American firm of fretted string instrument makers. It was founded by Orville H. Gibson (b Chateaugay, NY, 1856; d Ogdensburg, NY, 21 Aug 1918) in Kalamazoo, Michigan. He began making instruments in the 1880s, and the Gibson name was established as a marque in 1894; mandolins dominated Gibson’s output until the mid-1920s. In the 1880s he began to apply violin construction techniques to the production of flat-back mandolins, and Gibson’s scroll-body F-model and pear-shaped A-model mandolins dominated their market until the 1920s. Before the turn of the century Gibson was making arch-top guitars with oval soundholes, based on the construction techniques he had been using for mandolins.
In 1902 a group of businessmen joined Gibson to form the Gibson Mandolin-Guitar Manufacturing Co., Ltd, later renamed the Gibson Mandolin-Guitar Mfg. Co. (1904), then the Gibson Mandolin-Guitar Co. (1906). O.H. Gibson left in 1903; he received a regular royalty from the company until 1908 and then a monthly income until his death. In 1917 the company moved to new premises on Parsons Street, Kalamazoo, which it occupied until 1984.
In the 1920s banjos became Gibson’s most important product; they were later superseded by guitars. In 1923 Gibson introduced the L-5, the first f-hole guitar, designed by Lloyd Loar, which was one of the earliest models to have a neck strengthened with a truss rod – another Gibson innovation. The years following World War I also saw the unveiling of a harp-guitar (based on an invention by O.H. Gibson patented in 1908), several types of banjos including those in the Mastertone series (1918–25; for illustration see Banjo, fig.1a), and the F-5 (an f-hole mandolin, 1922). In an attempt to compete with Martin Dreadnought guitars, Gibson entered the market for flat-top instruments in 1934 with the Jumbo model; the Super Jumbo (subsequently J-200) model appeared four years later. At the same time Gibson introduced its first electric guitars, the Electric Hawaiian steel guitar (1935) and the Spanish hollow-bodied ES-150 (1936).
The company became Gibson, Inc., in 1924 and in 1944 was taken over by the Chicago Musical Instrument Co., which in 1969 was bought by Norlin Industries. In 1952 Gibson introduced the solid-body Les Paul electric guitar (for illustration see ..\Frames/F001851.htmlElectric guitar, fig.1), and the factory changed progressively to electric guitar production. Throughout the following decades Gibson introduced several more solid-bodied electric guitars, including the Flying V (1958), Explorer (1958), and Firebird (1963) models, all of which had unorthodox body shapes, as well as the semi-hollow ES-335 (1958).
In 1957 Gibson acquired the Epiphone marque and in the 1970s moved production of Epiphone guitars to Japan. A plant was opened in Elgin, Illinois, in 1973 to produce pickups and strings (the firm had sold its own brand of strings from 1907), and in June 1975 a large factory for the production of guitars was opened in Nashville, principally because the overcrowded Kalamazoo site was unable to meet the demand for electric guitars. In the early 1980s it reduced its staff and in 1984 all manufacturing was moved to Nashville. In 1986 the firm was sold to Henry Juskiewicz, David Berryman and Gary Zebrowski.
Gibson’s instruments have traditionally been among the most elegant and costly in their class, and the best examples are highly sought after by musicians and collectors; the firm set standards for appearance and sonic quality that influenced many instrument makers throughout the world.
J. Bellson: The Gibson Story (Kalamazoo, MI, 1973)
T. Wheeler: American Guitars: an Illustrated History (New York, 1982, 3/1992)
T. Bacon and P. Day: The Gibson Les Paul Book (London, 1993)
W. Carter: Gibson Guitars: 100 Years of an American Icon (Los Angeles, 1994)
A. Duchossoir: Gibson Electrics: the Classic Years (Milwaukee, 1994)
S. Chinery and T. Bacon: The Chinery Collection: 150 Years of American Guitars (London, 1996)
TONY BACON/R