A narrow piece of maple runs down the middle of the body to anchor the neck, pickups and tailpiece. They were aligned and held together with a slotted rubber grommet strip, then long machine screws through the back and into the front. The red plastic guitar body is made of two clamshell pieces (top and bottom of the body) called “res-o-glass”, a type of fibreglass. Valco manufactured these guitars under various names including their own product lines Supro, National, Atlas and Valco as well as several house brand names including Airline (Montgomery Ward) and English Electronic's Tonemaster. The original Res-O-Glas fibreglass guitars were produced by the Valco Guitar Company primarily between 19.
Guitars made of Res-o-glass - a type of fibreglass - like this model are the most collectable Airline guitars. Airline sold through the Montgomery Ward mail order and department store retailer. Back in the day, many products were marketed under different brand names in three levels: “Good” (Airline), “Better” (Supro) and“Best” (National). Airline guitars were manufactured by Valco from 1958 to 1968, and many closely resemble other Valco-made guitars from brands including National and Supro. This model is often referred to as the Jetsons model (reference to the futuristic animation sitcom The Jetsons). Hutto, this Airline guitar ranks as the most sought-after Res-o-glass Airline thanks largely to its modern use by Jack White of the White Stripes.
Hutto" model, due to the use of this type of guitar by bluesman and slide guitar artist J.B. In the search of reducing the cost of building guitars various techniques were experimented One was the use of fibreglass to mass produce guitars and reduce the cost. Very often they were sold through mail-order catalogues or department stores.
Large manufacturers saw an opportunity to target that market and developed products to provide lower priced guitars. Guitar players couldn't always afford a Gibson or Fender guitar and they sought cheaper alternatives.