About Gibson
The home of Gibson electric guitars today is "Gibson USA," built in
1974 in Nashville specifically for the production of Gibson's Les Paul guitars.
Although the entire guitar industry went through a slump in the late '70s, the
spirit of innovation remained strong at Gibson. In response to a growing demand
for vintage stylings, Gibson tapped its rich history and reissued the dot-neck
version of the ES-335 in 1981 and the flametop sunburst Les Paul in 1982. At the
same time, two legendary guitarists joined Gibson- B.B. King in 1980 with the
Lucille model and Chet Atkins in 1982 with his new concept of a solidbody
acoustic guitar.
Gibson world headquarters moved to Nashville in 1984 with the closing of the
Kalamazoo plant. The financially troubled company was rescued in January 1986 by
Henry Juszkiewicz and David Berryman, and the new owners quickly restored
Gibson's reputation for quality as well as its profitability.
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Online Gibson Products
History of
Gibson
Gibson Electrics
By the time Gibson began work on its first electric guitar, the company had a
40-year tradition of quality and innovation to uphold. The first Gibson electric
had to be nothing less than the best electric guitar the world had ever seen.
In the spring of 1935, Gibson enlisted musician Alvino Rey to help develop a
prototype pickup with engineers at the Lyon & Healy company in Chicago. Later
that year, research was moved in-house, where Gibson employee Walter Fuller came
up with the final design. Gibson introduced the distinctive hexagonal pickup on
a lap steel model in late 1935. The pickup was installed on an F-hole archtop
guitar, dubbed the ES-150 (ES for Electric Spanish), and the first one shipped
from the Gibson factory in Kalamazoo, Michigan, on May 20, 1936.
Was the ES-150 the best electric guitar that guitarists in 1936 had ever seen?
Jazz musician Charlie Christian, who would establish the electric guitar as an
instrument with its own unique voice, thought so. Sixty years later, the Gibson
ES-150 is still known as the Charlie Christian model, and some jazz players
consider the ES-150's "Charlie Christian" pickup to be the best jazz pickup ever
made.
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Gibson Innovation
In the years after World War II, the electric guitar came of age and Gibson
entered a golden of age of innovation. The P-90 pickup, introduced in 1946, gave
guitarists new power and versatility. Under the aggressive leadership of company
president Ted McCarty, Gibson debuted two new concepts in 1949 with the ES-5,
the first three-pickup guitar, and the ES-175, the first guitar with a sharply
pointed cutaway bout.
The advent of the solidbody electric guitar posed a new challenge for Gibson.
Like the ES-150 in 1936, Gibson's first solidbody electric had to uphold Gibson
tradition while going a step beyond all other guitars of its kind. A carved
contoured top harkened back to the very first Orville Gibson instruments of the
late 1800s, and a gold finish signified a value above all others. With the
endorsement of the most popular guitarist of the time, Gibson introduced the Les
Paul Model in 1952. The Les Paul quickly grew into a family of four models-the
Junior, Special, Standard and Custom-all of which would become Gibson classics.
Gibson's top models sported McCarty's new tune-o-matic bridge, which was
introduced on the Les Paul Custom in 1954 and is still the standard Gibson
electric guitar bridge. In 1958 McCarty debuted not one, but two radical new
ideas-a semi-hollowbody electric and a group of exotic, futuristic solidbodies.
The ES-335 was an instant success, combining traditional archtop styling with
modern, solidbody construction. The Flying V, Explorer and Moderne proved to be
decades ahead of their time.
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Electric Gibson guitars
Blueshawk
The Gibson Blueshawk is a relatively recently designed (1996-2006)
Gibson model designed mainly for blues players (hence the name). It
superficially resembles the Les Paul in that the body outline is similar. The
Blueshawk was discontinued by Gibson in Spring 2006. The Little Lucille is a
variant on the Blueshawk that features a stop tailpiece and tune-o-matic bridge
- the Little Lucille was endorsed by BB King.
Byrdland
The Byrdland, named after its designers Billy Byrd and Hank Garland,
is one of the most distinctive acoustic-electric guitars in Gibson history
featuring the same hand-carved spruce top and solid maple rims and back as the
elegant L-5. The Byrdland's overall depth of 2 1/4-in is thinner than the more
traditional 3 3/8" of the L-5. In addition, its famous short scale neck (only 23
1/2") facilitates intricate single-note patterns and allows guitarists to employ
unusual stretched chord voicings. For this reason, the Byrdland has been a
favorite of master players as different as country-picker Roy Clark, hard rocker
Ted Nugent and free jazz innovator James "Blood" Ulmer.
Chet
Atkins SST
The Gibson Chet Atkins SST was a revolutionary design that combined the best of
Gibson's acoustic and electric guitar technology. The SST was a solid body
acoustic-electric designed by the late legendary country artist Chet Atkins. The
steel-string model was introduced in 1987 and was recently discontinued for
2006.
ES-355
The Gibson ES-355TD-SV was Gibson's top of the range thin line (TD)
semi-acoustic guitars, fitted with stereo wiring and varitone (SV). It was
manufactured from 1958 until 1982, and was widely used by blues musician BB
King, who featured in Gibson publicity from the 1960s onwards.
Les
Paul
The Gibson Les Paul signature model is among the most recognized solid-body
electric guitar designs. It was developed in the early 1950s and has become one
of the most enduring and popular musical instrument models in the world. Its
design has been left virtually untouched for nearly 50 years.
Gibson Acoustic Guitars
Gibson
Hummingbird
The Gibson Hummingbird is an acoustic guitar model produced by the Gibson Guitar
Corporation.
Unlike the other flat-top Gibson acoustics, the Hummingbird was Gibson's first
square-shoulder dreadnought, similar to the dreadnoughts produced by C.F. Martin
& Company.
J-45
The Gibson J-45 is an acoustic guitar model manufactured by the Gibson Guitar
Corporation. It is part of Gibson's round-shoulder, dreadnought acoustic "jumbo"
line, begun in 1934 with the Gibson Jumbo Flattop to compete with C.F. Martin &
Company's "D" line.
Gibson Bass Guitars
EB-0
The Gibson EB-0 is a bass guitar by Gibson that was introduced in 1959. It was
a short-scale 30-1/2" scale model instead of the regular 34 inches. It was a
solid body bass, and was the first Les Paul Junior styling, but later became SG
like. It had a mahogany body and neck, a banjo type tuner, and a large black
pickguard made of non-laminated plastic covering the lower half of the body. It
came only in cherry red.
EB-3
The Gibson EB-3 is an electric bass guitar model, produced by the Gibson
Guitar Corporation.
Introduced in 1961, the EB-3 was one of the bass guitar equivalents of the
popular Gibson SG. It featured a slim SG-style body, a 30.5" scale, and two
pickups (one large humbucking pickup in the neck position and one mini-humbucker
pickup in the bridge position). The electronics consisted of a 4-way switch and
associated volume and tone knobs for each pickup. The standard finish was cherry
red (like the SG guitar models), though EB-3s were also produced in other
finishes such as Polaris White, Pelham Blue, and black.
Grabber
The Gibson Grabber was a bass guitar introduced in 1973 along with the Gibson
Ripper. The Grabber featured a bolt-on 34 1/2" neck like the Fender basses and
shared a similar body with the Ripper. The Grabber also had a V-shaped headstock
like the Gibson Flying V guitar. What made the Grabber unique from other basses
was its sliding pickup.
Ripper
The Gibson Ripper is a model of electric bass guitar made by Gibson Guitar
Corporation.
The Ripper was manufactured from 1973 until 1980; the peak year being 1976. Most
had a maple body with laminated maple neck, however a significant number
manufactured in 75-76 had lighter alder bodies while retaining the maple necks.
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Gibson Les Paul Standard 60s Neck Electric Guitar
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Burnin' BurstBucker Alnico V pickups, a sleek neck, and
classic headstock.
The feel and sound of the original '60s LP comes from the Gibson Les Paul
Standard '60s Neck Electric Guitar. This guitar design has a smaller peghead,
push-in-bushing, green tuning keys, and nickel hardware. BurstBucker Pro Type 1
and Type 2 pickups deliver a tighter, balanced, biting tone with more midrange.
Mahogany body and neck with maple top and rosewood fretboard.
Gibson Les Paul Standard 60s. Neck Electric Guitar Features:
Mahogany body and slim '60s neck
Maple top
Rosewood fretboard
BurstBucker Pro Type 1 and Type 2 pickups
Green keystone tuners
Top and fretboard binding
Gibson Les Paul Standard 60s Neck Electric Guitar Includes:
hardshell case
The first time you laid hands on your big brother's LP, something changed in
you. Get that feeling back, order today.
Gibson Explorer Electric Guitar
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Gibson Explorer Electric Guitar.
The body of the Gibson Explorer Electric Guitar is solid mahogany for a fat and
punchy sound, while the dual blazing-hot ceramic magnet humbuckers (496-R and
500-T) sizzle and snarl with aggressive authority. The Explorer's radical design
not only looks sharp, but it also offers excellent playing balance. Other
features include a 22-fret rosewood fingerboard with dot inlay, tune-o-matic
bridge with stopbar tailpiece, and Grover machine heads. Made in the USA.
Includes Gibson hardshell case.
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