The founder of Gibson guitars, Orville Gibson was born 1856 in Chateaugay, New York.
His reputation grew from building mandolins to the legendary world famous company of today.
Gibson led the way in quality and innovations which makes vintage Gibsons so valuable today.
Gibson manufactured instruments to his own design until he hired Lloyd Loar in 1919 to bring in newer models.
The Gibson L5 guitar helped build their reputation for archtop guitars while the Gibson F5 mandolin, introduced in 1922, became the choice of bluegrass players.
The electric guitar came along during the 1930's.
The ES-150, the "Electric Spanish" model, was Gibson's first offering.
Wartime brought manufacturing to a standstill and it was not until 1949 that the ES-175 was introduced which is still in production today.
1951 saw the introduction of the L5CES which is both an acoustic and electric guitar.
Humbucking pickups are probably the most widely recognized innovation of Gibson's career.
Humbucker, so called because they "buck the hum" often experienced with single coil pickups, were first fitted to the reworked L5CES.
The "Les Paul" series of guitars followed during the 1950's.
The solid body design pioneered by Fender Telecaster, was made into several Les Paul models most notably perhaps the Les Paul Special.
The "Byrdland" Thinline series, built for Billy Byrd and Hank Garland, gave rise to the popular ES-350T and ES-225T models then the ES-335 series.
The futuristic Explorer and Flying V came along in 1958 but were a little before their time for many musicians.
It was not until the 1960's that the likes of Eric Clapton popularized them.
Meanwhile the double-cutaway body solid guitar, the Gibson's SG, was in demand.
Since then many greats of rock have enhanced the reputations of both the Les Paul and the SGs; Slash, Jimmy Page and Pete Townshend to name just three.
Many of these models are now sought after by discerning players and collectors alike and many increase in value year on year but if you hunt around you can still find some bargain Gibson guitars for sale.
His reputation grew from building mandolins to the legendary world famous company of today.
Gibson led the way in quality and innovations which makes vintage Gibsons so valuable today.
Gibson manufactured instruments to his own design until he hired Lloyd Loar in 1919 to bring in newer models.
The Gibson L5 guitar helped build their reputation for archtop guitars while the Gibson F5 mandolin, introduced in 1922, became the choice of bluegrass players.
The electric guitar came along during the 1930's.
The ES-150, the "Electric Spanish" model, was Gibson's first offering.
Wartime brought manufacturing to a standstill and it was not until 1949 that the ES-175 was introduced which is still in production today.
1951 saw the introduction of the L5CES which is both an acoustic and electric guitar.
Humbucking pickups are probably the most widely recognized innovation of Gibson's career.
Humbucker, so called because they "buck the hum" often experienced with single coil pickups, were first fitted to the reworked L5CES.
The "Les Paul" series of guitars followed during the 1950's.
The solid body design pioneered by Fender Telecaster, was made into several Les Paul models most notably perhaps the Les Paul Special.
The "Byrdland" Thinline series, built for Billy Byrd and Hank Garland, gave rise to the popular ES-350T and ES-225T models then the ES-335 series.
The futuristic Explorer and Flying V came along in 1958 but were a little before their time for many musicians.
It was not until the 1960's that the likes of Eric Clapton popularized them.
Meanwhile the double-cutaway body solid guitar, the Gibson's SG, was in demand.
Since then many greats of rock have enhanced the reputations of both the Les Paul and the SGs; Slash, Jimmy Page and Pete Townshend to name just three.
Many of these models are now sought after by discerning players and collectors alike and many increase in value year on year but if you hunt around you can still find some bargain Gibson guitars for sale.
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