The 'Gibson Guitar Corporation,' of Nashville, Tennessee, USA, is one of the world's best-known manufacturers of
acoustic and
electric guitars. The company's most popular guitar, the Les Paul Standard, a solid-body electric, sells for about $US2,300. Gibson also makes guitars under such brands as Epiphone, Kramer, Valley arts, Tobias, Steinberger, and Kalamazoo. In addition to guitars, the company makes pianos through its Baldwin unit, Slingerland drums, and Trace Elliot amplifiers, as well as many accessory items. Company namesake Orville Gibson began making mandolins in Kalamazoo, Michigan, in the late 1890s. Gibson used the same type of carved, arched tops in archtop acoustic guitars, and by the 1930s was also making flattop acoustic guitars and electric guitars.
Charlie Christian, the first well-known electric guitarist, helped to popularize Gibson's electric guitars with his use of the ES-150 and ES-200. After being bought by the Norlin corporation in the late 1960s Gibson's quality and fortunes took a steep decline; by 1985 it was within three weeks of going out of business before it was bought by its present owners.
[1] Gibson Guitar is a privately held corporation (its stock is not publicly traded on a stock exchange), owned by chief executive officer Henry Juszkiewicz and president David H. (Dave) Berryman. Its chief operating officer is Charles E. Cuneo.
History
Orville Gibson (born 1856,
Chateaugay, New York) started making
mandolins in 1894 in
Kalamazoo, Michigan USA. The mandolins were distinctive in that they featured a carved, arched solid wood top and back and bent wood sides. Prior to this mandolins had a flat solid wood top and a bowl-like back (similar to a
lute) made of multiple strips of wood. These bowl-back mandolins were very fragile and unstable. Disdainful of the shape, Orville Gibson characterized them as "potato bugs." Gibson's innovation made a better-sounding mandolin that was immensely easier to manufacture. Orville Gibson's mandolin design, with its single-pieced carved sides and a single-pieced neck, was patented in 1898; it would be the only innovation he patented.
[2]
In 1902, the Gibson Mandolin-Guitar Mfg. Co, Ltd. was founded to market the instruments.
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.
1996 Gibson Les Paul Studio Limited Edition Gem Series Topaz
As a result of the strong sales of the Fender Telecaster in 1950 Gibson decided to make a solid-body guitar. This was despite the fact that Gibson, like most other guitar manufacturers, were contemptuous of the concept of a solid-body guitar. Although guitarist Les Paul was one of the pioneers of solid-body electric guitar technology, the guitar that became known as the Les Paul was developed without any input from its namesake. After the guitar was designed, Les Paul was asked to sign a contract to endorse the guitar to be named after him. At that point he asked that the tailpiece be changed, which was his only contribution. (Ironically, this tailpiece was changed in 1954.)
[3] The Les Paul was released in 1952. 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 demand for a double-cutaway body design
[4]. 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 ,
Duane Allman of
The Allman Brothers Band,
Joe Perry of
Aerosmith,
Slash of
Velvet Revolver (formerly of
Guns N' Roses) and
Ace Frehley of
Kiss are known for their preference for a Les Paul Standard.
Pete Townshend of
The Who,
Angus Young of
AC/DC,
Frank Zappa of
Mothers Of Invention and
Tony Iommi of
Black Sabbath are some of the more well-known SG players.
Between 1974 and 1984, in a move that is still controversial to this day, production of Gibson guitars was shifted from
Kalamazoo to
Nashville, Tennessee in an effort to reduce the costs associated with high-wage, unionized workers in the Industrialized North. Norlin continued to struggle with cost and quality issues.
In early 1986 the Gibson Guitar Corp. was bought by Henry E. Juszkiewicz, David H. Berryman and Gary A. Zebrowski. The survival and success of Gibson today is largely attributed to this change in ownership. Currently, Juszkiewicz stands as CEO and Berryman as president of the company.
More recently new production plants have been opened in Southern and rural areas, such as
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.
The quality of current production instruments from these facilities has played a major role in the resurgence of the brand.
Authorized copies
Gibson is well-known for making top quality guitars, priced at the upper end of the market.
On May 10 1957 Gibson purchased the Epiphone guitar company, one of their competitors. The original plan was to continue selling Epiphone's successful upright bass; soon they realized they could satisfy requests from new stores to be dealers of this new brand. (Gibson Guitars 100 years of an American Icon, Walter Carter)
More recently, Epiphone has evolved into a brand for offshore manufacturing. By satisfying demand for copy instruments with official "Epiphone" instruments, Gibson can satsify the entry level buyer. By producing these instruments themselves they prevent the damage to the brand's quality reputation that is often inflicted by substandard, unauthorized copies.
The least expensive Gibson copies are offered through the Baldwin Piano company. These copies are marketed to students, and priced from $99 to $130.
Epiphone produces inexpensive versions of most of Gibson's famous solid-body electrics, including the Les Paul, SG, Firebird, and Gibson acoustic models.
Unauthorized copies
On multiple occasions, Gibson has sought legal action against other guitar manufacturers who implement similar body styles in their designs. The first such action was against
Ibanez, which had fabricated near-identical (in looks) copies of the
Les Paul. This 1977 lawsuit was not over Ibanez's copy of the
Les Paul's body shape, but instead for their use of Gibson's 'open book' headstock shape (even though Ibanez had redesigned their headstock to be a near-identical copy of a
Guild headstock in 1976). More recently, Gibson sued
PRS Guitars, forcing them to stop making their Singlecut model, which is much less similar to the
Les Paul in both appearance and playability than the earlier Ibanez models. The ruling was later overturned and PRS has resumed production of the Singlecut line. The latest wave of unauthorized copies have surfaced in China, sold mostly on
eBay. The guitars are fashioned poorly from cheap softwoods. The electronics are very crude and more than likely produce an earth hum when plugged in. These guitars can be identified quite easily upon close inspection.
Subsidiary companies
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A Gibson Invader. Invaders were only made for a few years in the mid 1980s.
Many other instrument manufacturers are owned by Gibson including
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
stomp boxes, 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". It is now a brand used by Gibson-Baldwin Musical Education, which sells various student guitars under different brand names. Another related company is the
Heritage Guitars company—an independent guitar company founded by former Gibson employees after Gibson's move to Nashville.
Most recently Gibson has purchased Canadian guitar manufacturer Garrison guitars, at this time it is unclear what Gibson's plans are for this brand.
Bluegrass
Gibson Showcase, Opry Mills Mall. Nashville, TN
Many of Gibson's bluegrass instruments (such as the
banjo,
mandolin and the
dobro) are assembled at the "Gibson 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 serial numbers
In the 1970s, Gibson standardized the serial number system that is still in use today. The typically eight-digit serial numbers on Gibson guitars are stamped on the backside of the headstock. The first and the fifth number combined show the year that the instrument was made. The second, third, and fourth numbers show on which day of that year the instrument was made. The sixth number represents the location where the instrument was made, and the last two digits show what place the instrument came off the assembly line on its production day.
[5]
For example, the serial number 90992487, shows that this guitar was made on the 99th day of 1992 in Nashville, TN, and that it was the 87th guitar they finished at that facility on that day. A '7' in the location spot means Memphis, while a '4' means Nashville. All electric and semi-electric guitars are built in Memphis and Nashville. Gibson also has an acoustic guitar facility in Bozeman, MT.
Instruments
Electric guitars
:''For an attempt at a complete list of Gibson electric guitars, see:
Gibson Guitar Corporation product list
Gibson is especially well known for their electric guitars, especially the
Gibson Les Paul.
Acoustic guitars
:''For an attempt at a complete list of Gibson acoustic guitars, see:
Gibson Guitar Corporation product list
Gibson's acoustic guitars are widely celebrated and used by many professional rock and country musicians.
Bass guitars
:''For an attempt at a complete list of Gibson bass guitars, see:
Gibson Guitar Corporation product list
Despite being such a revered six-string guitar manufacturer, Gibson has had much less success from their line of
bass guitars. However, there are a few notable models such the
Thunderbird (based on the
Firebird), the EB-3 (based on the
SG), the Ripper, and the Grabber, both first manufactured in the 1970s.
Bluegrass instruments
:''For an attempt at a complete list of Gibson bluegrass instruments, see:
Gibson Guitar Corporation product list
Artists who use Gibson instruments
Main articles: List of artists who use Gibsons
See also
★
Prewar Gibson banjo
★
Epiphone
★
Kramer Guitars
★
Heritage Guitars
External links
★
Official website, Gibson Guitar Company
★
Official web page, Gibson Acoustic Guitars
★
Gibson Bass Guitars - aficionado site
★
Official website, Gibson Custom Shop
★
Acoustic Magazine The UK's only dedicated Acoustic magazine
★
Gibson guitars and bass museum - Gibson instruments database, resources, user reviews, pictures
★
Gibson Serial Numbers
★
Gibson Acoustic Documentary Gibson Acoustic is the result of a partnership between motion picture photographer Erik L. Brown (The Horse Whisperer, O Brother, Where Art Thou?, Ali, The Black Dahlia ), Gibson Acoustic (Bozeman, Montana), No Island Media and special guest, Jackie Greene.
★
The Les Paul Forum Forum
★
Bass Guitar Magazine The UK's No.1 Bass magazine
References
1. Hembry, Gil;''Gibson Guitars: Ted McCarty's Golden Era 1948-1966; GH Books; Austin, TX; 2007. p 306.
2. Electric Guitars, An Illustrated Encyclopedia. London, Backbeat Books, 2000.
3. Hembry, Gil;''Gibson Guitars: Ted McCarty's Golden Era 1948-1966; GH Books; Austin, TX; 2007. p 74-85.
4. Hembry, Gil;''Gibson Guitars: Ted McCarty's Golden Era 1948-1966; GH Books; Austin, TX; 2007. p 110.
5. http://www.gibson.com/Service/Serial%20Numbers%20Search/
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