The Gibson guitar company was founded in 1902. At first selling only mandolins and later branching out into making and selling banjos and guitars.
The company is renowned for making high quality instruments, which are affordable as well as durable. They are also well known for being innovators. Over the years, they have consistently come up with new designs that have made major contributions to the way many genres of music sound. However, by far their most important innovation, at least from the point of view of modern music was their electric guitars.
The First Electric Gibson Guitar
The Electric Spanish was the first electric Gibson guitar. It became available in 1936, but it had been in development for close on six years.
Gibson were not the first to go to market with an electric guitar, but they were the first to make a model that could truly be called commercially viable. The Electric Spanish sold in their hundreds. This encouraged the company to experiment further with electric instruments. They eventually ended up electrifying mandolins and banjos as well. However, electric guitars became their raison d’etre. Another popular early model was their electrified steel guitar.
Sadly, World War II stopped Gibson guitars in their tracks, as it did many other innovative companies. The raw materials were simply not there and their skills and machinery were needed to make parts for the war effort. It was not until several years after the war that they got started again making guitars.
The Gibson Guitar Corporation after World War II
The Gibson Guitar Corporation had been purchased in 1944 by Chicago Musical Instruments. Whilst they took over marketing and sales, they continued to let the Gibson factory in Kalamazoo operate independently.
In 1949, Gibson’s produced the, now famous, ES-175. It is still in production and, even today, is a very popular guitar. Over the years, the design has changed a bit, but it is still basically the same design produced in 1949.
The ability to produce timeless instruments is one of the strengths of the Gibson Guitar company and is one of the main reasons they are still in business today, whilst others have gone to the wall.
If you want to buy a Gibson guitar visit the Music Junkie store or Website. Music Junkie are official distributors of Gibson guitars and sell the entire range.