John Monteleone (American, b. 1947)
Archtop Guitar, Radio Flyer model (serial number 162), 1997
Spruce, maple, ebony; blonde finish; W. 18 in. (45.7 cm)
Dr. Thomas Van Hoose, Texas

The Radio Flyer model is so named as a tribute to the radio and the importance it has had to all forms of American music, and specifically to the dissemination of great guitar playing. This model guitar includes “dolphin” sound holes on the top and incorporates Monteleone’s idea for sound holes on the side.

As John Monteleone writes about this guitar:

It must have happened when radio was in its glory that New York had acquired the moniker of the Radio City. When I was a boy I would listen to radio quite a lot. We hadn’t yet owned a television until 1956. Even then the radio held its own and the transition to rock and roll really kept it on top.

Through the radio and its waves I could travel the world. My imagination was nurtured by radio and most of the great guitar recordings I ever heard were brought to me via radio. I would eventually turn this influence into an inspiration for the Radio Flyer archtop guitar.