The folks at Washburn Guitars are celebrating 2007 as their 125th year making and marketing musical instruments.

The company was founded in 1887 by George Washburn Lyon, and located in a small factory in Chicago, IL. An early focus of Washburn Guitars was the burgeoning delta blues music scene that had developed in Chicago at the time. That blues scene was centered around Chicago’s Maxwell Street, which was only a short distance from the first Washburn factory, and had a major influence on the early development of the brand.

They made steel string guitars, typically smaller body sizes by today’s standards, as well as banjos and mandolins.

The brand went inactive for a period, and was resurrected in 1975 by Fretted Industries, another Chicago company, which has since morphed into US Music Corp.

Electric guitars and basses, plus amplification and sound reinforcement are the major focus at Washburn these days, and they have been very successful in that market at a variety of price points. They still have a hand in acoustic guitars, however, and both student and professional banjos and mandolins.

Congratulations to Washburn for reaching this milestone.

We’re always pleased to see efforts to help worthwhile charitable organizations, and this is one of those times. In an effort to combat Parkinson’s desease, Washburn Guitars and Sam Ash Music have joined forces for the month of May, 2007.

The two companies have announced that ten percent of the sales price of all Washburn guitars sold through Sam Ash retail stores, and online at SamAsh.com, during May 2007, will be donated to the Parkinson’s Unity Walk. The organization is the largest grassroots fundraiser for Parkinson’s research in the US and guarantees that 100 percent of all donations goes directly to research.

Washburn Guitars was established in 1883 and is located new Chicago, IL. They also build banjos and mandolins.

Sam Ash Music was founded in Brooklyn, NY in 1924 and now operates 45 stores nationwide.

Washburn Guitars has announced their newest acoustic dreadnaught guitar, the D64SW, just in time for the NAMM Winter Show in Anaheim, CA (1/18-21/07).

The D64, which Washburn has dubbed “The Bluegrass,” is a solid wood guitar, with a spruce top and rosewood back and sides. The neck is mahogany with a rosewood fingerboard, bone nut and saddle, and a tortoise look pick guard.

They describe the guitar as being made with a bluegrass picker in mind.

“This guitar is designed to produce precise tones with crisp highs and a pronounced, defined bottom end with volume ideally suited to the Bluegrass player.”

“The Bluegrass” will ship with a deluxe hardshell case and carry a retail price of $1,499.90. You can search for Washburn dealers on their web site, or check out the new guitars at booth #5244 if you’ll be attending the NAMM Show in Anaheim.

Washburn Guitars is proud to note that their D10S guitar was honored earlier this month during the prestigious Music Industry Association Awards in London. The MIA is a British musical products trade association, roughly equivalent to NAAM, which started as US music trade association, but no has a more international scope.

The MIA Awards celebrate the best selling, most reliable or simply new and innovative products and retail strategies in the UK. Washburn’s D10S won in the Acoustic Guitar category.

Ian Cullen, Marketing Director for Washburn’s UK distributor (Sound Technology PLC) was understandably upbeat at the news.

“We’re very excited to win this award which comes on the back of a record-breaking year for Washburn in the UK. The D10S has consistently been our top-selling acoustic guitar and we’re delighted it has been recognized by the MIA in this way.”

You can find out more about the D10S, and all of Washburn’s acoustic guitars on their web site.