Gibson Guitars
The Gibson Guitar Corporation, of Nashville, Tennessee, is a manufacturer of electric and acoustic guitars. Gibson also owns and
makes guitars under such brands as Epiphone, Kramer, Valley Arts, Tobias, Steinberger, and Kalamazoo. In addition to guitars, the
company makes pianos through its Baldwin unit, Slingerland drums, as well as many accessory items. Company founder Orville Gibson
made mandolins in Kalamazoo, Michigan, in the late 1890's. He invented archtop guitars by using the same type of carved, arched tops
found on violins. By the 1930's, the company was also making flattop acoustic guitars, as well as the first commercially available
hollow-body electric guitars, which were used and popularized by Charlie Christian. In the early 1950s, Gibson introduced its first
solid-body electric guitar and its most popular guitar to date—the Les Paul. After being bought by the Norlin corporation in the late
1960's Gibson's quality and fortunes took a steep decline until early 1986, when the company was rescued by its present owners.
During 1950–1966, Gibson greatly expanded and diversified its line of instruments. The first notable addition was the Les Paul guitar.
McCarty was well aware of the strong sales of the Fender Telecaster. In 1950, Gibson decided to make a solid-body guitar of its own
according to its own design philosophy . This, despite the fact many other guitar manufacturers were contemptuous of the concept of
a solid-body guitar. Designed by the guitarist Les Paul, the first solid body guitar, called the Les Paul, was released in 1952.
The Les Paul was offered in several models, including the Custom, the Standard, the Special and the Junior.
In 1958, Gibson produced two new designs - the eccentrically-shaped Explorer and Flying V. Surprisingly, these modern-looking guitars
did not sell initially. It was only in the late 60's and early 70's when the two guitars were reintroduced to the market that they
sold very well. The Firebird, in the early 60's, was a reprise of the modernistic idea, though less extreme.
In 1961 the body design of the Les Paul was changed, due to the demand for a double-cutaway body design. Les Paul did not care for
the new body style and let his endorsement lapse, and the new body design then became known as the SG (for 'solid guitar').
The Les Paul returned to the Gibson catalogue in 1968 due to the influence of players such as Keith Richards, Eric Clapton, and
Peter Green. Both the Les Paul and the SG later became very popular with hard rock and heavy metal guitarists; Jimmy Page of
Led Zeppelin, the twin-lead line-up of Scott Gorham and Brian Robertson of Thin Lizzy, Duane Allman, Slash of Guns N' Roses and
Velvet Revolver, and Ace Frehley of Kiss are known for their preference for a Les Paul. Pete Townshend of The Who, Angus Young of
AC/DC, Frank Zappa of Mothers of Invention, Adrian Smith of Iron Maiden, Robby Krieger of The Doors, and Tony Iommi of
Black Sabbath are some of the better-known SG players.