History
Broadway History
I am indebted to Paul Day (co-author of The Ultimate Guitar Book) for his help with the following history of Broadway guitars.
Broadway was a brand name belonging to UK importers Rose-Morris and they applied it to instruments from various sources during the late 1950s through to the 1960s. The name was certainly used on electric guitars from Germany , Japan and the UK .
In an early instrument catalogue from UK distributor Stanley Lewis dated around 1960 there are two primitive UK made models the BW1 and BW2 which are very similar to the early Dallas Tuxedo. They had one and two pickups respectively and were finished in sunburst with sparkle finish scratchplates. They were also produced in white colour.
These two guitars almost certainly came from the same London-based factory which produced solid bodies for Vox, Hohner and Fenton-Weill as well as Dallas Tuxedos. These were made from the late 50s into the early 60s.
The next Broadways are shown in the Rose-Morris catalogue dated Feb 1961 and they are pictured alongside the early Hagstrom sparkle solids, Burns Vibra Artist, Levin Jazzers and Japanese made Star branded “cheapo” solids. The latter were modelled on the single-cutaway examples like Hank Marvin played. His was an Antoria but they were all made by Guyatone.
The Star solids and Broadway Plectric solids were also Guyatone made. The 1922 Broadway was the two pickup model and the 1921 was the single pickup. The clue to Guyatone origins is the oversized oval-ended chrome single coil pickups. The Guyatone LG40 also had this type of pickup.
The complete scratchplate assembly also turned up on an imported archtop marketed as the Bert Weedon Zero One model. Jack Golder at Shergold had a supply of these loaded scratchplates a few years ago and built an SG style solid for Paul Day with one neatly shoehorned in. They have turned up in other guises as well and recently a few scratchplates and tremolos turned up on eBay which may have come from Henry Weill's factory. These assemblies were imported from Japan . The Plectric solids were offered with optional vibrato tailpiece, a primitive UK-made unit fitted over here after importation from Japan . Confusingly, they are stamped “Made in England ” which tends to make people think that the whole guitar was made in the UK .
Also in the Feb 1961 Rose-Morris catalogue is the Broadway bass, model number 1857. This almost certainly originates in the Fenton-Weill factory. A small-bodied semi very similar to the Hofner Club in size and shape is shown too with model numbers 1845 and 1846 (one and two pickups respectively). These had square or round control panels and definitely originated in West Germany .
The Bell Music catalogue of Sept 1962 shows the 1921 1nd 1922 Broadways but also two new models, the 1923 and 1927. These latter two models had the “new Broadway tremolo arm” fitted. Prices varied from just over £16 for the basic 1921 to £25 for the 1927. A slightly earlier Bell catalogue (possibly 1961) describes the 1921 and 1922 as Broadway Solid No.1 and 2 respectively.
It is unlikely that this type of Broadway guitar were sold beyond 1963.
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