Defil
Defil
Also known as: Defil Lubin, Dolnośląska Fabryka Instrumentów Lutniczych
UnclaimedDefil was a Polish musical instrument manufacturer based in Lubin, Lower Silesia. The name is an acronym for Dolnośląska Fabryka Instrumentów Lutniczych (Lower Silesian Factory of Lutherie Instruments). The state-owned enterprise produced guitars, basses, mandolins, and other stringed instruments from the late 1940s through the mid-2000s, and for decades it was the dominant guitar maker behind ...
Defil was a Polish musical instrument manufacturer based in Lubin, Lower Silesia. The name is an acronym for Dolnośląska Fabryka Instrumentów Lutniczych (Lower Silesian Factory of Lutherie Instruments). The state-owned enterprise produced guitars, basses, mandolins, and other stringed instruments from the late 1940s through the mid-2000s, and for decades it was the dominant guitar maker behind the Iron Curtain in Poland.
Defil designed its own models that took visual cues from Western instruments without being faithful copies. Notable models include the Jola and Jola 2 (a violin-shaped solid body), the Aster (a Les Paul-influenced solid body with a bolt-on neck and Polish-made Muza pickups), the Kosmos, the Melodia, the Baston, and the Hofner-style Romeo bass and Julia guitar. The instruments are widely regarded as modestly built — inadequately seasoned wood and inconsistent workmanship were common criticisms — but they were often the only electric guitars accessible to musicians in Communist-era Poland.
Defil instruments were the entry point for several generations of Polish rock and metal players, and during the 1960s and 1970s nearly every club band in the country relied on them. Today the brand is mostly of interest to vintage collectors and Eastern Bloc guitar enthusiasts, with surviving examples traded on Reverb and specialty shops, and a small heritage museum dedicated to the factory exists in Poland.
Defil has 4 products cataloged on Equipboard, including Hollowbody Electric Guitars, Beginner Kits, and Steel-string Acoustic Guitars. Their gear is featured by 1 artist, with the strongest followings in Rock. Notable users include Artur Rojek.
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