Washburn Guitars

Washburn Guitars is an American guitar manufacturer. It was established in 1883 in Chicago, Illinois. Washburn is a division of US Music Corp..

History

Washburn guitars began making hand-crafted instruments in 1883 in Chicago, IL, as a division of stringed instrument maker Lyon & Healy. Lyon & Healy sold sheet music, reed organs, and smaller musical instruments since 1864. Eventually, the firm began manufacturing a wide variety of musical instruments. Washburn (guitars, mandolins, banjos, and zithers) become the firm's premier line of plucked string instruments. The name "Washburn" originates from the middle name of George Washburn Lyon, one of the founders of Lyon & Healy.

In 1912 Washburn introduced the Lakeside Jumbo guitar which is considered the first dreadnought sized guitar. It bridged the gap between smaller bodied parlor guitars of the late 19th and early 20th century and modern day dreadnought and jumbo acoustic guitars. Washburn currently offers a reissue of that model as the LSJ749.