They were often playing in situations where they were straining to be heard over the drums, brass and audience chatter. The newest, loudest design of the era was the resonator guitar. Usually made of metal, it had a series of aluminum resonators built into the body. The resonators amplified the acoustic instrument and gave players an edge they couldn't get out of the common acoustic guitar. But of course, the ax-slingers were always asking for more volume, so inventors of the day were constantly experimenting with crude electronic-amplification systems.
The first viable electric guitar was designed by guitarist George Beauchamp, who began manufacturing them along with Swiss-born engineer Adolph Rickenbacker. The guitars made by Beauchamp and Rickenbacker were of the "lap steel" variety, which the player holds flat in the lap and slides a metal bar up and down the strings to play different notes. These guitars were nicknamed " frying pans " because of their small, circular bodies and long necks.
Guitarists playing Hawaiian music, where the lap steel guitar is the lead instrument, began to flock to them. All guitar pickups employ essentially the same design: one or more magnets wrapped in a thin coil of wire. Beauchamp's pickup used two horseshoe-shaped magnets situated over the strings, and he filed a patent for his particular design in Guy Hart saw the market for Hawaiian guitars growing and decided it was time that all-acoustic Gibson got in the game.
Hart didn't want to build any competing instruments using Beauchamp's horseshoe pickup, so he began tinkering with a new design. By , Hart and Gibson's in-house engineers had developed a working prototype.
We use cookies to understand how you use our site, give you an awesome experience, and deliver our services. By using our site, you acknowledge that you have read and agree to our Privacy Policy and Terms of Use. News-Lifestyle Features. Below, we trace the evolution of Gibson, from its beginnings in a small shop in Michigan to its current roll out of new models that will appeal to musicians of every stripe.
The gifted craftsman goes on to produce a vibrant new family of acoustic guitars and mandolins, based on the arch-top design of the violin. In response, he enters into an agreement with five Kalamazoo financiers to form the Gibson Mandolin-Guitar Manufacturing Company. He remains at the company as a consultant until , and receives a monthly pension until his death in Under the leadership of Ted McCarty, who serves as company president from to , the company perfects the P single coil pickup and introduces such classic arch tops as the ES-5 the first triple-pickup guitar and the ES A shortage of steel forces the company to build guitars without truss-rods and incidentally marked a transition in popularity from arch-top guitars to flat-tops.
With a postwar boom in the demand of musical instruments on the horizon, the Chicago Musical Instrument Company buys Gibson. Further innovation is heavily implemented over the following years. Gibson once again undergoes new ownership in The Ecuadorian Company Ltd, or later known as Norlin, begins to slowly move the company out of Kalamazoo, Michigan and into Nashville, Tennessee, and by , production of Gibson instruments leaves Kalamazoo entirely.
The company starts to see difficulties and soon begins dying, however, in , Gibson opens a new plant in Bozeman, Montana. Production in Nashville is shifted exclusively to that of electric guitars while the plant in Montana focuses on producing F-5 style mandolins. Mandolins manufactured in Bozeman go above and beyond current quality standards. The skilled team of luthiers are praised for their achievements, however, demand for the flat-top guitar skyrockets above that of mandolins.
From to present day, the plant strives to create flat-top Gibson guitars of the highest quality. Gibson never ceases to produce some of the cleanest, deepest, full-toned acoustic guitars going around.
Today, the company boasts a multitude of signature series models , entry to advanced level guitars and even acoustic guitars that can tune themselves! With over years of innovation, the history of Gibson acoustic guitars is always expanding.
There is a reason Bob Dylan, Elvis Presley and virtually all of the greats have sworn by the Gibson name.
I have been looking for a non electric Gibson arch-top guitiar for my own use.
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