Recording King
From 1929 to 1943 the Chicago based mail-order company Montgomery Ward offered a line of guitars, banjos and mandolins under the Recording King brand name. Manufacturers included Kay, Regal, Gretsch and Gibson – the latter providing the most expensive and highest quality instruments.
The Recording King name first appeared on instruments built by Gibson in 1929 and from 1938 into the spring of 1940, Montgomery Ward reserved the brand name exclusively for Gibson made instruments.
As with most other Gibson-built economy brands, the adjustable truss rod – a strong selling point of Gibson’s own guitars – was eliminated in order to reduced manufacturing costs.
