Gibson

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This article is about the American musical instrument manufacturer. For other uses see Gibson (disambiguation).

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Gibson Les Paul Standard

Gibson Guitar Corporation is one of the world's best-known manufacturers of acoustic and electric guitars.

Orville Gibson (born 1856, Chateaugay, N.Y.) started making mandolins in 1894 in Kalamazoo, Michigan USA. The mandolins were distinctive in that they featured a carved solid top and back and carved wood sides. Prior to this mandolins had a solid top and a bowl-like back (similar to current-day Ovation_guitars) made of multiple strips of wood. These bowl-back mandolins were unstable and fragile. Gibson's innovation made a better-sounding mandolin that was immensely easier to manufacture. The popularity of the mandolin in these days led to a demand for Gibson's mandolins.

In 1902, the Gibson Mandolin-Guitar Mfg. Co, Ltd. was founded to market his instruments. Within a short period after the foundation of the company, the Board passed a motion that "O. H. Gibson be paid only for the actual time he works for the Company." After that time, there is no clear indication whether he worked there full-time, or as a consultant. Gibson was considered a bit eccentric and there has been some question over the years as to whether or not he suffered from some sort of mental illness.

Starting in 1908, Orville was paid an annual fee of $500 by Gibson Mandolin-Guitar Manufacturing Co., Limited (equivalent to $20,000 a year in modern terms). He had a number of stays in hospitals between 1907 and 1911. In 1916, he was again hospitalized, and passed away on August 21, 1918 in St. Lawrence State Hospital, a psychiatric center in Ogdensburg, N.Y.

During the 1920s and 1930s, the Gibson company was responsible for many innovations in guitar design, and became the leading manufacturer of arch-top guitars, particularly the Gibson L5 model. In 1936 they introduced their first "Electric Spanish" model, the ES-150, generally recognized as the first commercially successful electric guitar.

In 1952, Gibson launched a solid-bodied guitar designed in collaboration with the popular guitarist Les Paul. The late 1950s saw a number of innovative new designs including the eccentrically-shaped Gibson Explorer and Flying V and the semi-acoustic ES-335, and the introduction of the "humbucker" pickup. The Les Paul was offered in several models, including the Custom, the Standard, the Special and the Junior. In 1961, the body design of the Les Paul was changed, due to the high cost of making the elaborate maple/mahogany body. Les Paul did not care for the new body style and let his endorsement lapse, and the new body design then became known as the Gibson SG. The Les Paul returned to the Gibson catalogue in 1968 due to the influence of players such as Eric Clapton and Peter Green. Both the Les Paul and the SG later became very popular with hard rock and heavy metal guitarists; Jimmy Page of Led Zeppelin is known for his preference for a Les Paul Standard, and Angus Young of AC/DC is one of the more well-known SG players.

Between 1974 and 1984, production of Gibson guitars was shifted from Kalamazoo to Nashville, Tennessee. Further production plants were also opened in Memphis, Tennessee as well as Bozeman, Montana. The Memphis facility is used for semi-hollow and custom shop instruments, while the Bozeman facility is dedicated to acoustic instruments.

Gibson is well-known for making top quality guitars, but at a quite hefty price. Therefore, their subsidiary company, Epiphone, manufactures less expensive variations of their best-selling guitars, usually made overseas in Japan, South Korea or China. Other instrument manufacturers which are owned by Gibson include Kramer and Steinberger guitars, as well as Tobias which specializes in bass guitars, Baldwin which makes pianos, Oberheim which makes effects processors and MIDI gear, and Slingerland drums. The Gibson company also makes Gibson-branded amplifiers. The Maestro brand was used in the '60s and '70 for Gibson-produced stompboxes, the most famous of which was the Maestro Fuzz-Tone, an early distortion pedal (immortalized by The Rolling Stones on their 1965 hit "(I Can't Get No) Satisfaction"). Another related company is the Heritage Guitars company -- an independent guitar company founded by former Gibson employees during Gibson's move to Nashville.

Many of Gibson's bluegrass instruments (such as the banjo and violin) are assembled at the "Gibson Bluegrass Showcase" at Opry Mills Mall in Nashville. The mini-factory is open to the public and also houses a store selling the full line of Gibson products and a small concert venue which doubles as a restaurant.


Gibson guitars

See also

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