Born 1856 in Chateaugay, New York, Orville Gibson was to become the founder of the world famous Gibson Mfg. Co Ltd. Orville was the youngest child of John W Gibson, an immigrant from England and mother Amy Nichols Gibson from Peru, New York. The couple had five children, Pluma and Emma, Orzo and Lovell and little Orville Gibson.
Orville had a day job as a clerk in 1885 at A.P. Sprague's shoe store and by 1893 he was working as a clerk at Butters Restaurant, but his mind was always on his hobby, which was making musical instruments.
Then on February 1, 1898 U.S. Patent No. 598,245, was issued to Orville for his mandolin with a difference. Mandolins had a flat solid wood top and a bowl-like back (similar to a lute) made of multiple strips of wood. Orville Gibson's mandolins had a carved, arched solid wood top and back and bent wood sides. With its single-pieced carved sides and a single-pieced neck it was much easier to manufacture in large numbers. Smart move.
But Orville didn't stop there, a further development to his patent was that the heel of the neck was hollowed out to provide an additional sound chamber, which would offer improved tonal qualities.
Orville Gibson's original Mandolin designs were marketed in 1902 by the newly formed, Gibson Mandolin-Guitar Mfg. Co, Ltd. But instrument trends were changing, and so the company hired Lloyd Loar in 1919 to create newer instruments. The Gibson F5 mandolin was introduced in 1922. The F5 later became known as "The" bluegrass mandolin. The Gibson Mandolin-Guitar Mfg. Co, Ltd soon got a good reputation for manufacturing the arch top guitars, particularly the L-5 model, also a Loar design. Loar left the company in 1924.
It wasn't until the 1930's that Gibson started to survey the concept of an "Electric Guitar". In fact it was as late as 1936 when they introduced their first "Electric Spanish" model, the ES-150. Other companies had beaten them to it, but it's generally recognized that the ES-150 was the first commercially successful electric guitar.
The second would war put a stop to Gibson manufacturing their guitars due to a lack of resources. Wood and mental was hard to come by due to the "War Effort" taking these commodities for the armed forces. The shortages continued after the war. The only change made in 1946 was the Gibson name on the headstock, from a cursive script to the block style used to this day.
The Les Paul Guitar.
Ted McCarty was hired in 1948 and the industry veteran soon climbed the ranks to president in 1950. His input helped Gibson expand the instrument line. McCarty had his eye on the success and very strong sales Fender where having with their solid body electric guitar the Telecaster. Gibson wanted a piece of the action, so they developed a solid body electric guitar of their own. The "Les Paul" guitar first went on sale in 1952. Its creator, Lester William Polfus, born on the 9th June 1915 and later known as Les Paul, died on the 13th of August 2009. Les Paul was a very popular musician who started his guitar playing career in the 30's and still play at the Iridium Jazz club in New York in the months before his death. He also pioneered multi-track recording, and had 36 gold records to his name.
Orville had a day job as a clerk in 1885 at A.P. Sprague's shoe store and by 1893 he was working as a clerk at Butters Restaurant, but his mind was always on his hobby, which was making musical instruments.
Then on February 1, 1898 U.S. Patent No. 598,245, was issued to Orville for his mandolin with a difference. Mandolins had a flat solid wood top and a bowl-like back (similar to a lute) made of multiple strips of wood. Orville Gibson's mandolins had a carved, arched solid wood top and back and bent wood sides. With its single-pieced carved sides and a single-pieced neck it was much easier to manufacture in large numbers. Smart move.
But Orville didn't stop there, a further development to his patent was that the heel of the neck was hollowed out to provide an additional sound chamber, which would offer improved tonal qualities.
Orville Gibson's original Mandolin designs were marketed in 1902 by the newly formed, Gibson Mandolin-Guitar Mfg. Co, Ltd. But instrument trends were changing, and so the company hired Lloyd Loar in 1919 to create newer instruments. The Gibson F5 mandolin was introduced in 1922. The F5 later became known as "The" bluegrass mandolin. The Gibson Mandolin-Guitar Mfg. Co, Ltd soon got a good reputation for manufacturing the arch top guitars, particularly the L-5 model, also a Loar design. Loar left the company in 1924.
It wasn't until the 1930's that Gibson started to survey the concept of an "Electric Guitar". In fact it was as late as 1936 when they introduced their first "Electric Spanish" model, the ES-150. Other companies had beaten them to it, but it's generally recognized that the ES-150 was the first commercially successful electric guitar.
The second would war put a stop to Gibson manufacturing their guitars due to a lack of resources. Wood and mental was hard to come by due to the "War Effort" taking these commodities for the armed forces. The shortages continued after the war. The only change made in 1946 was the Gibson name on the headstock, from a cursive script to the block style used to this day.
The Les Paul Guitar.
Ted McCarty was hired in 1948 and the industry veteran soon climbed the ranks to president in 1950. His input helped Gibson expand the instrument line. McCarty had his eye on the success and very strong sales Fender where having with their solid body electric guitar the Telecaster. Gibson wanted a piece of the action, so they developed a solid body electric guitar of their own. The "Les Paul" guitar first went on sale in 1952. Its creator, Lester William Polfus, born on the 9th June 1915 and later known as Les Paul, died on the 13th of August 2009. Les Paul was a very popular musician who started his guitar playing career in the 30's and still play at the Iridium Jazz club in New York in the months before his death. He also pioneered multi-track recording, and had 36 gold records to his name.
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