https://blacksheepmusicgear.com/elger-guitars
bluebookofguitarvalues.com/electric-guitars/manufacturers/ELGER
There was a gentleman named Harry Rosenbloom who opened a music store called “Medley Music” near Philadelphia in the early 1950’s, at the peak of the post-war music boom. In the mid-to-late fifties, there was a 3 1/2 year waiting list for new Martin guitars and it was impossible for a music store to make money without product. Harry, a man of some considerable talent, decided to start a manufacturing business. His goal was to not just equal Martin’s quality (located only 71 miles from his store), but exceed them! He formed a new company called Elger Guitars, named for his children, Ellen and Gerson.
Gerson Rosenbloom is the vice president of strategic management at Sweetwater Sound, the former president of Medley Music and a past NAMM chairman. Email him at gersonmusicinc@gmail.com.
He made the first few instruments himself in 1959, but quickly realized the impossibility of the task and brought in a German master violin maker named Karl Muller. Karl and his brother, Georg, led a small team of craftsman who designed and built the Martin-beating Elger guitars in a workshop in Ardmore, PA. They continued to hand-build exceptional quality instruments, using only the finest woods and techniques, until about 1964 or so. I have a 1962 Elger dreadnought with solid Brazilian Rosewood back and sides and a German Engelmann Spruce top that rivals the best Martins of the day and is my favorite guitar.
In ’64 or ’65, something changed. I’m not sure why, but Mr. Rosenbloom decided to cease production of the hand-made instruments and begin importing them instead. In a stroke of remarkable insight, Elger Guitars chose to become the exclusive North American distributors for the Hoshino Gakki Gen company. Hoshino had just bought a small Spanish guitar company named “Ibanez” and would use this as their product name, first in North America and then worldwide. In 1971, Hoshino bought Elger Guitars (and regained the North American distribution rights) and changed the name to “Ibanez USA”. Pretty cool, huh?
The later Elgers (1965 to about 1970) are all Japanese-made (and indicate that on their labels) and are actually quite close in design to what was to become the Ibanez line of the 1970’s. If you have a look at one of the Ibanez Vintage sites, you may be able to identify yours from the pictures there. And value? Well, lets just say that you’re better off keeping your guitar – there are too few of the Elgers sold to estimate a reasonable value. I’ve seen them sell from a low of $83 up to $250 for an early (US-made) model, but I think that they’re worth far more than that.
ibanezcollectors.com/discus/messages/11/5034.html?1054680016
Harry Rosenbloom founded Medley Music in Bryn Mawr, Pennsylvania in 1954. After WWII, the need for guitars was huge. Both Fender and Gibson were going through their golden years, and Martin was at its quality peak.
The problem was they weren’t ready to handle the demand they had and thus the waitlist for Martin Guitars was about three years. That, for Harry, was a stock problem.
To solve it, he decided to start building quality instruments. He recruited a family of German violin makers and founded Elger Guitars. They made handmade, high-quality guitars that Rosenbloom sold at Medley Music.
This lasted until 1964, when Rosenbloom felt it was better business to import high-quality instruments than making them. Beatlemania was about to start.
Since Japanese-made was still a bad word for most people, he decided the neutral name Ibanez was better for the US market. These were well-made, great-sounding, and very affordable Asian-made copies of the most-demanded guitars of the time.
His company, Elger Guitars, became the sole North American distributor of high-quality Japanese copies made by the Hoshino Gakki Gen company in Japan.
guitarstrive.com/ibanez-lawsuit-era-guitars
namm.org/library/oral-history/harry-rosenbloom
namm.org/library/oral-history/gerson-rosenbloom
https://www.holdenhillmusic.com.au/products/elger-c-1960-s-japan-vintage