Airline Model 7227 Arch Top Hollow Body Electric Guitar (1961), original two-tone soft shell case.

Airline Model 7227 Model Arch Top Hollow Body Electric Guitar (1961), made in Chicago, sunburst lacquer finish, laminated maple body with spruce top, poplar neck with rosewood fingerboard, original two-tone soft shell case.

"Airline" was a brand name used for musical instruments sold by the Montgomery Ward stores in the 1950s and '60s, their equivalent of the Sears Silvertone marque. The instruments were subcontracted from the usual Chicago suspects; Wards' 1961 catalog listing this model shows product from Harmony, Kay and Valco ranked side by side; they even sourced some amplifiers from Danelectro.

This Model 7227 is quite obviously a product of Kay, a close variant of their early 1960s "Speed Demon" line. The single cutaway is a bit more rounded on this version, the sunburst subdued, but most specs are similar. The fully hollow thinline laminated arched body is maple with a spruce top, single bound on both edges. The chunky-feeling U-profile neck is poplar with a rosewood fingerboard, unbound with plastic dot inlay. The fittings include two of Kay's better "Speed Bump" pickups, a 3-way lever selector switch, twin tone and volume knobs, simple tailpiece and wooden adjustable bridge and the plainest Waverly strip tuners. The guitar is trimmed out with a swooping white plastic pickguard and an "Airline" sticker on the headstock.

While certainly a budget electric guitar by most standards this was a higher end offering for Montgomery Ward in 1961, listing at all of $67.50, with "No Money Down" payment plans available. By the standards of the day this was quite the bargain! The case and crucially the amplifier were not included, but Wards promised "Liberal discount on required amplifier" if you purchased the guitar. "Comfortable shape for easy playing" the catalog promised, adding "Satisfaction guaranteed".

This relatively anonymous model would have been an ambitious buy for a kid mowing lawns or delivering papers in 1961, but really represents a pretty good value in a 2-pickup electric at the dawn of the turbulent 1960s. Certainly these were seen and heard in any number of pre-Beatle garage bands. This is a really nice example of this humble semi-classic, still a decent playing American made vintage guitar redolent of many long-ago Saturdays spent in the garage chopping out Chuck Berry songs or learning those Ventures and Duane Eddy tunes. May modern generations have that much fun with it!

Overall length is 38 3/4 in. (98.4 cm.), 13 3/4 in. (34.9 cm.) wide at lower bout, and 1 3/4 in. (4.4 cm.) in depth, measured at side of rim. Scale length is 24 1/2 in. (622 mm.). Width of nut is 1 11/16 in. (43 mm.).

This is a very nice all-original example of this fairly conventional thin body electric. There is some very light play wear to the finish overall with minor dings, scuffs and dents but no heavy wear; the guitar simply does not appear much used over the last 65 years. The headstock and logo sticker show a little moisture wear.

The hardware is original and complete with some light general wear, most noticeably loss to the plating on the front edge of the tailpiece and corrosion on the tuners. The neck is not perfect but really as straight as these get, the original brass frets have been lightly polished out and show minimal wear. This Airline/Kay plays decently enough (better than many of these, anyway) and comes in a nice original chipboard case with the original 1961 Ward's catalog page included. Excellent Condition.