page_title: Kiesel Guitars
section_title: History
hierarchical_section_title: Kiesel Guitars / History
caption_attribution_description: Carvin JB200C
context_page_description: Kiesel Guitars is an American manufacturer of custom electric guitars and electric bass guitars located in Southern California. It was founded in 2015 and took over the guitar and bass portions of Carvin Corporation.
context_section_description: Lowell Kiesel founded Carvin Corporation in San Diego, California in 1946 as the L. C. Kiesel Company to manufacture guitar pickups. By 1947, the company manufactured steel guitars in Gothenburg, Nebraska. Around 1948, it returned to Southern California—and, in 1949, moved to Baldwin Park, California, where the company name changed to Carvin, after Kiesel's two eldest sons, Carson and Gavin. Starting in the 1970s, Mark Kiesel took over the guitar department and started offering custom instruments made to order to allow customers to choose from a range of available body shapes, woods, colors, electronics, and other features. In 1995, Jeff Kiesel started working for the company, and in 2011 he began to help with design and instrument development.
  In 2015, Carvin Corporation split its business units, and Kiesel Guitars was founded to take over the guitar and bass manufacturing, as a wholly separate company. The original Kiesel name and logo was chosen to honor founder Lowell Kiesel. The new company continues to build electric, acoustic electric, MIDI, synth, semi hollow, chambered, headless guitars and basses along with necks, bodies, kits and a full parts department under the Carvin Guitars name as well as new Kiesel name. Kiesel Guitars opened up sales globally following the name change. The company employed over 50 people and produced almost 4,000 custom made instruments per year. It is run by President Mark Kiesel (Lowell Kiesel's middle son) and Vice President Jeff Kiesel (Mark's son). Jeff Kiesel's two children also work for the company when not attending school full-time.
  In January 2015, Kiesel Guitars won Revolver's Best of Show award at the winter NAMM Show, for their headless guitar model, the Vader. At the 2016 Winter NAMM, Super NAMM Awards were won from Guitar Aficionado for their 70th anniversary K-series model, and from Guitar World for their 24-fret bolt-on Aries model.
caption: Carvin Guitar's JB200C Jason Becker Tribute Guitar, at the 2014 NAMM Show
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