Heritage Guitar Inc. Celebrates 100 Years of Guitar History in Kalamazoo

This weekend, Heritage Guitar celebrated 100 Years of guitar history in Kalamazoo at the 225 Parsons Street Factory in Michigan.

The free event gathered families and musicians alike to take in live music and check out historical artifacts on display. 

Different artists who performed on Saturday (September 9) included Heritage artist Jake Kershaw (who played using his custom Heritage H-555), Miss Kalamazoo (Shelby Lentz), Paul Erdman (the first Heritage artist under the new ownership), Rendal Wall (a Heritage and Gibson employee), Heritage artist Wild Bill Durkin, and Heritage artist Sammy Melchi. 

In addition, Heritage Guitar recently partnered with BandLab Technologies of Singapore, which Heritage announced at the event.

“To me, 225 Parsons is one of the most significant establishments in the history of modern music. The world’s finest American-made musical instruments were, and continue to be built in this legendary factory,” said Meng Ru Kuok, CEO and co-founder of BandLab Technologies. “From the moment I saw the iconic smokestack and had a chance to see the Heritage craftsmen in action, I knew that this was something that deserved a wider audience. Heritage Guitar’s uncompromising approach to quality, as well as their commitment to their craft makes them stand out in the modern electric guitar marketplace. We are very excited to be a part of bringing Heritage into new markets and territories.”

“Since we joined forces with the original founders two years ago, I’ve been working hard with the team to improve working conditions and increase efficiency while still maintaining traditional methods and the handcrafted beauty that Heritage Guitar is known for,” said Archie Leach, owner of Heritage Guitars. “To us, this is the next logical step in building a sustainable business that can hire more people and ensure the specialist knowledge of Heritage stays in Kalamazoo. We are delighted to be working with a global partner who not only can help support our global sales and marketing efforts but also loves and understands our product deeply. We want more people to know about Heritage, about 225 Parsons and about Kalamazoo and I’m confident that with Meng and his team onboard we can spread the word of Heritage even further.”

“When my cofounders and I started this company 32 years ago, we had an idea to build the best handcrafted guitars in the USA,” said Jim Deurloo, founder of Heritage Guitars. “Our guitars have been loved by guitar aficionados who heard about us through word of mouth or saw us at trade shows. I hoped that we could bring this vision to the world, and with this new partnership in place, we can continue to push awareness of our guitars and love of Heritage. Our new sales partner Meng and his team embrace our policy of quality first – they’re a perfect fit for what we are trying to accomplish, as guitar lovers and sales people, to get more people playing Heritage Guitars around the world.”