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While
working in his tiny Kalamazoo, Michigan shop on a hot summer
afternoon in 1894, Orville Gibson could not have known the
affect his instruments would have on the music world. Starting
with strong convictions about instrument design and quality,
Orville created a whole new family of guitars and mandolins
and later inspired generations of craftsmen to produce some
of the finest instruments the world has ever heard or seen.
Born in Chateagay, New York in 1856, Orville had relocated
to Kalamazoo by 1881 and worked as a shoe clerk. But his
great love for woodworking and a passion for music started
him thinking long and hard about guitar and mandolin design.
His research convinced him that the best vibrating characteristics
were found in solid, unbent, unstressed, carved wood. Applying
violin construction ideas, and inventing some new ones,
his new mandolins and guitars had carved tops and backs
instead of flat ones. They became an instant success when
introduced 1894.
When orders began coming in faster than they could be filled,
Orville was finally persuaded to set up a company to manufacture
instruments with his designs. The "Gibson Mandolin - Guitar
Co., Ltd" was incorporated on October 11, 1902 with Orville
Gibson as a consultant, not as a manager, since he had no
interest in running the day to day operations.
The next 15 years were the heyday of the mandolin orchestra
and Gibsons were quickly established as the best instruments.
Innovations like raised pickguards, intonation - compensating
bridges, slimmer necks, and more modern carving techniques
developed rapidly and sales increased. The company relocated
four times, finally opening the famous factory at 225 Parsons
Street in 1917. Because Kalamazoo was located in the "furniture
belt" of Western Michigan, the company had access to the
best woodworking machinary available as well as a pool of
exceptionally talented woodworkers. They made full use of
both.
Orville Gibson, as well as the craftsmen and engineers who
followed him, believed that handwork and manufacturing could
produce large numbers of high-quality instruments. Two basic
policies were established at Gibson which continue to this
day. Buy or invent machines for dangerous or repetitive
operations requiring great accuracy. Employ a highly skilled
worker when the human touch or the musicians ear is needed.
A virtuoso classical mandolinist and acoustical engineer,
Lloyd Loar joined Gibson in 1919, a year after Orville's
death. Loar's refinements of Orville's orginal carving concepts
brought anout the Master Model F-5 mandolin and L-5 guitar,
with tuned tops and backs and the first "f" holes ever found
on fretted instruments. The F-5 was quickly judged the finest
mandolin ever built, while the L-5, in the hands of players
like Eddie Lang, became the first guitar to take a serious
role in the orchestra. It quickly replaced the tenor banjo
as a rhythm instrument and became the basis for Gibson's
dominance in the new field of arch top guitars.
The 1920's saw another period of incredible innovations
including bridges with height adjustment, elevated fingerboards,
and Thaddeus McHugh's adjustable truss rod, patented in
1921. Simple and direct in operation, the truss rod balanced
the tension of the strings on the neck and kept the neck
in perfect alignment. The 1920's also saw Gibson develop
banjo concepts like the modern tone ring and resonator which
revolutionized the tenor banjo of its day and laid the foundation
for Earl Scruggs and Bluegrass music 20 years later.
By 1924, Loar had a prototype of an electric bass with a
strong design emphasis on the pickup, strings, and little
else. Anticipating a sound and market by almost 30 years,
Loar's radical design was not accepted by Gibson management
or the public and he resigned in 1924. It was the first
example of Gibson engineers being far ahead of thier time.
It wouldn't be the last. During the Depression, Gibson entered
the toy market and expanded its stringed instrument production
to include instructions of the violin family, an ironic
return to the designs which had inspired Orville in the
first place. Innovation continued in all areas, and the
company even introduced an inexpensive "Kalamazoo" line
of acoustic guitars.
In 1934, the L-5 was expanded to a larger size to compete
with brass-heavy orchestras, and an entirely new design,
the Super 400, was introduced for the staggering sum of
$400. The extra-large jazz guitar had the power to cut through
any horn section, and is considered by many to be the high
point of arch-top design. Almost immediately, however, Gibson
engineers found another way to cut through the horn section.
This time, the market was ready.
The 1937 Gibson catalogue featured a new electric guitar,
the ES-150. This "Electric Spanish" guitar blended the new
technology of magnetic pickups with arch-top design in an
instrument designed to be amplified. When a young man from
Oklahoma named Charlie Christian plugged in with Benny Goodman,
he turned the guitar into a lead instrument. Music would
never be the same and Christian's forceful lead guitar lines
invented a whole new musical style that's been copied for
over 50 years.
During World War Two, Gibson's instrument production was
suspended as materials became impossible to obtain. In 1944,
the company was brought by Chicago Musical Instruments (CMI)
a noted music wholesale company. With the end of the war,
production resumed in 1946 and an enormous pent-up demand
for musical instruments created another boom era for Gibson.
In 1948, industry veteran Ted McCarty was hired.
McCarty's tenure as President of Gibson lasted from 1950-1966
and in those 16 years the labor force increased 10 times,
profits increased 15 times, and sales went up 1250%. Additionally,
McCarty and his gifted team developed such classic instruments
as the Les Paul, Byrdland, ES-335, Flying V, Explorer, SG
and Firebird electrics, the Hummingbird and Dove acoustics,
as well as the Tune-o-matic, stop bar tailpiece, and the
humbucking pickup.
Les Paul had been developing the concept of the solid body
guitar since the 1930's. In 1941, he split an arch-top Epiphone
in half lengthwise and bolted both sides to a 4" x 4" solid
block. This two pickup monster (Les called it "The Log")
was not a pretty sight, but it established Les' idea that
solid body instruments had a unique sound and musical future.
Les had presented his ideas to Gibson in 1945 or 1946, but
demand for traditional Gibsons that the company didn't see
the need. According to Les, "They poliely ushered me out
the door. They called it the broom-stick with a pickup on
it." However, several years later, Gibson executives recognized
the significance and future of Les Paul's solid body design.
Ted McCarty found Les and Gibson's Les Paul guitar made
its debut in 1952. For the first time, two woods - maple
for the top and mahogany for the back - were combined on
a solid instrument for a musical purpose, balancing the
bright attack of maple with the warmth and richness of mahogany.
The tune-o-matic bridge appeared on the Les Paul in 1954,
and the humbuckers followed in 1957. When the LP was offered
with a cherry sunburst top in 1958, one of the greatest
electric guitar designs ever was firmly established.
In 1957, CMI bought Epiphone, had all the remaining tooling
shipped to Kalamazoo and begin manufacturing Epiphones in
1959. At first, the remaining original parts were used.
Later, Epiphones used standard Gibson parts and hardware
even though many traditional Epiphone names - Emperor, Sheraton,
Coronet - remained.
The 1960's was a period of incredible growth for the music
business in general and Gibson in particular. The explosion
of rock and roll, jazz and folk music produced unprecedented
demand for guitars of all types. Back-orders were as long
as two years on many models. Major makers - including Gibson
- began to experiment with new materials, designs and production
changes in an effort to speed production and improve profits.
CMI was acquired by Norlin Industries in 1969, and in 1975,
Gibson opened a new factory in Nashville, Tennesse.
The recessions of 1980-81 took their toll on many American
companies. At Gibson, the engineers had noticed the upsurge
in vintage instrument sales and began to revise instruments
like the Les Paul and ES-335 to their orginal specifications.
In addition, completely new designs like the Chet Atkins
CE solid-body classic guitar were developed.
With the music market still weak, Norlin decided that it
had no future in the music business. They decided to sell
out, and on January 15, 1986, Gibson was brought by a team
headed by Henry Juszkiewicz and David Berryman.
With a renewed committment to the best specifications of
vintage instruments and a vigorous program to make each
new Gibson the best it could be, changes began immediately.
The market was ready to believe in Gibson and the new team
was happy to provide Gibsons worth believing in.
A new R&D team, dedicated to both Gibson history and innovation,
expanded traditional product lines and invented new ones.
The Chet Atkins family was expanded with creative use of
wood technology yielding the SST and SST-12 string which
offer acoustic tonality at stadium tonality at stadium volume
levels. Guitars like the Les Paul Classic captured traditional
technology, while instruments like the M-3 set new standards
in functional shapes and creative use of electronics.
Acoustic instruments and banjos were also evaluated, historic
models revived, and new designs created. In 1990, Gibson
opened a state of the art facility for acoustic production
in Bozeman, Montana where the dry climate made building
conditions ideal.
Gibson celebrated 100 years of inspired musical instrument
design and production in 1994. Then and now, Gibson products
offer an unbeatable combination or performance and value
for any musical purpose. Continuing in the tradition of
providing "American Guitars - Built by American Musicians"
each Gibson is an investment in your musical future, and
an example of one of the greatest traditions in music history.
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