Gibson Brands, the world’s most iconic guitar brand, has shaped the sounds of generations of musicians and music lovers across genres for more than 100 years. Founded in 1894 and headquartered in Nashville, TN, Gibson Brands has a legacy of world-class craftsmanship, legendary music partnerships, and progressive product evolution that is unrivaled among musical instrument companies.
The company’s milestones:
1894 – Orville Gibson began to sell his instruments in 1894 out of a one-room workshop in Kalamazoo, Michigan.
1898 – Orville Gibson patented a single-piece mandolin design in 1898 that was more durable than other mandolins and could be manufactured in volume.
1902 – the Gibson Mandolin-Guitar Mfg. Co. Ltd. was incorporated to market the instruments. Initially, the company produced only Orville Gibson’s original designs.
1921 – Ted McHugh, a Gibson employee, created 2 of the greatest guitar innovations in history. These were the adjustable truss rod and the height-adjustable bridge.
1922 – One of Gibson’s sound engineers Lloyd Loar designed the F-5 Mandolin and the L-5 Acoustic guitar.
1935 – Gibson’s first electric guitars are introduced- a Hawaiian style EH-150 and the ES-150 the year later. The ES-150 became quickly known as the “Charlie Christian” model, due to the famous Charlie Christian using the guitar as his primary instrument.
1936 – Gibson introduced its first “Electric Spanish” model, the ES-150, followed by other electric instruments like steel guitars, banjos and mandolins.
1937 – Ray Whitley a film star ordered a super-large acoustic guitar from Gibson. From this the J-200 or Super Jumbo were created.
1944 – The Chicago Musical Instrument Company buys Gibson.
1952 – Les Paul ( a popular recording artist of the era) helped Gibson in the launch of the companies first solid body electric guitar. This was known as the “Les Paul Model”, which became one of the most successful “signature” guitar in history.
1954 – Ted McCarty invents the Tune-o-matic bridge, which featured individually adjustable saddles.
1958 – Gibson introduced the ES-335T model. Similar in size to the hollow-body Thinlines, the ES-335 family had a solid center, giving the string tone a longer sustain.
1994 – To mark their centennial Gibson debuts the Nighthawk, a new model which wins an award at NAMM for the Most Innovative Guitar.
In 2003:
Gibson’s digital guitar is named by Time Magazine as one of the “Coolest Inventions” of 2003.
Gibson opens up a plant in China which creates Epiphones.
The company also forms the Gibson Foundation, the official charitable arm of the company. A
Gibson releases is the worlds first guitar with robotic technology.
2006 – Gibson introduces the HD.6X Pro, the most advanced guitar-based digital controller ever produced at the time. Gibson awarded the Billboard Humanitarian Award.
2017 – Gibson Guitar changes the world of the electric guitar with its introduction of the world’s first guitar with robotic technology, the Gibson Robot Guitar.
July 2021 – Gibson announced the launch of Gibson Records, a record label focused on releasing “guitar-centric music, across genres”, with their first album being the upcoming fourth studio album from Slash feat. Myles Kennedy & The Conspirators, 4.
According to en.wikipedia.org; www.gibson.com. Source of photos: internet
