c

manufactured

info    updated 11/10/2008...please email corrections/info

CA Guitars

1998 to present

Founded by Ellis Seal, making acoustic guitars with modern technology including carbon fibre. Louisiana, USA.
CA = Composite Acoustics

Reviews http://reviews.harmony-central.com/reviews/Acoustic+Guitar/brand/Composite+Acoustics

Cadney guitars

1966 to present

"I finished my first guitars in 1996 and the date is only occasionally on the label. However, I write the date on the inside of the soundboard beneath the part where the fingerboard runs over it and between the neck and one of the upper harmonic bars. I have made guitars in the 100, 200 and 300 series, the 200 and 300 series are current and are not necessarily a guide to the date." [Source: Stephen Cadney, email 17/3/2008]

2004 to present

"I started building guitars as a professional in 2004. Now, my workshop is in Paris at the following address:

Atelier du Sycomore
46, rue de la Rochefoucauld
75009 Paris
Métro Pigalle

Inside my guitars, there is a label with my name, the year of manufacture and
the numbrer of the guitar. Until now, I havebuilt 25 gypsy jazz guitars." [Source: Christelle Caillot, email 28/7/2008 ]

Previously based in Ogíjares (Granada), Spain

Caldwell Guitars

Jimmy Caldwell, Texas USA

Vicente Camacho

1960 to ?

http://www.vergaraguitars.com/vicentecamacho.html

Camacho at wikipedia

Image Vergara:

M. Campellone

1988 to present

http://www.ducksdeluxe.com/camplone.html

http://www.mcampellone.com/

Canda catalog 1973 http://www.sf.airnet.ne.jp/~shake/greco/catalogue/1973/index.html

see Greco

Canopus

1986 to present

Luthier Yas Kamiya worked at the Sho-Bud factory in Nashville in the 1970s for 12 years.  In 1986 he returned to Japan  to make Canopus Hawaiian steel guitars at Shimo Kitazawa,Tokyo.

Caparison

Caparison Forums
http://www.caparisonforum.com/

http://guitarsatbmusic.com.au/forum/index.php

A Harmony Brand

http://harmony.demont.net/brands.php

Cargill Custom Guitars

1956 to present

Started in 1956 in Merv Cargill's garage in Seaford, Australia. Still made there by Merv's son, James [Source: Cargill ]

Carl Thompson (CT)

see T for Thompson

Carlson

1999 to present

Guitars and amps

Fred Carlson

see Beyond the Trees

Carmona Larson

Juan Carmona, Le Beausset, France

Gil Carnal

California, USA

James Carrett

430 Stenner St, Toowoomba, Queensland, 4350 Australia

Vincente Carrillo

Cuenca, Spain

Image courtesy of Guitar Salon International:

Chris Carrington Guitars

1991 to present

Made since "1991" and "at my house in Rockwall TX, since 2004. On the label on the inside, as seen thru the soundhole.

both date and serial # (uncoded)" [Source and photo courtesy of Chris Carrington, email 4/4/2008]

Carson Crickmore

1980 to present

Carson Crickmore is an Australian Luthier, and established a luthier school in Brunswick, Melbourne in 1995.

Carter Steel Guitars

Willie Carter

Santa Cruz, California

Alan Caruth

Newport, New Hampshire, USA

Carvin

1964 to present

https://store.bluebookinc.com/Info/PDF/EGuitar/ElectricSerialization.pdf

Up until 1970 there were no serial numbers issued.

? model guitar http://www.carvinmuseum.com/whatmodelguitar.html

? model bass http://www.carvinmuseum.com/whatmodelbass.html

http://carvin.electricshockmusic.com/newsite/

http://vintageguitarpro.com/carvin.shtml

search http://www.vintageguitar.com

Carvin ads

http://www.carvinmuseum.com/guitarads.html

Reviews http://reviews.harmony-central.com/reviews/Guitar/brand/Carvin

Carvin Forums http://forums.carvinmuseum.com/

http://www.carvintalk.com/

http://www.carvinbbs.com/

Jérôme Casanova

2003 to present

Established own shop in Clermont-Ferrand in 2003

Castellucia

France

Catalyst

http://www.ducksdeluxe.com/catalyst.html

Reviews http://reviews.harmony-central.com/reviews/Guitar/brand/Catalyst+Instruments

Cat's Eyes

Cat's Eyes catalog http://ushigomepan.cool.ne.jp/darkend/catalogue.html

Acoustic sample http://ushigomepan.cool.ne.jp/photo/guitar.html

Robert Cefalu

Buffalo, New York

Celtic Cross

1998 to present

"I started making instruments in 1981 as a hobby. The business slowly grew until about 1998-9 it became full time , and now that is all I do. My shop is in Victoria  British Columbia  Canada. All my instruments have a label with the date of completion and a serial number. A serial number is also stamped on the end of the peghead. I started making all 8 string family  instruments such as Mandolins, Mandolas, Mandocellos and Irish Bouzoukis, but now  I only make slide instruments." [Source: Neil Russell, Celtic Cross Instruments, email 18/9/2008]

Cervantes Guitars

1996 to present

The guitars studio and concert series are made in Mexico The signature series are made in the USA Usually the code is month, year and then the number of the guitar produced that year." [Source: Alejandro Cervantes, Cervantes Guitars, 5330 Metro Street, San Diego, CA 92110, email 9/4/2008]

Paul Chabot

Luthier, trained at Roberto-Venn, Arizona and worked for Augustino Lo Prinzi.  Now in Colorada.

Chafin Custom

http://profile.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=user.viewprofile&friendID=4002421

http://reviews.harmony-central.com/reviews/Guitar/brand/Chafin+Custom+Guitars

http://www.bill-lewington.com/Dean/articles/sar_rev.htm

Chandler Guitars

1990 to present

Paul and Adrian Chandler manufacture Lap Steel Guitars, LectraSlide Guitars, Royale 12-String Bass Guitars, Von Franco Taboo Tiki Guitars, Tone-X Mid-sweep effectors, Red Booster Preamps. Chico. California, USA

"Chandler Guitars was founded in 1980 by Paul Chandler. The guitar factory completed tooling up & began shipping production instruments in around 1990.  The guitars are made in our factory in Northern California.
The date of manufacture can be determined by:
Lap Steels, set necks: month & year indicated inside control cavity.
Bolt on Necks: Month & year indicated in neck pocket.
Also, we began a detailed serial nbr. log in 1996 and customers can usually inquire with serial number for details and date of manufacture.

Our websites are:
www.chandlerguitars.com

www.pickguardheaven.com

www.pickguardwizard.com

[Source: Kenny, Chandler Guitars, email 4/9/2008 ]

Reviews http://reviews.harmony-central.com/reviews/Guitar/brand/Chandler

Chapin Guitars

Bill Chapin makes Hand-crafted guitars and basses. 

Reviews http://reviews.harmony-central.com/reviews/Guitar/brand/Chapin+Guitars

Chaplin Guitars

http://web.telia.com/~u89404043/chapin/

Charis Guitars

1996 to present

Made since "1996, Bay City, Michigan, USA. The date of manufacture is usually on the label, neck block, or written on the underside of the top. [Source: Bill, Charis Acoustic, email 17/7/2008 ]

Charvel

1977 to present

http://www.sandimascharvel.com/

https://store.bluebookinc.com/Info/PDF/EGuitar/ElectricSerialization.pdf

http://en.allexperts.com/q/Guitar-General-649/Charvel-Acoustic-Guitars.htm

http://vintageguitarpro.com/charv.shtml

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charvel

Charvel guitar catalog scans 

1977-2006 http://audiozone.dk/index-filer/CatalogScans.htm

Charvel Model 2,3,4,5 catalog scans http://guitar.servebeer.com/aggressiveguitars/content.html

Charvel price lists

2005 Charvel Pricelist

2006 Charvel Pricelist

Reviews http://reviews.harmony-central.com/reviews/Guitar/brand/Charvel

Charvel forum http://www.jcfonline.com/gallery/

see Jackson

Chasson Guitars

1995 to present

Bellingham, WA, USA

Chellee Guitars

2003 to present

Peter Taylor studied at Roberto-Venn in 2000. He then opened Chellee Guitars (named after his wife). [Source: Roberto-Venn ]

"I've been building since 1998. The first instrument to bear the Chellee name was build in 2003. I build them in my house in Orange City, Florida. I moved my operation back home this past March in order to be able to get more done. Since I began applying serial numbers, the first two digits are the year (i.e. 08xxx is built this year). I am a one man shop and so there is very little else to report. I do not produce many instruments each year and so there have not been too many horribly confusing details. Most of what you might want to know can be found on my site. Outside of that, it may be worth reiterating that each instrument is a one-of-a-kind piece. I do not do runs of guitars, but instead build individual guitars for individual players. If anyone needs any information about any instrument I've built they can feel free to contact me directly. This is likely the only way to get good info about an instrument aside from asking the player the guitar was built for." [Source: Peter Taylor, Chellee Guitars LLC, email 29/7/2008 ]

Cheval Guitars

Frank Cheval, France

Chiavi Guitars

1985 to present

"My manufacture starts 1985
My workshop is in Zürich ( Zuerich) Switzerland
On the guitar label inside of the guitar is the number of the instrument progressively dated, the year of construction, and my my original signature.
Buyers of second hand instrument can ask me about details of each of my instruments. All Chiavi guitars are listed in my computer.
[Source: Ermanno Chiavi, email 7/4/2008]

Daniele Chiesa, Granada, Spain

Douglas Ching

http://www.maui.net/~rtadaki/ching.html

Chinook Guitars

Coleman, Alberta, Canada

Tom Chippindall

I started making under the name 'mandolintom' in 2006, and was working with Daniel Brauchli, under his Label before that. I started making them in Tasmania (with Daniel Brauchli) but moved to Chewton, Victoria late in2007.
My instruments are numbered with the year of completion( abbreviated) followed by the total number of instruments I have made under the mandolintom label eg. 0822 = the twenty-second instrument I have made, and it was completed in 2008. Some of my earlier instruments just have a completion date-eg 26-11-06, and even earlier ones use Daniel Brauchli's Label with "built by Tom Chippindall" handwritten on the label." [Source: Tom Chippindall, email 5/8/2008 ]

Chrysalis Guitars

Churchill Guitars

Ballarat, Victoria, Australia

Cimar

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cimar

http://reviews.harmony-central.com/reviews/Guitar/brand/Cimar

Cimarron Guitars

1978 to present

"Cimarron Guitars was started in 1978. They are made in Ridgway Colorado, U.S.A. All Cimarron guitars leave our shop with a label in them visible through the sound hole showing serial # and date of manufacture." [Source: John Walsh, email 28/7/2008 ]

Circa Guitars

John Slobod, USA

Citron

 1975 to present

http://www.promusicfind.com/new/dating.shtml#Citron

http://www.citron-guitars.com/about.html

Search at http://www.vintageguitar.com

Milan Ciz

1993 to present

After studying at the Roberto-Venn School of Luthiery in 1993, Milan Ciz established his shop in Slovakia. Each year he builds around eight to ten guitars and basses and repairs approximately two hundred instruments. [Source: Roberto-Venn ]

" I started my brand with name “C.M.’s Guitars” (which was abbreviation of Ciz Milan Guitars) in 1993 till 1997. After  that period I change my brand name to “Milan Ciz Guitars co.” which is used up to the present time .

My shop is in town call Prievidza, Lucna 1 street, Slovakia, Europe.

Dating Milan Ciz Guitars

My dating of the guitars is simple. Each guitar has own number without regard to type of instrument. First twenty or more guitars don’t have numbers in order and some don’t have serial number at all (you can find some details at my web page http://www.cizguitars.com/index.php?str=historia&lang=en ).  

Usually a solo necks and bodies I don’t mark with serial number some may have a company logo. I building approximately 8 to 10 guitars per year.

Most electric guitars have their serial number in the neck pocket or pickup cavity and acoustic/archtop guitars have they label in the traditional place and each is sign on the back of the top board (near the sound hole)." [Source: Milan Ciz, email 30/7/2008 ]

Image courtesy of Milan Ciz:

C.M.’s Guitars

see Milan Ciz Guitars

Brian Cohen

1972 to present

Brian Cohen makes classical guitars, Guildford, Surrey, UK

Image: Guitar Salon 1991                                                                  Source: Sound Post 1998

W A Cole

Late 1800s to 1922

http://www.mugwumps.com/WACole.html

2001 to present