While working in his tiny Kalamazoo, Michigan, USA, 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, USA 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 in 1894.

Expansion

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 inaugurated on 11 October, 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 Gibson's were quickly established as the best instruments. Innovations like raised pick guards, 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 machinery 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. These were to buy or invent machines for dangerous or repetitive operations requiring great accuracy and to employ a highly skilled worker when the human touch or the musician's ear is needed.

This unique combination of man and machine is one of the main reasons Gibson has endured so long and well: a Gibson is built with a careful combination of high precision tools and crafts people who love their work. They're built by musicians, for musicians.

After Orville

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 original carving concepts brought about 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 1920s 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 1920s 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 pick-up, 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 their time. It wouldn't be the last. During the Depression¹, 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.

Electric Guitar

The 1937 Gibson catalogue featured a new electric guitar, the ES-150. This 'Electric Spanish' guitar blended the new technology of magnetic pick-ups 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 labour force increased ten 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 pick-up.

Les Paul had been developing the concept of the solid body guitar since the 1930s. 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's idea that solid body instruments had a unique sound and musical future.

Les had presented his ideas to Gibson in 1945 or 1946, but such was demand for traditional Gibsons that the company didn't see the need. According to Les, 'They politely 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.

The 1950s and Beyond

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 - like Emperor, Sheraton and Coronet - remained.

The 1960s 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 - 1981 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 original 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 15 January, 1986, Gibson was brought by a team headed by Henry Juszkiewicz and David Berryman.

With a renewed commitment 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.

Research and Development

A new Research and Development 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 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.