Gibson Guitar

A Brief History of Gibson Guitars

The Gibson Guitar Corporation had its beginnings in 1894 when Orville Gibson started making mandolins. It was here that Gibson established himself as an innovative instrument builder because he started making mandolins differently than how they were made. The end result of his modifications was that the mandolin sounded better and had more depth. Sadly, Gibson passed away in 1918 so he was unable to witness the widespread success of the Gibson guitars.

Just as Orville Gibson established himself as an innovative designer, that tradition continued after his death. In the 1920's and 1930's the Gibson Guitar Corporation, then called the Gibson Mandolin-Guitar Manufacturing Company, made some changes to the standard guitar designs of the time. In 1936 they launched their electric Spanish style guitar, called the ES-150. This was a very successful model and is considered one of the first widely accepted electric guitars. Gibson Less Paul

The legendary Les Paul guitar had its beginnings in 1952 when Gibson collaborated with the guitarist himself to create a guitar that would suit his style and music. The Gibson Explorer and the Flying-V, two more legendary models, had their beginnings in the 50's.

In 1986 the company changed owners. The Gibson Guitar Corporation was experiencing some financial difficulties and the change, fronted by Henry E. Juszkiewicz, David H. Berryman and Gary A. Zebrowski, is said to be the reason why the Gibson is still around today, and is still successful. They were responsible for keeping the company afloat and making it successful again.

Gibson currently has over 40 electric guitars that are currently available. Some of these, like the Les Paul, the Flying-V, and the Explorer have been around since the 50's. Other models include the Gibson Nighthawk, the Gibson Moderne, the Gibson Blueshawk, and the Gibson Firebird.

Gibson Guitar also boasts a long list of artists who swear by their guitars. This includes Andy Taylor of Duran Duran, Ashlee Simpson, Andre Coutu who plays for Celine Dion, Alex Lifeson of Rush, and Andrew Goodsight of Black 47.

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Gibson Les Paul

Gibson Les Paul Standard Premium Plus Electric Guitar Heritage Cherry Sunburst Nickel Hardware

The Gibson Les Paul Standard Premium Plus Electric Guitar takes the Les Paul Standard to a new level of refinement. It features a carved AAA maple top that seductively shimmers with a new burst finish, allowing the flames to run all the way to the edges. In addition, this Les Paul guitar features the new high-performance Burstbucker Pro with Alnico V pickups, a lustrous nitrocellulose lacquer finish, and smaller, vintage-style headstock with keystone tuners.

Gibson Acoustics

Gibson Acoustic Songwriter Deluxe Cutaway Acoustic-Electric Guitar Antique Natural Gold Hardware

With its big square-shouldered body, the Gibson Songwriter Deluxe Cutaway Acoustic-Electric Guitar offers you a superior performance model. With rosewood back and sides and a Fishman active pickup with Proslider preamp. Gibson's luthiers have imbued the instrument with a full complement of appearance details such as mother-of-pearl inlays on the rosewood fingerboard, sculpted pickguard, and an abalone rosette.

Gibson SG

Gibson SG Classic Electric Guitar with P-90 Pickups Heritage Cherry

Inspired by the 1960s SG Special, the Gibson SG Classic Electric Guitar with P-90 Pickups re-creates the look and sound of the most influential guitar in both Britain and the U.S. during the psychedelic era. It has the original all-mahogany body, dual P-90 pickups, and a bound rosewood fingerboard with dot inlays.A Little SG History In 1961, the Les Paul was redesigned with a thinner body and 2 sharp cutaway horns that making the upper frets more accessible while lowering production costs. The new guitar was popular, but Les Paul the guitarist did not like it and asked to have his name removed. Gibson renamed the model the "SG" which was short for "solid guitar". Though Les Paul's name was officially removed from the model in 1961, the plastic Les Paul nameplates (positioned between the rhythm pickup and fingerboard) were in abundance in the Gibson factory and SG models having these nameplates were built and sold by Gibson up to end of 1963. SGs have been the choice of world-class artists such as Pete Townsend, Eric Clapton, Tony Iommi, and Angus Young.