Gibson Brands

Gibson became the world's best known and most respected maker of fretted instruments. To this day, Gibsons are still know as one of the best guitars available. The traditional motto "Quality, Prestige & Innovation" now applies to a large family of companies that make and sell the world's finest guitars, basses, banjos, mandolins, drums, keyboards, amplifiers, strings and accessories. Gibson Guitar Corp., one of the world's foremost manufacturers of fretted instruments, has enjoyed the respect of musicians for most of its century-long history. Its instruments have been used by some of the best guitarists known, including Chet Atkins, the Everly Brothers, Chuck Berry, Eric Clapton, Jimmy Page, B. B. King, Frank Zappa, and Joe Walsh. The company fell from its status as a premier guitar maker to near bankruptcy in the 1980s but was brought back to solvency and its former respect by new owners, Henry Juszkiewicz and David Berryman. Although best known for its acoustic and electric guitars, by the mid-1990s the company also produced bass guitars, mandolins, synthesizers, drums, amplifiers, and various accessories for its instruments. Orville Gibson, the company's namesake, was making his living as a salesman and clerk when he bought a small workshop in Kalamazoo, Michigan, in the 1880s to begin building mandolins. At the time, most mandolins were made by bending and forming the wood into shape. However, Gibson believed that this technique stressed the wood and resulted in inferior vibrating characteristics. He therefore developed a new technique based on violin construction that involved carving the front, back, and sides of the mandolin rather than bending the wood into shape. Gibson created the first archtop acoustics using this technique, although he only received one patent for his designs, for a mandolin in 1898. Gibson began applying his techniques to the construction of guitars, banjos, and lutes as well. Gibson soon earned a reputation as a maker of high-quality, custom stringed instruments. By 1896 Gibson was making instruments full time. Early in the new century, demand for Gibson's instruments outpaced his ability to meet it. In response, Gibson entered into an agreement with five Kalamazoo financiers to form the Gibson Mandolin-Guitar Manufacturing Company in 1902. According to the contract, O. H. Gibson was not a major stockholder; instead, he was given a few shares of stock and a lump sum of $2,500 for his patent and the right to use his name. Gibson sold his stock in July 1903 but remained at the company until 1904, consulting and training employees on his construction techniques. Thereafter, he received a monthly pension until he died in 1918. From its inception, the company focused on innovation and the production of high-quality instruments, goals it became known for over the next half-century. In the company's first few years, production manager Sylvo Reams improved upon Gibson's already popular instruments, refining his construction techniques and using higher-quality materials and finishes. The product line began with six guitar models (three archtops with oval soundholes and three with round soundholes) and four harp guitars. Within the company's first decade, it had been granted patents for the elevated pickguard, the intonation-adjustable bridge, and the harp guitar and had introduced one of the first production guitars with a cutaway. Guitars slowly increased in popularity in the 1920s, and Gibson responded by introducing several new models. Its first modern guitar, part of the company's Style 5 series in the Master Line Master Tone line, was introduced in 1922. One of the best known of Gibson's early acoustic guitars, the L-5 used Loar's innovations to build a specific pitch into the sound box, a radical concept at the time. Another unusual design, the flat-top guitar, had been produced by the company as early as 1918; however, it did not begin serious production of a flat-top model until 1926. In addi