RSSKaty perry pictures All about Gibson Guitars. Trivia for Guitar Players.
21 Jul 2010 No Comments
Posted in Katy Perry pictures
Gibson Guitars are a big force in the Guitar World. Gibson Guitars was originally formed by Orville Gibson who began his career making carved archtop mandolins in Kalamazoo, Michigan in the 1890s. Gibson transferred the same skills to making the first of the carved archtop acoustic guitars of the early 20th century. Gibson Guitars have now been a major producer of electric guitars and acoustic guitars for over 50 years.
An early innovation of Gibson Guitars was developing the steel truss rod that runs through the guitar neck to give it support. Still a part of both acoustic and electric guitars today, the truss trod is able to be adjusted which alters the straightness of the neck.
Another development of Gibson Guitars is the original shape “f” holes that we still see today in semi-acoustic guitars. Gibson also began using the floating pick guard. These two items gave a definite look to the first, (and following), big bodied archtop guitars.
After doing much experimenting with the amplification of the sound from the guitar in the 1930s, Gibson released the ES range of semi-acoustic guitars. The ES initials stands for “Electric Spanish”. This is not a reference to the nylon string classical guitars that we know today. The term Spanish is used to separate the guitar from the Hawaiian guitars that were lap style guitars.
With the increasing popularity of electric or amplified guitars, the top end of the finger board could now be heard. Gibson Guitars had the idea to introduce the cut away stlye in the body shape. This was to be forever used in future electric guitars and many acoustic guitars and led to the world of the lead guitar hero.
The ES-175 with the pointed cut away was the first of Gibson’s really successful electric guitars. After Fender released its broadcaster guitar in 1950, (the forerunner to the Telecaster), Gibson Guitars put their efforts into developing their first solid body guitar which became the Les Paul Standard.
In the early 1950s, it was not only Fender and Gibson Guitars who were putting research into the concept of the solid body guitar. Bibsby guitars were also carrying out some work as were Rickenbacker and National.
Les Paul was one of the foremost guitarists of the time. His real first name was Lester. Paul had himself been tinkering with the idea of solid body guitars. His first concept model was referred to as the log guitar. He approached Gibson Guitars with his ideas in the 1940s but was rejected outright. Once Fender released the Telecaster, Gibson went back to Les Paul and asked him to work with them.
The original attraction of solid body electric guitars to Gibson and other makers was because of a number of issues. Firstly, ease of construction. Secondly, while the shape of the body of the guitar did not alter the sound, the solid body greatly increased the sustain of the natural sound. And lastly, electrifying hollow body guitars had always caused a great problem with feedback. This was virtually eliminated with the production of the solid body electric guitar.
In 1952, Gibson Guitars released it’s first solid body electric guitar, the Gibson Les Paul Standard. Under a 5 year contract, Les Paul agreed to be an endorsee for which he was to receive 5% of the value of the sales. The Les Paul Standard’s retail price was $210 which was about $20 dearer than the Fender.
Gibson Guitars like all companies appreciated the need to move with new products. In 1958, Gibson introduced the sunburst appearance of the Les Paul Standard which proved very popular. This guitar in particular is now a collector’s item. 1958 was also the year, that Gibson added the extra cutaway to the body shape of the Les Paul Junior and Les Paul Standard. This would soon lead to the SG model which simply stands for Solid Guitar.
At the same time, the general guitar playing public were getting interested in the look of their guitars and not just the sound and feel of the guitar. In response to this Gibson introduced some crazy shapes which were to fill a future niche market. These shapes were the legendary flying V and the Gibson Explorer. The double necked guitar was also produced at the same time. Gibson Guitars have since remained a force for guitar players worldwide.
Author: Terry Booth has always been keen on Gibson Guitars since being given his first instrument, (a Gibson Les Paul copy) as a young child. Visit Terry’s website GuitarPlayersWorld.com
Katy Perry pictures: picture Katy Perry
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