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124-525: After Gibson acquired Epiphone in 1957, Gibson installed an Epiphone production line for archtop instruments in its own factory in Kalamazoo, Michigan , using the stock that Gibson acquired in the takeover , with some models taken directly from Gibson (e.g., the Casino and Riviera), other models specifically designed for Epiphone (Newport, Crestwood) or already produced by Epiphone (Emperor, Sheraton,...). In 1959,

248-492: A bone flute to signal the start of a hunt does so without thought of the modern notion of "making music". Musical instruments are constructed in a broad array of styles and shapes, using many different materials. Early musical instruments were made from "found objects" such as shells and plant parts. As instruments evolved, so did the selection and quality of materials. Virtually every material in nature has been used by at least one culture to make musical instruments. One plays

372-481: A whole-tone scale . These excavations, carried out by Leonard Woolley in the 1920s, uncovered non-degradable fragments of instruments and the voids left by the degraded segments that, together, have been used to reconstruct them. The graves these instruments were buried in have been carbon dated to between 2600 and 2500 BC, providing evidence that these instruments were used in Sumeria by this time. Archaeologists in

496-479: A 2013 history of the company. This denial was contradicted by historical statements. Gibson folklore has also claimed its guitars were made by "seasoned craftsmen" who were "too old for war". In 2023, a 1943 Gibson Southern Jumbo was listed for sale with an asking price of $ 18,500. In 1944, Gibson was purchased by Chicago Musical Instruments . The ES-175 was introduced in 1949. Gibson hired Ted McCarty in 1948, who became president in 1950. He led an expansion of

620-521: A Tokyo court for allegedly copying Gibson designs. Gibson did not prevail. Gibson also sued PRS Guitars in 2005, to stop them from making their Singlecut model. Initially successful, the United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit reversed the lower court's decision and ordered the dismissal of Gibson's suit against PRS. Gibson's factories were raided in 2009 and 2011 by agents of

744-454: A bar bridge to a two-point bridge with individual saddles in 1968 (a spring-loaded mute was installed in 1960). Custom finish options different from the stock cherry, sunburst or natural, as well as a second pickup, were available on custom orders. The Epiphone Rivoli ReIssue guitars, made in Korea and Japan in the 1990s, were only visually identical. The neck was made from maple instead of mahogany,

868-423: A better historical picture. Until the 19th century AD, European-written music histories began with mythological accounts mingled with scripture of how musical instruments were invented. Such accounts included Jubal , descendant of Cain and "father of all such as handle the harp and the organ" ( Genesis 4:21) Pan , inventor of the pan pipes , and Mercury , who is said to have made a dried tortoise shell into

992-421: A book to help with serial number deciphering. In 2006, Gibson introduced a nine-digit serial number system replacing the eight-digit system used since 1977, but the sixth digit now represents a batch number. In 2003, Gibson debuted its Ethernet -based audio protocol, MaGIC , which it developed in partnership with 3Com , Advanced Micro Devices , and Xilinx . Replacing traditional analog hook-ups with

1116-451: A challenge. Despite even the efforts of two organized international summits attended by noted composers like Hector Berlioz , no standard could be agreed upon. The evolution of traditional musical instruments slowed beginning in the 20th century. Instruments such as the violin, flute, french horn, and harp are largely the same as those manufactured throughout the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. Gradual iterations do emerge; for example,

1240-428: A digital connection to "satisfy the unique requirements of live audio performances". This system requires a special pickup , and cabling is provided by a standard Cat-5 Ethernet cable . The Gibson "self-tuning guitar", also known as a "robot model", an option on some newer Les Paul, SG, Flying V and Explorer instruments, tunes itself in about two seconds using robotics technology developed by Tronical GmbH. Under

1364-435: A drastic increase in the number and variety of musical instruments. However, identifying and classifying the instruments remains a challenge due to the lack of artistic interpretations. For example, stringed instruments of uncertain design called nevals and asors existed, but neither archaeology nor etymology can clearly define them. In her book A Survey of Musical Instruments , American musicologist Sibyl Marcuse proposes that

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1488-820: A few years as a custom-instrument shop, but was closed in 1984; several Gibson employees led by plant manager Jim Duerloo, plant superintendent Marv Lamb and J.P. Moats established Heritage Guitars in the old factory, building versions of classic Gibson designs. The company was within three months of going out of business before it was bought by Henry E. Juszkiewicz, David H. Berryman, and Gary A. Zebrowski in January 1986. Gibson's wholesale shipments in 1993 were an estimated $ 70 million, up from $ 50 million in 1992. When Juszkiewicz and Berryman took over in 1986, sales were below $ 10 million. New production plants were opened in Memphis, Tennessee , as well as Bozeman, Montana . The Memphis facility

1612-813: A fiddle would; both were prominent folk instruments in the Middle Ages. Southern Europeans played short and long lutes whose pegs extended to the sides, unlike the rear-facing pegs of Central and Northern European instruments. Idiophones such as bells and clappers served various practical purposes, such as warning of the approach of a leper . The ninth century revealed the first bagpipes , which spread throughout Europe and had many uses from folk instruments to military instruments. The construction of pneumatic organs evolved in Europe starting in fifth-century Spain , spreading to England in about 700. The resulting instruments varied in size and use from portable organs worn around

1736-540: A great relief of Amenhotep III , and are of particular interest because similar designs have been found in far-reaching places such as Tbilisi , Georgia and among the Native American Yaqui tribe. The people of Mesopotamia preferred stringed instruments , as evidenced by their proliferation in Mesopotamian figurines, plaques, and seals. Innumerable varieties of harps are depicted, as well as lyres and lutes,

1860-732: A long violent period of war and destruction. This period saw the Kassites destroy the Babylonian empire in Mesopotamia and the Hyksos destroy the Middle Kingdom of Egypt . When the Pharaohs of Egypt conquered Southwest Asia in around 1500 BC, the cultural ties to Mesopotamia were renewed and Egypt's musical instruments also reflected heavy influence from Asiatic cultures. Under their new cultural influences,

1984-620: A massive 127,620 square foot complex. According to the Memphis Daily News , Gibson plans to search for a new facility for its Memphis operations and will stay in the current spot for the next 18 to 24 months. The facility, which sits across from the FedExForum along South B.B. King Boulevard, is expected to list for $ 17 million. Since its opening, the Gibson Memphis shop mostly focused on building hollow and semi-hollowbody guitars, such as

2108-460: A melody. In contrast, pre-Columbian South American civilizations in areas such as modern-day Peru , Colombia , Ecuador , Bolivia , and Chile were less advanced culturally but more advanced musically. South American cultures of the time used pan-pipes as well as varieties of flutes, idiophones, drums, and shell or wood trumpets. An instrument that can be attested to the Iron Age Celts

2232-466: A mixture of timbres, a development needed for the complexity of music of the time. Trumpets evolved into their modern form to improve portability, and players used mutes to properly blend into chamber music . Beginning in the seventeenth century, composers began writing works to a higher emotional degree. They felt that polyphony better suited the emotional style they were aiming for and began writing musical parts for instruments that would complement

2356-632: A musical instrument by interacting with it in some way — for example, by plucking the strings on a string instrument , striking the surface of a drum , or blowing into an animal horn. Researchers have discovered archaeological evidence of musical instruments in many parts of the world. One disputed artifact (the Divje Babe flute ) has been dated to 67,000 years old, but consensus solidifies around artifacts dated back to around 37,000 years old and later. Artifacts made from durable materials, or constructed using durable methods, have been found to survive. As such,

2480-776: A musical instrument, is widely disputed. The oldest object identified by scholars as a musical instrument, is a simple flute , dated back 50,000–60,000 years. Many scholars date early flutes to about 40,000 years ago. Many historians believe that determining the specific date of musical instrument invention is impossible, as the majority of early musical instruments were constructed of animal skins, bone, wood, and other non-durable, bio-degradable materials. Additionally, some have proposed that lithophones , or stones used to make musical sounds—like those found at Sankarjang in India—are examples of prehistoric musical instruments. Musical instruments developed independently in many populated regions of

2604-584: A new division, Gibson Pro Audio, which will deliver professional grade audio items, including headphones, loudspeakers and DJ equipment. In June 2020, Cerwin Vega Inc. acquired Cerwin Vega from Gibson. On May 21, 2021, Stanton was sold to inMusic. Gibson announced a partnership with the Japanese-based Onkyo Corporation in 2012. Onkyo, known for audio equipment and home theater systems, became part of

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2728-424: A record label focused on releasing "guitar-centric music, across genres", with its first album being the fourth studio album from Slash feat. Myles Kennedy & The Conspirators , 4 . In 1977, Gibson sued Hoshino Gakki / Elger Guitars for copying the "archtop" headstock. The lawsuit was settled out of court, and Ibanez replaced the headstock with a revised design. In 2000, Gibson sued Fernandes Guitars in

2852-540: A short 30.5-inch scale mahogany neck and one large "Sidewinder" humbucking pickup in the neck position. The electronics consisted of a single volume and tone knob, and a "choke-switch" (from 1959 onwards), which enhanced or cut the bass frequencies. When Gibson decided to move Epiphone production to Japan (Matsumoku) in 1970, production ended for the Rivoli. Its successor, the Epiphone 5120/EA-260, shared very few similarities to

2976-659: A shorter neck was added. Other models such as the ES-350T and the ES-225T were introduced as less costly alternatives. In 1958, Gibson introduced the ES-335 T model. Similar in size to the hollow-body Thinlines, the ES-335 family had a solid center, giving the string tone a longer sustain. In the 1950s, Gibson also produced the Tune-o-matic bridge system and its version of the humbucking pickup,

3100-536: A single-piece mandolin design in 1898 that was more durable than other mandolins and could be manufactured in volume. Orville Gibson began to sell his instruments in 1894 out of a one-room workshop in Kalamazoo, Michigan. In 1902, the Gibson Mandolin-Guitar Mfg. Co. Ltd. was incorporated to market the instruments. Initially, the company produced only Orville Gibson's original designs. The company moved into

3224-608: A unique system of classifying their musical instruments according to their material makeup. In Vietnam, an archaeological discovery of a 2,000-year old stringed instrument gives important insights on early chordophones in Southeast Asia. Idiophones were extremely important in Chinese music, hence the majority of early instruments were idiophones. Poetry of the Shang dynasty mentions bells, chimes, drums, and globular flutes carved from bone,

3348-666: A wider variety of expression. Large orchestras rose in popularity and, in parallel, the composers determined to produce entire orchestral scores that made use of the expressive abilities of modern instruments. Since instruments were involved in collaborations of a much larger scale, their designs had to evolve to accommodate the demands of the orchestra. Some instruments also had to become louder to fill larger halls and be heard over sizable orchestras. Flutes and bowed instruments underwent many modifications and design changes—most of them unsuccessful—in efforts to increase volume. Other instruments were changed just so they could play their parts in

3472-565: Is also not reliable, as it cannot always be determined when and how cultures contacted one another and shared knowledge. Sachs proposed that a geographical chronology until approximately 1400 is preferable, however, due to its limited subjectivity. Beyond 1400, one can follow the overall development of musical instruments over time. The science of marking the order of musical instrument development relies on archaeological artifacts, artistic depictions, and literary references. Since data in one research path can be inconclusive, all three paths provide

3596-635: Is among many indications that the Indus Valley and Sumerian cultures maintained cultural contact. Subsequent developments in musical instruments in India occurred with the Rigveda , or hymns. These songs used various drums, shell trumpets, harps, and flutes. Other prominent instruments in use during the early centuries AD were the snake charmer's double clarinet , bagpipes , barrel drums, cross flutes, and short lutes. In all, India had no unique musical instruments until

3720-543: Is an American manufacturer of guitars , other musical instruments , and professional audio equipment from Kalamazoo, Michigan , and now based in Nashville, Tennessee . Orville Gibson started making instruments in 1894 and founded the company in 1902 as the Gibson Mandolin-Guitar Mfg. Co. Ltd. in Kalamazoo, Michigan , to make mandolin -family instruments. Gibson invented archtop guitars by constructing

3844-435: Is misleading to arrange the development of musical instruments by workmanship, since cultures advance at different rates and have access to different raw materials. For example, contemporary anthropologists comparing musical instruments from two cultures that existed at the same time but differed in organization, culture, and handicraft cannot determine which instruments are more "primitive" . Ordering instruments by geography

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3968-401: Is misleading, since advancements in musical instruments have sometimes reduced complexity. For example, construction of early slit drums involved felling and hollowing out large trees; later slit drums were made by opening bamboo stalks, a much simpler task. German musicologist Curt Sachs , one of the most prominent musicologists and musical ethnologists in modern times, argues that it

4092-424: Is the carnyx , which is dated to c. 300 BC. The end of the bell, which was crafted from bronze, was into the shape of a screaming animal head which was held high above their heads. When blown into, the carnyx would emit a deep, harsh sound; the head also had a tongue which clicked when vibrated. It is believed the intention of the instrument was to use it on the battleground to intimidate their opponents. During

4216-564: Is used for semi-hollow and custom shop instruments, while the Bozeman facility is dedicated to acoustic instruments. Gibson purchased Garrison Guitars in 2007. In mid-2009, Gibson reduced its work force to adjust for a decline in guitar industry sales in the United States. In 2011, Gibson acquired the Stanton Group, including Cerwin Vega , KRK Systems and Stanton DJ . Gibson then formed

4340-475: Is used to make musical sounds . Once humans moved from making sounds with their bodies — for example, by clapping—to using objects to create music from sounds, musical instruments were born. Primitive instruments were probably designed to emulate natural sounds , and their purpose was ritual rather than entertainment. The concept of melody and the artistic pursuit of musical composition were probably unknown to early players of musical instruments. A person sounding

4464-547: The Alboka (from Arab, al-buq or "horn") nowadays only alive in Basque Country . It must be played using the technique of the circular breathing. Southeast Asian musical innovations include those during a period of Indian influence that ended around 920 AD. Balinese and Javanese music made use of xylophones and metallophones , bronze versions of the former. The most prominent and important musical instrument of Southeast Asia

4588-572: The Bible and the Talmud . The Hebrew texts mention two prominent instruments associated with Jubal : the ugab (pipes) and kinnor (lyre). Other instruments of the period included the tof ( frame drum ), pa'amon (small bells or jingles), shofar , and the trumpet-like hasosra . The introduction of a monarchy in Israel during the 11th century BC produced the first professional musicians and with them

4712-570: The Chukchi people of the Russian Far East , the indigenous people of Melanesia , and many cultures of Africa . In fact, drums were pervasive throughout every African culture. One East African tribe, the Wahinda , believed it was so holy that seeing a drum would be fatal to any person other than the sultan. Humans eventually developed the concept of using musical instruments to produce melody , which

4836-463: The ES-150 , followed by other electric instruments like steel guitars , banjos and mandolins . Following Loar, Guy Hart was the next major figure to influence the company. Musician-writer Walter Carter called the next two decades "The Guy Hart Era" and spelled it out in his definitive history of the company:. "Guy Hart ran Gibson from 1924-1948 -- the most important period in the company history since

4960-577: The Gibson Les Paul . Gibson was at the forefront of innovation in acoustic guitars, especially in the big band era of the 1930s; the Gibson Super 400 was widely imitated. In 1952, Gibson introduced its first solid-body electric guitar, the Les Paul , which became its most popular guitar to date—designed by a team led by Ted McCarty . In addition to guitars, Gibson offers consumer electronics through

5084-564: The Gibson, Inc. Factory and Office Building in 1917. Orville died in 1918 of endocarditis (inflammation of the inside lining of the heart chambers and valves). The following year, the company hired designer Lloyd Loar to create newer instruments. Loar designed the flagship L-5 archtop guitar and the Gibson F-5 mandolin that was introduced in 1922, before leaving the company in 1924. In 1936, Gibson introduced its first "Electric Spanish" model,

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5208-524: The Han dynasty . Although civilizations in Central America attained a relatively high level of sophistication by the eleventh century AD, they lagged behind other civilizations in the development of musical instruments. For example, they had no stringed instruments; all of their instruments were idiophones, drums, and wind instruments such as flutes and trumpets. Of these, only the flute was capable of producing

5332-487: The Jiahu site of central Henan province of China have found flutes made of bones that date back 7,000 to 9,000 years, representing some of the "earliest complete, playable, tightly-dated, multinote musical instruments" ever found. Scholars agree that there are no completely reliable methods of determining the exact chronology of musical instruments across cultures. Comparing and organizing instruments based on their complexity

5456-446: The PAF ("Patent Applied For"), first released in 1957 and still sought after for its sound. In 1958, Gibson produced two new designs: the eccentrically shaped Explorer and Flying V . These "modernistic" guitars did not sell well initially. It was only in the late 70s when the two guitars were reintroduced to the market that they sold well. The Firebird , in the early 60s, was a reprise of

5580-615: The Royal Cemetery in the Sumerian city of Ur . These instruments, one of the first ensembles of instruments yet discovered, include nine lyres (the Lyres of Ur ), two harps , a silver double flute , a sistrum and cymbals . A set of reed-sounded silver pipes discovered in Ur was the likely predecessor of modern bagpipes . The cylindrical pipes feature three side holes that allowed players to produce

5704-613: The United States Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS). In November 2009, authorities found illegally imported ebony wood from Madagascar . A second raid was conducted in August 2011, during which the FWS seized wood imports from India that had been mislabeled on the US Customs declaration. Gibson Guitar Corp. filed a motion in January 2011 to recover seized materials and overturn the charges, which

5828-480: The ground harp , ground zither , musical bow , and jaw harp . Recent research into usage wear and acoustics of stone artefacts has revealed a possible new class of prehistoric musical instrument, known as lithophones . Images of musical instruments begin to appear in Mesopotamian artifacts in 2800 BC or earlier. Beginning around 2000 BC, Sumerian and Babylonian cultures began delineating two distinct classes of musical instruments due to division of labor and

5952-545: The post-classical era . Musical instruments such as zithers appeared in Chinese writings around 12th century BC and earlier. Early Chinese philosophers such as Confucius (551–479 BC), Mencius (372–289 BC), and Laozi shaped the development of musical instruments in China, adopting an attitude toward music similar to that of the Greeks. The Chinese believed that music was an essential part of character and community, and developed

6076-441: The theremin . Musical instrument classification is a discipline in its own right, and many systems of classification have been used over the years. Instruments can be classified by their effective range, material composition, size, role, etc. However, the most common academic method, Hornbostel–Sachs , uses the means by which they produce sound. The academic study of musical instruments is called organology . A musical instrument

6200-468: The urghun ( organ ), shilyani (probably a type of harp or lyre ), salandj (probably a bagpipe ) and the lyra . The Byzantine lyra, a bowed string instrument, is an ancestor of most European bowed instruments, including the violin . The monochord served as a precise measure of the notes of a musical scale, allowing more accurate musical arrangements. Mechanical hurdy-gurdies allowed single musicians to play more complicated arrangements than

6324-619: The "father" was the bigger or more energetic instrument, while the "mother" was the smaller or duller instrument. Musical instruments existed in this form for thousands of years before patterns of three or more tones would evolve in the form of the earliest xylophone . Xylophones originated in the mainland and archipelago of Southeast Asia , eventually spreading to Africa, the Americas, and Europe. Along with xylophones, which ranged from simple sets of three "leg bars" to carefully tuned sets of parallel bars, various cultures developed instruments such as

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6448-495: The $ 7 million alleged by Gibson. In November 2024, Gibson sent a cease-and-desist letter to Alabama-based 16 Creative, the marketers of Trump Guitars, which had recently announced a line of electric and acoustic guitars endorsed by the former president. Gibson claims the guitars infringe on their trademarks, including their classic Les Paul. Gibson also owns and makes instruments under brands such as Epiphone , Kramer , Maestro , Steinberger , and Tobias , along with

6572-808: The 1960s include Ronnie Lane ( The Small Faces ), Chip Hawkes ( The Tremeloes ), Chas Chandler ( The Animals ), John Entwistle ( The Who ), Tony Jackson ( The Searchers ), Karl Green ( Herman's Hermits ); Paul Samwell-Smith , Chris Dreja , and Jimmy Page of ( The Yardbirds ); Peter Birrell ( Freddie and the Dreamers ), Scott Walker ( The Walker Brothers ), Kevin Ayers ( Soft Machine ), and Bruce Foxton ( The Jam ). More recent Rivoli players include Adam Clayton ( U2 ), Nick Bearden ( Jamestown Revival ) and Robert Levon Been ( Black Rebel Motorcycle Club ). Gibson Guitar Corporation Gibson, Inc. (formerly Gibson Guitar Corporation and Gibson Brands Inc. )

6696-649: The Epiphone Rivoli debuted as a sibling to the then one-year-old Gibson EB-2 . Made on the same production line as the EB-2, the Rivoli closely followed the production of the Gibson model; they shared the same body, neck and hardware. Only certain aesthetic aspects differed, such as the headstock and a tortoise-shell plastic pick guard on some examples instead of the black plastic used on the EB-2. The Rivoli featured an ES-335-style semi-hollow body, made from laminated maple,

6820-659: The Gibson Custom Shop in March 2021. The opening of this division was announced in December 2019. On May 1, 2018, the company filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. As part of its debt restructuring, the company closed and liquidated the unprofitable Gibson Innovations division, which was focused on selling audio equipment outside of the U.S., allowing Gibson to focus on its most profitable ventures, such as musical instruments. The production of Gibson and Epiphone branded guitars

6944-596: The Gibson Pro Audio division, which includes KRK . On May 1, 2018, the company filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection, and announced a restructuring plan to return to profitability by closing down unprofitable consumer electronics divisions such as Gibson Innovations. The company exited Chapter 11 bankruptcy in November 2018. In January 2020, the company launched Gibson TV, an online television network focused on guitars and music culture. Orville Gibson patented

7068-613: The Gibson Pro-Audio division. In 2013, Gibson acquired a majority stake in TEAC Corporation . In 2014, Gibson acquired the Woox consumer electronics brand from Royal Philips. In October 2017, Gibson announced plans to relocate its Memphis operations to a smaller location and plans to sell the Memphis property. Gibson opened its Memphis facility 18 years before, which occupies just a portion of

7192-508: The Gibson catalog in 1968. Gibson's production mix in the 1960s had to respond to a changing buyer's market. In 1969, Gibson executive Julius Bellson noted that "Four years ago, electric guitars account for almost 70 per cent of our guitar sales. Today their sales are below 50 percent." On December 22, 1969, Gibson parent company Chicago Musical Instruments was taken over by the South American brewing conglomerate ECL. Gibson remained under

7316-725: The Higher Regional Court and the Federal Supreme Court in November 2020 and September 2021 dismissed Gibson's lawsuits. Gibson sued Dean Guitars in 2019 over trademark infringement related to several guitar shapes and names. The ruling in 2022 found that the Dean V , Dean Z , and Dean Gran Sport body shapes, as well as the Dovetail headstock design and the "Hummingbird" and "Moderne" names were infringing on Gibson's designs. The judgement awarded Gibson $ 4,000 in damages, far short of

7440-544: The Les Paul and SG, sold under the Epiphone brand, while continuing to make Epiphone-specific models like the Sheraton, Sorrento, and Casino. In Japan, Orville by Gibson once made Gibson designs sold in that country. Gibson has sought legal action against those that make and sell guitars Gibson believes are too similar to their own. In 1977, Gibson introduced the serial numbering system in use until 2006. An eight-digit number on

7564-557: The Middles Ages came from Asia. The lyre is the only musical instrument that may have been invented in Europe until this period. Stringed instruments were prominent in Middle Age Europe. The central and northern regions used mainly lutes, stringed instruments with necks , while the southern region used lyres, which featured a two-armed body and a crossbar. Various harps served Central and Northern Europe as far north as Ireland, where

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7688-746: The Paper Jamz toy guitars copied the looks of some of Gibson's famous guitars, the Gibson Les Paul , the Gibson Flying V , the Gibson Explorer , and the Gibson SG . On December 21, 2010, Gibson was granted a request for an injunction against WowWee and retailers in the United States which were selling Paper Jamz guitars: Walmart , Amazon , Big Lots stores, Kmart Corporation, Target Corporation , Toys "R" Us , Walgreens , Brookstone , Best Buy , eBay , Toywiz.com, and Home Shopping Network (HSN) The case

7812-472: The area. Rather, the history of musical instruments in the area begins with the Indus Valley civilization that emerged around 3000 BC. Various rattles and whistles found among excavated artifacts are the only physical evidence of musical instruments. A clay statuette indicates the use of drums, and examination of the Indus script has also revealed representations of vertical arched harps identical in design to those depicted in Sumerian artifacts. This discovery

7936-493: The back shows the date when the instrument was produced, where it was produced, and its order of production that day (e.g., first instrument stamped that day, second, etc.). An exception is the year 1994, Gibson's centennial year; many 1994 serial numbers start with "94", followed by a six-digit production number . As of 2006, the company used seven (six since 1999) serial number systems, making it difficult to identify guitars by their serial number alone. The Gibson website provides

8060-415: The beginnings of human culture. Early musical instruments may have been used for rituals, such as a horn to signal success on the hunt, or a drum in a religious ceremony. Cultures eventually developed composition and performance of melodies for entertainment. Musical instruments evolved in step with changing applications and technologies. The exact date and specific origin of the first device considered

8184-505: The changes to timbre and volume was a shift in the typical pitch used to tune instruments. Instruments meant to play together, as in an orchestra, must be tuned to the same standard lest they produce audibly different sounds while playing the same notes. Beginning in 1762, the average concert pitch began rising from a low of 377 vibrations to a high of 457 in 1880 Vienna. Different regions, countries, and even instrument manufacturers preferred different standards, making orchestral collaboration

8308-470: The control of CMI until 1974 when it became a subsidiary of Norlin Musical Instruments. Norlin Musical Instruments was a member of Norlin Industries which was named for ECL president Nor ton Stevens and CMI president Arnold Ber lin . This began an era characterized by corporate mismanagement and decreasing product quality. Between 1976 and 1984, production of Gibson guitars was shifted from Kalamazoo to Nashville, Tennessee . The Kalamazoo plant kept going for

8432-464: The cultural contacts seem to have dissipated; the lyre, a prominent ceremonial instrument in Sumer, did not appear in Egypt for another 800 years. Clappers and concussion sticks appear on Egyptian vases as early as 3000 BC. The civilization also made use of sistra, vertical flutes , double clarinets , arched and angular harps, and various drums. Little history is available in the period between 2700 BC and 1500 BC, as Egypt (and indeed, Babylon) entered

8556-440: The debut of Gibson instruments at the turn of the century and, moreover, the period of greatest innovation for the guitar since the emergence of the six-string guitar in the late 1700s. As the guitar rose to prominence, so did Gibson. Under Hart's management, Gibson developed the Super 400 … still considered the best of their kind … the flattop line and the SJ-200 [that] put Gibson in a class by itself [and] Gibson's prominent place in

8680-485: The electric guitar market." During the global economic depression of the 1930s Hart "kept the company in business and kept the paychecks coming for the workers," in part by introducing a line of high-quality wooden toys. "And as the country began its economic recovery in the mid 1930s, he ... opened new markets overseas." Then in the 1940s he led the company though World War II by converting the factory to wartime production, winning an Army-Navy "E" award for excellence. After

8804-425: The environmental laws of the producing countries regardless of corruption or lack of enforcement. Gibson argued in a statement the following day that authorities were "bullying Gibson without filing charges" and denied any wrongdoing. Arguing against the federal regulations and claiming that the move threatened jobs, Republicans and Tea Party members spoke out against the raids and supported Juszkiewicz. The case

8928-496: The evolving class system. Popular instruments, simple and playable by anyone, evolved differently from professional instruments whose development focused on effectiveness and skill. Despite this development, very few musical instruments have been recovered in Mesopotamia . Scholars must rely on artifacts and cuneiform texts written in Sumerian or Akkadian to reconstruct the early history of musical instruments in Mesopotamia. Even

9052-717: The famed ES series. Presumably, this shuffling of assets was meant to address Gibson's well-publicized financial troubles. Gibson issued a press release about the move, with former CEO Henry Juszkiewicz stating: In December 2017, the Gibson Guitar Factory building in downtown Memphis was sold to Somera Road, an investment company in New York. Two years later Gibson closed the Memphis factory and moved hollow-body production to Nashville. It also moved its Nashville headquarters to Cummins Station in 2019. Gibson also started shipping Murphy Lab guitars through its Murphy Lab Division of

9176-484: The first bowed zithers appeared in China in the 9th or 10th century, influenced by Mongolian culture. India experienced similar development to China in the post-classical era; however, stringed instruments developed differently as they accommodated different styles of music. While stringed instruments of China were designed to produce precise tones capable of matching the tones of chimes, stringed instruments of India were considerably more flexible. This flexibility suited

9300-464: The first lyre . Modern histories have replaced such mythology with anthropological speculation, occasionally informed by archeological evidence. Scholars agree that there was no definitive "invention" of the musical instrument since the term "musical instrument" is subjective and hard to define. Among the first devices external to the human body that are considered instruments are rattles , stampers, and various drums . These instruments evolved due to

9424-454: The first such book was Sebastian Virdung 's 1511 treatise Musica getuscht und ausgezogen ('Music Germanized and Abstracted'). Virdung's work is noted as being particularly thorough for including descriptions of "irregular" instruments such as hunters' horns and cow bells, though Virdung is critical of the same. Other books followed, including Arnolt Schlick 's Spiegel der Orgelmacher und Organisten ('Mirror of Organ Makers and Organ Players')

9548-526: The following year, a treatise on organ building and organ playing. Of the instructional books and references published in the Renaissance era, one is noted for its detailed description and depiction of all wind and stringed instruments, including their relative sizes. This book, the Syntagma musicum by Michael Praetorius , is now considered an authoritative reference of sixteenth-century musical instruments. In

9672-508: The forerunner of modern stringed instruments such as the violin . Musical instruments used by the Egyptian culture before 2700 BC bore striking similarity to those of Mesopotamia, leading historians to conclude that the civilizations must have been in contact with one another. Sachs notes that Egypt did not possess any instruments that the Sumerian culture did not also possess. However, by 2700 BC

9796-402: The gods. Greeks played a variety of wind instruments they classified as aulos (reeds) or syrinx (flutes); Greek writing from that time reflects a serious study of reed production and playing technique. Romans played reed instruments named tibia , featuring side-holes that could be opened or closed, allowing for greater flexibility in playing modes. Other instruments in common use in

9920-431: The government raids were "so outrageous and overreaching as to deserve further Congressional investigation." Juszkiewicz continued to state, "We felt compelled to settle as the costs of proving our case at trial would have cost millions of dollars and taken a very long time to resolve." Gibson reclaimed some wood stock that was confiscated during the raids, and produced a new series of guitar marketed to draw attention to

10044-587: The guitar line with new guitars such as the "Les Paul" guitar introduced in 1952, endorsed by Les Paul , a popular musician in the 1950s. The guitar was offered in Custom, Standard, Special, and Junior models. In the mid-1950s, the Thinline series was produced, which included a line of thinner guitars like the Byrdland . The first Byrdlands were slim, custom built, L-5 models for guitarists Billy Byrd and Hank Garland . Later,

10168-480: The harp eventually became a national symbol. Lyres propagated through the same areas, as far east as Estonia . European music between 800 and 1100 became more sophisticated, more frequently requiring instruments capable of polyphony . The 9th-century Persian geographer Ibn Khordadbeh mentioned in his lexicographical discussion of music instruments that, in the Byzantine Empire , typical instruments included

10292-630: The human motor impulse to add sound to emotional movements such as dancing. Eventually, some cultures assigned ritual functions to their musical instruments, using them for hunting and various ceremonies. Those cultures developed more complex percussion instruments and other instruments such as ribbon reeds, flutes, and trumpets. Some of these labels carry far different connotations from those used in modern day; early flutes and trumpets are so-labeled for their basic operation and function rather than resemblance to modern instruments. Among early cultures for whom drums developed ritual, even sacred importance are

10416-574: The latter half of the sixteenth century, orchestration came into common practice as a method of writing music for a variety of instruments. Composers now specified orchestration where individual performers once applied their own discretion. The polyphonic style dominated popular music, and the instrument makers responded accordingly. Beginning in about 1400, the rate of development of musical instruments increased in earnest as compositions demanded more dynamic sounds. People also began writing books about creating, playing, and cataloging musical instruments;

10540-443: The latter of which has been excavated and preserved by archaeologists. The Zhou dynasty saw percussion instruments such as clappers , troughs, wooden fish , and yǔ (wooden tiger). Wind instruments such as flute, pan-pipes , pitch-pipes , and mouth organs also appeared in this time period. The xiao (an end-blown flute ) and various other instruments that spread through many cultures, came into use in China during and after

10664-483: The modern horn or, more colloquially, French horn, had emerged by 1725. The slide trumpet appeared, a variation that includes a long-throated mouthpiece that slid in and out, allowing the player infinite adjustments in pitch . This variation on the trumpet was unpopular due to the difficulty involved in playing it. Organs underwent tonal changes in the Baroque period, as manufacturers such as Abraham Jordan of London made

10788-477: The modernistic idea, though less extreme. In the late 1950s, McCarty knew that Gibson was seen as a traditional company and began an effort to create more modern guitars. In 1961 the body design of the Les Paul was changed due to the demand for a double-cutaway body design. The new body design then became known as the SG (for "solid guitar"), due to disapproval from Les Paul himself. The original Les Paul design returned to

10912-458: The most profound changes occurred during the Renaissance period. Instruments took on other purposes than accompanying singing or dance, and performers used them as solo instruments. Keyboards and lutes developed as polyphonic instruments, and composers arranged increasingly complex pieces using more advanced tablature . Composers also began designing pieces of music for specific instruments. In

11036-400: The music that accompanied wedding and circumcision ceremonies. Persian miniatures provide information on the development of kettle drums in Mesopotamia that spread as far as Java. Various lutes, zithers, dulcimers , and harps spread as far as Madagascar to the south and modern-day Sulawesi to the east. Despite the influences of Greece and Rome, most musical instruments in Europe during

11160-516: The neck to large pipe organs. Literary accounts of organs being played in English Benedictine abbeys toward the end of the tenth century are the first references to organs being connected to churches. Reed players of the Middle Ages were limited to oboes ; no evidence of clarinets exists during this period. Musical instrument development was dominated by the Occident from 1400 on, indeed,

11284-504: The nevel must be similar to vertical harp due to its relation to nabla , the Phoenician term for "harp". In Greece , Rome , and Etruria , the use and development of musical instruments stood in stark contrast to those cultures' achievements in architecture and sculpture. The instruments of the time were simple and virtually all of them were imported from other cultures. Lyres were the principal instrument, as musicians used them to honor

11408-538: The oldest known musical instrument and the only Neanderthal musical instrument. Mammoth bone and swan bone flutes have been found dating back to 30,000 to 37,000 years old in the Swabian Alps of Germany. The flutes were made in the Upper Paleolithic age, and are more commonly accepted as being the oldest known musical instruments. Archaeological evidence of musical instruments was discovered in excavations at

11532-423: The original Rivoli, and had a bolt-on, full-scale maple neck, other hardware and a redesigned body. The original run from 1959 to 1970, with a hiatus in 1962-63, featured one model, the single-pickup variant, which remained structurally unchanged from start to finish. Only the hardware changed – from a single-coil pickup (in 1959) to a humbucker (1960-70), from banjo tuners to standard Kluson tuners in 1961, and from

11656-491: The ownership of historical brands such as Kalamazoo , Dobro , Valley Arts , and Baldwin (including Chickering , Hamilton, and Wurlitzer ). It also owned Slingerland Drum Company but it was sold to Drum Workshop in November 2019. Gibson relaunched Kramer Guitars at Winter NAMM 2020 on January 16. Icon, Baretta, Pacer, Focus, and SM-1 are in the original collection with the modern collection including Assault, Striker, Nite-V, and Bass. The artists collaborations for

11780-533: The people of the New Kingdom began using oboes , trumpets, lyres , lutes , castanets , and cymbals . Unlike Mesopotamia and Egypt, professional musicians did not exist in Israel between 2000 and 1000 BC. While the history of musical instruments in Mesopotamia and Egypt relies on artistic representations, the culture in Israel produced few such representations. Scholars must therefore rely on information gleaned from

11904-766: The period of time loosely referred to as the post-classical era and Europe in particular as the Middle Ages , China developed a tradition of integrating musical influence from other regions. The first record of this type of influence is in 384 AD, when China established an orchestra in its imperial court after a conquest in Turkestan . Influences from Middle East, Persia, India, Mongolia, and other countries followed. In fact, Chinese tradition attributes many musical instruments from this period to those regions and countries. Cymbals gained popularity, along with more advanced trumpets, clarinets, pianos, oboes, flutes, drums, and lutes. Some of

12028-573: The pickup gave it a different sound, and the two-point bridge was replaced by the three-point bridge used by Gibson from the mid-1970s onward. Black became a factory option for the finish. The Epiphone Rivoli II was available as well, a Rivoli with two pickups, making it a sibling of the Gibson EB-2D. Many Rivolis ended up in England, where their fat, hefty sound was well suited for Merseybeat and British Invasion bands. Notable Epiphone Rivoli players in

12152-426: The process of assigning names to these instruments is challenging since there is no clear distinction among various instruments and the words used to describe them. Although Sumerian and Babylonian artists mainly depicted ceremonial instruments, historians have distinguished six idiophones used in early Mesopotamia: concussion clubs, clappers, sistra , bells, cymbals, and rattles. Sistra are depicted prominently in

12276-610: The raids and seizures. In the midst of the controversy, commentators stated that the raid was a politically motivated act of retaliation by the Obama administration , as Juszkiewicz had frequently donated to Republican politicians. Chris Martin IV, the CEO of Gibson competitor C.F. Martin & Co. , had donated over $ 35,000 to the Democratic National Committee and Democratic candidates in

12400-507: The region included vertical harps derived from those of the Orient , lutes of Egyptian design, various pipes and organs, and clappers, which were played primarily by women. Evidence of musical instruments in use by early civilizations of India is almost completely lacking, making it impossible to reliably attribute instruments to the Munda and Dravidian language-speaking cultures that first settled

12524-539: The relaunched Kramer Guitar includes Tracii Guns 'Gunstar Voyager,' the Charlie Parra 'Vanguard' and the Dave Sabo 'Snake-Baret. Gibson has long made authorized copies of its most successful guitar designs, under the Epiphone brand name. They are less expensive than those bearing the Gibson name. A former competitor, Epiphone , was purchased by Gibson in 1957 and now makes competitively-priced Gibson-styled models, such as

12648-468: The rising popularity of the guitar. As the prevalence of string orchestras rose, wind instruments such as the flute, oboe, and bassoon were readmitted to counteract the monotony of hearing only strings. In the mid-seventeenth century, what was known as a hunter's horn underwent a transformation into an "art instrument" consisting of a lengthened tube, a narrower bore, a wider bell, and a much wider range. The details of this transformation are unclear, but

12772-532: The same time period. Though Martin featured several guitars in its catalog made with the same Indian wood as Gibson, but with correct documentation filed, the company was not subjected to a raid. Gibson filed a lawsuit November 18, 2010, in Federal court, the Central District of California, against WowWee USA and its Paper Jamz battery-operated guitar toys, charging trademark infringement. The lawsuit claimed

12896-433: The same type of carved, arched tops used on violins . By the 1930s, the company was also making flattop acoustic guitars, as well as one of the first commercially available hollow-body electric guitars , used and popularized by Charlie Christian . In 1944, Gibson was bought by Chicago Musical Instruments (CMI), which was acquired in 1969 by Panama-based conglomerate Ecuadorian Company Limited (ECL), that changed its name in

13020-475: The same year to Norlin Corporation. Gibson was owned by Norlin Corporation from 1969 to 1986. In 1986, the company was acquired by a group led by Henry Juszkiewicz and David H. Berryman. In November 2018, the company was acquired by a group of investors led by private equity firm Kohlberg Kravis Roberts (KKR). Gibson sells guitars under a variety of brand names and builds one of the world's best-known guitars,

13144-405: The scores. Trumpets traditionally had a "defective" range—they were incapable of producing certain notes with precision. New instruments such as the clarinet , saxophone , and tuba became fixtures in orchestras. Instruments such as the clarinet also grew into entire "families" of instruments capable of different ranges: small clarinets, normal clarinets, bass clarinets, and so on. Accompanying

13268-399: The singing human voice. As a result, many instruments that were incapable of larger ranges and dynamics, and therefore were seen as unemotional, fell out of favor. One such instrument was the shawm. Bowed instruments such as the violin , viola , baryton , and various lutes dominated popular music. Beginning in around 1750, however, the lute disappeared from musical compositions in favor of

13392-421: The sixteenth century, musical instrument builders gave most instruments – such as the violin – the "classical shapes" they retain today. An emphasis on aesthetic beauty also developed; listeners were as pleased with the physical appearance of an instrument as they were with its sound. Therefore, builders paid special attention to materials and workmanship, and instruments became collectibles in homes and museums. It

13516-692: The slides and tremolos of Hindu music. Rhythm was of paramount importance in Indian music of the time, as evidenced by the frequent depiction of drums in reliefs dating to the post-classical era. The emphasis on rhythm is an aspect native to Indian music. Historians divide the development of musical instruments in medieval India between pre-Islamic and Islamic periods due to the different influence each period provided. In pre-Islamic times, idiophones such as handbells , cymbals, and peculiar instruments resembling gongs came into wide use in Hindu music. The gong-like instrument

13640-465: The specimens found cannot be irrefutably placed as the earliest musical instruments. The Divje Babe Flute is a perforated bone discovered in 1995, in the northwest region of Slovenia by archaeologist Ivan Turk. Its origin is disputed, with many arguing that it is most likely the product of carnivores chewing the bone, but Turk and others argue that it is a Neanderthal -made flute. With its age estimated between 43,400 and 67,000 years old, it would be

13764-501: The stops more expressive and added devices such as expressive pedals. Sachs viewed this trend as a "degeneration" of the general organ sound. During the Classical and Romantic periods of music, lasting from roughly 1750 to 1900, many musical instruments capable of producing new timbres and higher volume were developed and introduced into popular music. The design changes that broadened the quality of timbres allowed instruments to produce

13888-465: The tradename Min-ETune, this device became standard on several models in 2014. Musical instrument A musical instrument is a device created or adapted to make musical sounds . In principle, any object that produces sound can be considered a musical instrument—it is through purpose that the object becomes a musical instrument. A person who plays a musical instrument is known as an instrumentalist . The history of musical instruments dates to

14012-441: The war he returned the factory to instruments before he retired. During World War II , instrument manufacturing at Gibson slowed due to shortages of wood and metal, and Gibson began manufacturing wood and metal parts for the military. Between 1942 and 1945, Gibson employed women to manufacture guitars. "Women produced nearly 25,000 guitars during World War II yet Gibson denied ever building instruments over this period", according to

14136-502: The world. However, contact among civilizations caused rapid spread and adaptation of most instruments in places far from their origin. By the post-classical era , instruments from Mesopotamia were in maritime Southeast Asia , and Europeans played instruments originating from North Africa . Development in the Americas occurred at a slower pace, but cultures of North , Central , and South America shared musical instruments. By 1400, musical instrument development slowed in many areas and

14260-546: Was a bronze disk that was struck with a hammer instead of a mallet. Tubular drums, stick zithers ( veena ), short fiddles, double and triple flutes, coiled trumpets, and curved India horns emerged in this time period. Islamic influences brought new types of drum, perfectly circular or octagonal as opposed to the irregular pre-Islamic drums. Persian influence brought oboes and sitars , although Persian sitars had three strings and Indian version had from four to seven. The Islamic culture also introduced double- clarinet instruments as

14384-580: Was denied by the court. The United States Department of Justice found emails from 2008 and 2009 in which Gibson employees discussed the "gray market" nature of the ebony wood available from a German wood dealer—who obtained it from a supplier in Madagascar—as well as plans to obtain the wood. It filed a civil proceeding in June 2011, the first such case under the amended Lacey Act , which requires importing companies to purchase legally harvested wood and follow

14508-457: Was dismissed with prejudice (dismissed permanently) January 11, 2011 by Federal Judge R. Gary Klausner. Gibson sent a cease and desist letter to Kiesel concerning two models that Kiesel makes—the ultra V and the 'California Singlecut.' According to Jeff Kiesel, Vice President of Kiesel, the letter claims that Kiesel's design infringes upon the Flying V design of Gibson. German manufacturer Warwick

14632-409: Was dominated by the Occident . During the Classical and Romantic periods of music, lasting from roughly 1750 to 1900, many new musical instruments were developed. While the evolution of traditional musical instruments slowed beginning in the 20th century, the proliferation of electricity led to the invention of new electric and electronic instruments, such as electric guitars , synthesizers , and

14756-455: Was during this period that makers began constructing instruments of the same type in various sizes to meet the demand of consorts , or ensembles playing works written for these groups of instruments. Instrument builders developed other features that endure today. For example, while organs with multiple keyboards and pedals already existed, the first organs with solo stops emerged in the early fifteenth century. These stops were meant to produce

14880-414: Was not interrupted by the bankruptcy. Additionally, $ 135 million was provided by existing creditors to provide liquidity to maintain existing operations. Later that year Juszkiewicz stepped down as CEO and assumed the role of consultant , and a new management team was put in place. The company exited Chapter 11 bankruptcy in November 2018. In July 2021, Gibson announced the launch of Gibson Records,

15004-513: Was previously common only in singing. Similar to the process of reduplication in language, instrument players first developed repetition and then arrangement. An early form of melody was produced by pounding two stamping tubes of slightly different sizes—one tube would produce a "clear" sound and the other would answer with a "darker" sound. Such instrument pairs also included bullroarers , slit drums, shell trumpets , and skin drums. Cultures who used these instrument pairs associated them with gender;

15128-476: Was settled on August 6, 2012, with Gibson admitting to violating the Lacey Act and agreeing to pay a fine of $ 300,000 in addition to a $ 50,000 community payment. Gibson also forfeited the wood seized in the raids, which was valued at roughly the same amount as the settlement. However, in a subsequent statement Gibson maintained its innocence with Juszkiewicz claiming that "Gibson was inappropriately targeted" and that

15252-406: Was sued by Gibson with the claim that one of the models sold under the 'Framus' brand imitated the Flying V and that customers were being misled due to this. Gibson sought a stop on the sales of these guitars and also stated that "Warwick was unfairly exploiting the reputation of Gibson Guitars." The Hamburg regional court initially ruled in favour of Gibson in 2017. However, successive judgements from

15376-571: Was the gong. While the gong likely originated in the geographical area between Tibet and Burma , it was part of every category of human activity in maritime Southeast Asia including Java . The areas of Mesopotamia and the Arabian Peninsula experiences rapid growth and sharing of musical instruments once they were united by Islamic culture in the seventh century. Frame drums and cylindrical drums of various depths were immensely important in all genres of music. Conical oboes were involved in

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