Airline Model 7244 Solid Body Electric Guitar (1964), ser. #G36719, black hard shell case.

Airline Model 7244 Model Solid Body Electric Guitar (1964), made in Chicago, serial # G36719, red lacquer finish, maple body, maple neck with rosewood fingerboard, black hard shell case.

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

This Model 7244 is way cool and relatively rare wood-body version of a guitar more commonly seen built on Valco's trademark "Reso-Glas" fiberglass body. This maple-bodied guitar was the top of the "Airline" guitar line in 1964-5, their "Best" twin-pickup guitar retailing at a princely 99.95 with the strap, instruction book and pick included; the case would run you $13.95 extra. The catalog stated it featured ""Newest design hard rock curly maple body finished in attractive polished cherry red color". It's possible Ward's initially had reservations about "plastic" guitars, or more likely using a simpler wood body was simply more cost effective.

The Model 7244 is certainly a looker with a striking red finish on the angular "modernistic" body, set off by white plastic trim including dual pinstriped pickguards, silver-capped knobs and pickup mounting rings. There is no vibrato unit; actually none of ward's guitars that year offered this then-popular feature. The pickups are the excellent Valco "Vista-Power" magnetic units, the same as used in their upscale National models only minus some pinstriping on the covers.

The controls are typically Valco; the 3-way switch works as expected but each pickup has individual tone and volume knobs mounted above string line, plus a larger master volume knob back below the bridge. The tone for the bridge pickup is a bass roll-off, another quirky Valco feature that is actually pretty useful once one gets used to it. The red-painted maple neck has a bound rosewood fingerboard with pearloid block fret markers, topped by a large "Gumby" shaped headstock faced in white. The tuners are Kluson Deluxe with "Safe-Ti-Slot" posts.

While this distinctive model is often referred to as the "JB Hutto model" that renowned and raunchy slide-wielding bluesman is typically pictured with a slightly later Reso-Glas variant with a single-sided headstock; Rory Gallagher used one for slide as well. In Jack White's White Stripes days he famously played the Gumby-headed Reso-Glas version, giving this particular Valco product a renewed notoriety. This maple-bodied version is actually rarer, and arguably the best sounding of the lot with a denser tone and notably more sustain. This guitar was an excellent bargain in a twin-pickup electric in 1964-5 and remains so today, a beacon for the player looking for something striking and unusual with a built-in funk factor!

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 rare gleaming red-and-white wood-body beauty. There is some light play wear to the finish overall with minor dings, scuffs and dents but no heavy wear; the upper horn on the body has some deeper dinks and one spot of touchup. The hardware is original and complete with some light general wear, most noticeably loss to the plating on the front edge of the neck pickup cover. Really the guitar does not show evidence of a lot of use for 60 years on the planet. The neck is as straight as these get, the original frets have been lightly polished out and show minimal wear. This Airline from Valco plays quite well (way better than many of these, anyway) and comes in a nice non-original rectangular HSC. The original Ward's catalog page is included. Overall Excellent Condition.