Gibson Guitars

The history of Gibson Guitars began in 1974, in Nashville, TN, specifically for the manufacture of the Gibson Les Paul Guitar. Gibson Guitars started out and has remained a strong company in spite of the slump of the guitar industry during the late seventies.

The growing demand of vintage style guitars, lead Gibson to meet this demand by reissuing the dot-neck version of ES-335 and the flame top sunburst Les Paul. These days the Gibson guitar not only represents the history of the electric guitar, but also, the future.

Great artists and guitarists, such as B.B. King and Chet Atkins joined Gibson in 1982 with their own versions of the acoustic guitar. Some of the models considered to be part of the classics include the Flying V, the Firebird and ES-335.

The ultimate symbol of rock and roll rebellion, the Gibson Flying V, was first developed in 1957, with its first reissue from 1967-1969. Too much to handle for most in the beginning, it became the popular guitar of the hard rock and heavy metal era of the late 60’s and 70’s. It was during this time, Gibson V, was the guitar to be seen with and made the ultimate statement.

The Gibson Firebird is a new classic for rock and roll of the twenty-first century. The Firebird is known for its distinct headstock that is carved out of the same piece of mahogany used for the neck. The headstock has a carefully set angle of 17 degrees in order to be able to accommodate the contour and keep pressure on the strings. The neck body, and the two wings that form the outline of the Firebird are built from one piece of solid mahogany wood.

Historically the ES-335 is considered to be one of the most important guitars of all time. First introduced in 1958, it was the first semi-hollow body electric guitar and the main guitar of the artists who enjoyed playing jazz and blues. Today Gibson has duplicated the ES-335, and its popularity has steadily grown.

The ES-335 comes in a wider variety of colors and finishes that it did originally, but regardless of the color or finish, it still has the same classic proportions with a rosewood fingerboard and pearl inlays. Gibson has and will continue to be one the leading guitar manufacturers of the twentieth and twenty-first centuries. Gibson is the number one choice of most hard rock bands, blues and jazz artists.