They later marketed several brands of instruments - Lyon leant his middle name to the fretted variety. L&H started as a music publisher in 1864. They did found the L&H company in 1864, but the company didn't start manufacturing guitars until 1888. The Lyon & Healy Company was the Chicago branch of the Oliver Ditson Company - a very large sheet music distributing company. He was not a guitar maker - he was a businessman. then the same thing happened again in the 1950's !!'įirst of all 'George Washburn' was George Washburn Lyon - Washburn was his middle name. Washburn guitars had a fire sometime in the 1920's that destroyed everything, including all records and paperwork that they had prior to the day of the fire. the company has changed hands many times since then. 'George Washburn started making guitars in 1864.

As the proud owner of a turn of the century Washburn, I have done quite a bit of research on the company. I wanted to correct some misinformation you have published in your 'Washburn' page of the web site () concerning Washburn Guitars. we assume that he has done quite a bit of homework on the subject and have published his letter here for your evaluation. the following letter was sent into us from a Washburn owner. The above info was given to Dr.Duck from the Washburn Guitar Company. the year will be in the 'Model Name' of the guitar. on some models (but not all) - the first two digits of the serial number is the year the guitar was made. then the same thing happened again in the 1950's !!.

George Washburn started making guitars in 1864. Ducks Deluxe : Washburn Guitar Dates : Dr.

Regal guitars serial numbers