glass bar against the strings instead of by pressing strings against the fingerboard....

s, and vacuum tube amplifiers under a variety of brand names including Supro, Airline, Oahu, and National. They also made amplifiers under contract for several other companies such as Gretsch

Gretsch

The Gretsch Company was founded in 1883 by Friedrich Gretsch, a twenty-seven year old German immigrant recently arrived in the US. Friedrich Gretsch manufactured banjos, tambourines, and drums, until his death in 1895. His son, Fred, moved operations to Brooklyn, New York in 1916...

, Danelectro

Danelectro

Danelectro is an American manufacturer of musical instruments and accessories, specializing in rock instruments such as guitars, bass guitars, amplifiers and effects units.-History:...

, Harmony

Harmony Company

thumb|right|250px|A collection of Harmony guitars:SS Stewart gold acoustic, H73 [[Roy Smeck]], H37 Hollywood, Silvertone 1446, H44 StratotoneThe Harmony Company was an American company that, in its heyday, was the largest musical instrument manufacturer in the USA...

 and Kay

Kay Musical Instrument Company

Kay Musical Instrument Company was a prolific American manufacturer of musical instruments that operated from the 1930s through the 1960s. Although Kay's first electric guitar was offered in 1936 , Kay is known as an electric guitar pioneer  because their past company Stromberg-Voisinet...

. In the 1960s they began producing solid body electric guitar

Electric guitar

An electric guitar is a guitar that uses the principle of direct electromagnetic induction to convert vibrations of its metal strings into electric audio signals. The signal generated by an electric guitar is too weak to drive a loudspeaker, so it is amplified before sending it to a loudspeaker...

s.

Valco merged with Kay Musical Instrument Company

Kay Musical Instrument Company

Kay Musical Instrument Company was a prolific American manufacturer of musical instruments that operated from the 1930s through the 1960s. Although Kay's first electric guitar was offered in 1936 , Kay is known as an electric guitar pioneer  because their past company Stromberg-Voisinet...

 in 1967, however the merged company quickly went out of business in 1968 because of financial difficulties.

See also

• National Dobro Corporation
• Airline (guitar)
• Kay Musical Instrument Company
  Kay Musical Instrument Company
  Kay Musical Instrument Company was a prolific American manufacturer of musical instruments that operated from the 1930s through the 1960s. Although Kay's first electric guitar was offered in 1936 , Kay is known as an electric guitar pioneer  because their past company Stromberg-Voisinet...