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K. Gerhard Penzel/K. G. P. (Bows) See --> Penzel
KHS See --> KHS Group
King (Wind instruments) See --> Conn-Selmer
King David (Batons) See --> David Wexler & Co.
Kingstar International Enterprise Ltd.
Hong Kong based company with production factilities in China that manufactures protective bags for musical instruments. Primarily an OEM but does also sell under their own Crossrock brand and in the late 80's and the 90's the company also sold bags under the Talent brand. -- Official homepage.
Distribution : In Canada by Yorkville Sound
Kingstar International Enterprise Ltd., Flat/RM I 3/F, Good Harvest CTR 33 on Chuen on Lok Tsuen, Fanling, NT, Hong Kong.
Tel: +86 (0) 755 2619 6500. Fax: +86 (0) 755 6164 0364. E-Mail: info |at| kingstarintl.com Skype: mikewong-cn
Kiso Violin Co. Ltd. 
Long running Japanese manufacturer of musical instruments, currently makes high end violins under its own name and electric violins under the Kranz brand but may make violas as well, their instruments are mostly sold through the shops run by their owner ESP Co. such as "ESP Craft House" and are by now mostly unknown outside of Japan although up to the early 90’s their products were exported. The company started life in 1887 as Suzuki Violin Co. and was one of the three plants that made up that company but unlike the other 2 Suzuki plants that were based in Nagoya proper the Kiso factory was based in the small town of Kiso-Fukushima which is located in Chukyo-ken (or the greater-Nagoya area) and while it made basically the same products as the other 2, e.g. violins and mandolins mainly, it always had slightly different finishes and alternative label designs.
In 1946 the Kiso-Fukushima products start to diverge more from the main company designs, they were one of the first Japanese companies to manufacture guitars but from the late 19th century and up to WWII the mandolin was the most popular folk instrument in Japan and the guitar mostly unknown, it was not until the American occupying forces came that the instrument was introduced to the locals and Kiso was one of the first if not the first Japanese company to make them and as they had already been exporting outside of Asia since the beginning of the 20th century they did not run into the problems other early Japanese guitar manufacturers with the usage of unprocessed wood, but the humidity in Japan is so high that instrument makers do not routinely dry their woods when manufacturing for the local market, when they started ship to more temperate climates such as Europe or Northern America they ran into problems with wood twisting.
At the same time the labels on their instruments started to place more emphasis on the Kiso-Fukushima name and in 1951 a new company is formed around the business called Kiso Suzuki Violin Co. Ltd., but nothing is known by the author about the reasons behind the split or even who the owners of the new company were, in fact the info on Kiso-Suzuki’s own documents are misleading because in some instances they say “Since 1887” and in others “Founded in 1951”, and technically both are right in a way.
Note that both companies were often called Suzuki in the west but if there is no Kiso in the name or on the label it is either the original Suzuki Violin Co. or even the more recent arrival Suzuki Musical Instruments and all three are often confused by people, if Kiso-Fukushima only appears in small letters at the label it dates from before the 1951 split. The Kiso Suzuki concern quickly became one of the larger OEM manufacturers of guitars in Japan and made anything from fairly indifferent budget instruments to top quality stuff, the first Yamaha Corp. branded acoustics were in fact built by Kiso but you will find that they made instruments for hundreds of primarily American and Japanese companies from the 50’s and into the mid 80’s.
By the 70's Kiso Suzuki was really 2 semi-separate operations, one manufacturing high end violins and other classical string instruments in a traditional hand crafted manner and on the other hand a modern factory based in Nagoya that primarily produced guitars but also violins, mandolins etc. for the OEM market although they did sell electric guitars under the Kiso, K. Suzuki, S. Suzuki or Kiso Suzuki names and their headstocks sometimes featured a stylised S logo in Gothic/German script rather than a name, their USA distributor requested a headstock logo similar to the CF Martin but the label is the same as the normal Kiso guitars.
Note also that guitars branded using some of the companies own names are never outright budget models regardless if they are acoustics or electrics even though the company made very cheap guitars for other concerns, primarily Japanese and American trading houses and retail chains they never sold those under their own name. Conversely you should also be aware that although the company is by now only selling high end violins they manufactured classical string instruments from 1951 and into the latter half of the 80’s that ranged from cheap student models to much better stuff, they even made children sized violins and other classical instruments, so even though you will see a 20 year old Kiso violins fetching high or even very high prices on Japanese violin sites, chances are that your 40 year old model is a student model worth under 100 euros.
In around 1971 the company teamed up with noted guitarist and composer Yamamoto Takeharu and produced Takeharu brand guitars that were primarily mid and high end models, early on there appear to have been electric guitar or two in the range but they are very rare an may in fact have been prototypes intended for music shows that were then sold on, by the mid 70's they Takeharu label was only used on acoustic classical and steel string guitars, for reason unknown the brand went out of use in or around 1980. Kiso Suzuki was bought by ESP Co. in 1985 and the guitar factory was put under the control of the guitar making part of the ESP empire and now makes guitars and basses under the ESP and Navigator brands. The violin operation however was kept as an independent company and continues to operate. No known webpage.
Kiso Violin Co. Ltd., 6900 Yashirogi, Kisofukushima-cho, Kiso-gun, Nagano-ken, 397-0001, Japan..
Klaus Becker (Bows) See --> Shar Products
Klavicura See --> Felix Bous
Kluson See --> Göldo Music (Tuners & hardware)
KMC Music Inc
USA based company that makes, markets and distributes musical instruments and related products, owned by Fender but operates mostly independantly and in Canada is known under the B&J Music Ltd. name. The company sells latin and ethnic percussion products under the Toca brand, acoustic steel-string guitars & basses, ukuleles and accessories under the Ovation, Applause and Adamas names, drum and percussion hardware under the Gibraltar label, drums under the Gretsch stensil, electric guitars and basses using the Hamer Guitars brand, guitar and bass amplification under the Genz Benz label and guitar picks and similar accessories under the National name. KMC also owns Latin Percussion but they are operated somewhat independantly.
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Distribution : Ovation/Applause/Adamas distributors : In Greece by Philippos Nakas S.A. (Adamas only). Genz Benz distributors : In Indonesia by Tiga Negeri Music House. Hamer Guitars distributors : In Argentina by Hendrix Music and on Reunion Island by Fotelec. Toca percussion distributors : In Ecuador by Banlow S. A.
KMC Music Inc., 55 Griffin Road South, Bloomfield, CT 06002-0507, USA.
Tel: +1 860 509 8888. E-Mail: info at kamanmusic.com
B&J Music Ltd., 2360 Tedlo St, Mississauga, ON L5A 3V3, Canada.
Tel: +1 905 896 3001. Fax: +1 905 896 4554. E-Mail: bjmusic {at} kmcmusic.com
Kohala (Ukuleles) See --> Hohner
Koloa (Ukuleles) See --> Shanghai Chaobo Musical Instruments Co.
Kolstein Music Inc.
USA based company that primarily runs a NY based classical string instrument store and restoration & repair workshop called Samuel Kolstein & Son. Ltd but also manufacture accessories such as strings and rosins under the Kolstein brand and supplies Asian sourced instuments using the Liandro DiVacenza name. -- Official homepage.
Distribution : Non-exclusive distribution/wholesaling of Kolstein branded accessories in the USA by St. Louis Music and in Europe by Petz Kolophonium. Kolstein branded violins distributed in Japan by Mac Corporation
Kolstein Music Inc., 795 Foxhurst Road, Baldwin, NY 11510, USA.
Tel: +1 516 546 9300. Fax: +1 516 546 9309.
Kong Hsue Sheh
Taiwanese manufacturer of musical instuments and related accessories better known in the west as KHS Group. Manufactures drums and drum hardware under the Mapex brand, concert and marching percussion products under the Majestic label, flutes using the Altus stencil, brass and woodwind instruments under the Jupiter name, musical instument and pro-audio/video stands and racks using the Hercules Stands brand and acoustic guitars using the Walden name
The company has in the past also made woodwind reeds using the Butterfly label, percussion products using the Ross or Ross Mallet titles and guitars, stands & recorders using the Linko brand. KHS has production factilities in Taiwan, Holland, Japan and China, in addition the company runs a chain of high end classical musical instrument stores in Taiwan called Aeolus Music Corp. and is the owner of Hohner.Originally founded in 1930 as Wan-Wu. -- Official homepage. -- Altus Flutes homepage -- Mapex Drums site -- Majestic drums & percussion -- Jupiter wind instruments -- Hercules Stands homepage -- Walden Guitars site -- Aeolus Music Corp. page
Distribution : Mapex distributors : In Ireland and the UK by Korg UK. Jupiter distributors : In Iceland by Tónastöđin & in Ireland and the UK by Korg UK. Hercules Stands distributors : In Brazil by Izzo Instrumentos Musicais. Non-exclusive distribution/wholesaling in the USA by Pro Tec and in Canada and USA by KMC Music
K.H.S. Musical Instrument Co. Ltd, No. 162, Zhongshan 2nd Rd., Luzhou City, Taipei County 247, Taiwan.
Tel: +886 2 2282 5151. Fax: +886 2 2281 2282.
Majestic Holland b.v., Communicatielaan 6-8, NL-8466 SR Nijehaske, Holland.
Tel: +31 513 46 80 37 (sales) or +31 513 46 80 30 (accounts). Fax: +31 513 46 80 31. E-Mail: info at majestic-percussion.com
Mapex Inc., 118 Wheeler St. LaVergne, TN 37086, USA.
Tel: +1 615 793 2050. Fax: +1 615 793 2070. E-Mail: mapex {at} mapexdrums.com
Korg
Japanese company that manufactures musical instruments, pro-audio products, MI amplification and accessories under the Korg and Vox brands. Originally named Keio Electonics laboratory. The company also acts as the Japanese distributor of Access Music, Aguilar, Allen & Heath, CruzTools, G7th, Moollon, Nord, Propellerhead, PRS, Rockstand, Schoenhut Piano Co., Sonicware, SR Technology, Stanton Magnetics, Ultimate Support Systems, Warwick and 2Box. -- Official homepage. -- Vox homepage -- Korg Japan distribution homepage -- Korg USA -- PRS Guitars Japan homepage
Distribution : In Australia by Music Link Australia, in Canada by Jam industries, in Cyprus by Music Sound, in Ecuador by Banlow S. A., in France by Algam, in Hungary by Absolute Bt., in New Zealand by Custom Music International NZ, in South Africa by Tuerk Musical Technologies, in Thailand by S.D.K. Technology Innovation and in the UK by Korg UK, non-exclusive distribution of accessories in the USA by Conn-Selmer
Korg, 4015-2, Yanokuchi, Inagi-shi, Tokyo, 206-0812, Japan.
Tel: +81 (0)42 379 5771. Fax: +81 (0)42 379 5773.
Kramer See --> Gibson Guitar Corp.
Krank Amplification
USA based manufacturer of electric guitar and bass amplifiers. -- Official homepage.
Distribution : In Indonesia by M Station and in Switzerland by Sticks Musique
Krank Amplification Inc., 3304 N. Delaware, Chandler, Arizona 85225, USA.
Tel: +1 480 776 2993.
Kranz (Electric Violins) See --> Kiso Violin
Kun Shoulder Rest Inc.
Canadian company that manufactures shoulder rests for violins and violas. -- Official homepage.
Distribution : In Bosnia-Herzegovina, Croatia, The Republic of Macedonia, Montenegro, Serbia and Slovenia by Marving Musical Instruments, in Italy by Bode SRL and in Portugal & Spain by Enrique Keller. Non-exclusive distribution/wholesaling in the USA by St. Louis Music and in Europe by Petz Kolophonium.
Kun Shoulder Rest Inc., 200 MacLaren Street, Ottawa, Ontario K2P 0L6, Canada
Tel: +1 613 232 1861 (int.) or 888 755 9514 (USA & Canada only). Fax: +1 613 232 9771. E-Mail: kun %at% kunrest.com
Künstlerlob (Rosins) See --> Walter Geipel
K. Yairi See --> Yairi Guitar Co.
Kyser Musical Products
USA based company that manufactures capos, strings, picks and other guitar related accessories. -- Official homepage.
Distribution : In Ireland and the UK by Barnes & Mullins and John Hornby Skewes & Co Ltd, in Italy by Wilder s.a.s., in Japan by Rokkoman, in Malaysia by The Guitar Store, in New Zealand by Music Works Ltd, non-exclusive distribution/wholesaling in the USA by St. Louis Music
Kyser Musical Products, 28141 State Hwy 64, Canton, TX 75103, USA.
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