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86-583: Dobro , National , National Reso-Phonic , A resonator guitar or resophonic guitar (often erroneously called a " Dobro ") is an acoustic guitar that produces sound by conducting string vibrations through the bridge to one or more spun metal cones ( resonators ), instead of to the guitar's sounding board (top). Resonator guitars were originally designed to be louder than regular acoustic guitars, which were overwhelmed by horns and percussion instruments in dance orchestras. They became prized for their distinctive tone, and found life with bluegrass music and

172-465: 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 the government raids were "so outrageous and overreaching as to deserve further Congressional investigation." Juszkiewicz continued to state, "We felt compelled to settle as

258-403: 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 the guitar line with new guitars such as the "Les Paul" guitar introduced in 1952, endorsed by Les Paul , a popular musician in

344-512: 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 the environmental laws of the producing countries regardless of corruption or lack of enforcement. Gibson argued in a statement

430-509: 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 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

516-428: 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

602-538: 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, 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,

688-574: A large volume and variety of fretted instruments under many names, with National as its premium brand. By the early 1960s, Valco again produced resonator guitars for mail order under the brand name National . These instruments had biscuit resonators and bodies of wood and fiberglass . In the late 1980s, the National brand and trademark reappeared with the formation of National Reso-Phonic Guitars . The company produces six-string resonator guitars of all three traditional resonator types, focusing on reproducing

774-510: 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 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

860-528: A major shareholder in National. By 1932, the Dopyera brothers had gained control of both National and Dobro, which they merged to form the National-Dobro Company. By the 1940s, National-Dobro had been purchased by Valco . Valco ceased production of Dobro-branded guitars after World War II ; however, the Dopyera brothers continued to manufacture resonator guitars under various other brand names. In 1964,

946-578: A record $ 112,500. Existing and past models of resonator guitars manufactured by the Gibson Company are: Gibson Guitar Corporation Gibson, Inc. (formerly Gibson Guitar Corporation and Gibson Brands Inc. ) 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

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1032-433: A single resonator with its concave surface uppermost, often described as bowl-shaped , under a distinctive circular perforated metal cover plate with the bridge at its center resting on an eight-legged aluminum spider. This system was cheaper to produce, and produced more volume than National's tricone. Over time, the word "dobro" has become a genericized trademark used to refer to any resonator guitar. National countered

1118-431: A slightly greater variety of possible tunings, while round-necked guitars give a much greater variety of playing positions. Single resonator instruments can have round sound holes with screens, or round sound holes without screens, which many players used to remove to improve the bass response. They can also have f-holes, often with gauze screens that are also sometimes removed but have an important function in strengthening

1204-604: A smaller location and plans to sell the Memphis property. Gibson opened its Memphis facility 18 years before, which occupies just a portion of 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,

1290-457: A spider bridge resonator guitar in the 1940s and 1950s in Australia. They were made out of cheap Australian timber using a tone ring rather than a tone well but they had no neck reinforcement and a pressed (rather than spun) cone, often called a pillow cone due to the shapes pressed into the face to strengthen the cone. Many examples exist today. As of 2010, Don Morrison was producing resonators under

1376-421: A steel guitar while blues players favored round-necked National-style guitars, often played with a bottleneck . The resonator guitar is most often played as a lap steel guitar, and the more common square-necked version is limited to this playing position. Square neck instruments are always set up with the high action favored by steel guitar players, and tuned to a suitable open tuning . The round necked version

1462-675: 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 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

1548-637: A time. In 1967, Rudy and Emile Dopyera formed the Original Musical Instrument Company (OMI) to manufacture resonator guitars, first branded Hound Dog. In 1970 they again acquired the Dobro trademark, Mosrite having gone into temporary liquidation. The Gibson Guitar Corporation acquired OMI in 1993, and announced it would defend its right to exclusive use of the Dobro trademark—which many people commonly used for any resonator guitar. As of 2006, Gibson produces several round sound hole models under

1634-469: A variety of pickup types—and some players retrofit pickups to non-electric instruments. Most commonly, resonator guitars use piezoelectric pickups (contact type transducers) placed under the bridge or elsewhere on the instrument, or use specialized microphones placed inside the instrument or directly in front of the cone to preserve the resonator's distinctive tone. However, all acoustic and semi-acoustic styles are very sensitive to audio feedback , making

1720-401: Is both a contraction of 'Dopyera brothers' and a word meaning 'good' in their native Slovak , but also in many Slavic languages . An early company motto was "Dobro means good in any language." In 1930, the Dobro company name was changed to Dobro Corporation, Ltd., with additional capital provided by Louis and Robert Dopyera. Dobro was, during this period, a competitor of National. The Dobro

1806-401: Is equally capable in either lap steel or Spanish guitar position. It may be set up with a variety of action heights, ranging from the half-inch favored for steel guitar (making use of the frets almost impossible) to the small fraction of an inch used by conventional guitarists. A compromise is most common, allowing use of a bottleneck on the top strings but also use of the frets as desired, with

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1892-563: 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 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

1978-660: Is pictured on the cover of the Dire Straits album Brothers in Arms . Single resonator guitars with a bowl resonator and spider ( Dobro style ) are often heard in bluegrass music, while tricone ( National style ) instruments are still preferred by many blues players. Single-resonator biscuit (also sometimes called National style ) instruments are also produced, and give a different sound again. Many bluegrass players prefer wooden bodies, blues players either metal or wood. The early metal-bodied instruments were generally of better quality than

2064-523: 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 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

2150-595: 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, the PAF ("Patent Applied For"), first released in 1957 and still sought after for its sound. In 1958, Gibson produced two new designs:

2236-605: 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 was dismissed with prejudice (dismissed permanently) January 11, 2011 by Federal Judge R. Gary Klausner. Gibson sent

2322-645: 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 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,

2408-545: The National String Instrument Corporation to manufacture resonator guitars under the brand name "National". The first models were metal-bodied, and featured three conical aluminum resonators joined by a T-shaped aluminum bar that supported the bridge—a system called the tricone. National originally produced wooden-bodied Tricone models at their factory in Los Angeles, California . They called these models

2494-623: 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 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,

2580-638: 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 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

2666-425: The blues well after electric amplification solved the problem of inadequate volume. Resonator guitars are of two styles: There are three main resonator designs: Many variations of all these styles and designs have been produced under many brand names. The body of a resonator guitar may be made of wood, metal, or occasionally other materials. Typically there are two main sound holes, positioned on either side of

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2752-707: 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, 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

2838-777: 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 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

2924-454: The Dinâmico guitar, which is still in production, Del Vecchio also produced Dinâmico cavaquinhos , approximately like a resonator ukulele , and resonator mandolins . They also produce standard acoustic instruments, as well as Hawaiian-style lap steel guitars . In the late 1990s Amistar, a Czech Republic manufacturer, began marketing tricone resonator guitars. Wayne Acoustic Guitars produced

3010-574: The Dobro name, and cheaper f-hole models both under the Hound Dog name and also its Epiphone brand. All have a single resonator, and many are available in either round or square neck. After the formation of the National Dobro Corporation, the term National was often used to refer to an instrument with a non-inverted cone, to distinguish these designs from the inverted-cone Dobro. Makers particularly used it for single-cone biscuit designs, as

3096-654: The Dobro story can be traced to the 1920s when Slovak immigrant John Dopyera , instrument repairman and inventor, and musician George Beauchamp were searching for more volume for Beauchamp's guitars. Dopyera built an ampliphonic (or "resonator") for Beauchamp, which was patented in December 1929. In mid-1929, Dopyera left the National String Instrument Corporation to start the Dobro Manufacturing Company along with his brothers Rudy and Ed, and Vic Smith. National continued operating under Beauchamp, Barth et al. Dobro

3182-475: The Dobro with its own single resonator model, which Dopyera had designed before he left the company. They also continued to produce the tricone design, which many players preferred for its tone. Both National single and tricone resonators remained conical, with their convex surfaces uppermost. Single resonator models used a wooden biscuit at the cone apex to support the bridge. At this point, both companies sourced many components from Adolph Rickenbacker , including

3268-613: The Donmo brand name. Asian brands such as Regal , Johnson, Recording King , Republic Guitars, and Rogue also produce or import a wide variety of comparatively inexpensive resonator guitars. Johnson has also produced resonator ukuleles and mandolins. A company called Gallotone in South Africa produced resonator guitars in the 1950s and 1960s.. Resonator guitars are popularly used in bluegrass music and in blues. Traditionally, bluegrass players used square necked Dobro-style instruments played as

3354-691: The Dopyera brothers revived the Dobro brand name. They sold the name to Semie Moseley in 1966. In 1970, the Dopyeras' Original Musical Instrument Company (OMI) yet again reacquired the Dobro name. In 1993, the Gibson Guitar Corporation acquired OMI along with the Dobro name. The company became Gibson's Original Acoustic Instruments division, and production was moved to Nashville in 2000. As of February 2012 , Dobros were manufactured by Gibson subsidiary Epiphone . As of January 2023 , Dobros were not listed on Epiphone's website. The Dobro

3440-786: 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 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

3526-553: 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 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

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3612-534: 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 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

3698-528: The Triolian, but made only 12 of them. They changed the body meant for tricones to single-cone models, but kept the name. In 1928, Dopyera left National to form the Dobro Manufacturing Company with his brothers Rudy, Emile, Robert, and Louis, "Dobro" being a contraction of Do pyera Bro thers' and also meaning "good" in their native Slovak language . Dobro released a competing resonator guitar with

3784-509: The aluminum resonators. After much legal action, the Dopyera brothers gained control of both National and Dobro in 1932, and subsequently merged them into the "National Dobro Corporation". However, they ceased all resonator guitars production following the U.S. entry into World War II in 1941. Emile Dopyera (also known as Ed Dopera) manufactured Dobros from 1959, before selling the company and trademark to Semie Moseley , who merged it with his Mosrite guitar company and manufactured Dobros for

3870-493: 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, a record label focused on releasing "guitar-centric music, across genres", with its first album being

3956-416: The belly particularly if the body is of wood. An enormous number of combinations are possible, most can be found either on old or new instruments or both, and many styles of music can be played on any resonator guitar. Though the original aim of the resonator was increased volume, some modern instruments incorporate electric pickups and related technology. Many modern makers produce instruments with one of

4042-447: The bluegrass genre is most often an open G with the strings pitched to D G D G B D or G B D G B D, from the lowest to highest. Occasionally variant tunings are used, such as an open D : D A D F# A D. Other notable bluegrass players include Jerry Douglas , Mike Auldridge , Rob Ickes , Phil Leadbetter and Andy Hall. The resonator guitar was used in older country music , notably by Bashful Brother Oswald of Roy Acuff 's band, but

4128-662: 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 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

4214-403: 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 was not interrupted by

4300-568: 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 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

4386-523: The company launched Gibson TV, an online television network focused on guitars and music culture. Orville Gibson patented 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.

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4472-584: 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 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

4558-693: 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 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

4644-399: The cost of manufacture had priced the resonator guitar beyond the reach of many players. His failure to convince his fellow directors at National String Instrument Corporation to produce a single-cone version was a motivating factor for leaving. Since National had applied for a patent on an inward-facing single cone (US patent 1808756), Dopyera developed a design that reversed its direction:

4730-400: 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 the raids and seizures. In the midst of the controversy, commentators stated that the raid was a politically motivated act of retaliation by

4816-812: The design and placement of these pickups extremely critical and specialized. Some modern models are manufactured with both piezoelectric and magnetic pickups . In addition, some piezoelectric styles are active pickups, in that they incorporate a preamplifier that increases the output of the pickup to match modern amplifier inputs. More recently, solid body electric resonator guitars have appeared. These instruments incorporate one or more magnetic pickups, and are played via amplification. As well as resonator guitars, resonators have been used on: Historic brands of resonator guitar still in use today include National , Dobro , and Regal . None of these brands are still owned by their original companies. Each returned after one or more long breaks in production: Dobro The Dobro

4902-505: The earliest wooden-bodied ones, but this may not be the case with more recent instruments. Metal bodies may be brass, aluminum or steel. Fiberglass has also been used as a body material, and a marble bodied resonator guitar is commercially available. Both metal and wooden bodies are often painted, or wooden bodies may be stained or lacquered, metal bodies may be plated or plain. Bluegrass players tend to use square necks, while blues players tend to prefer round necks. Square-necked guitars give

4988-443: 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 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

5074-521: The feel and sound of old instruments. Its other resonator instruments include a 12-string guitar , ukuleles and mandolins . Casa Del Vecchio Ltda. of São Paulo , Brazil, has produced a wide range of guitars and other string instruments since Angelo Del Vecchio founded the company in 1902. In the 1930s, they began producing resonator guitars, resulting in their most famous model: the Dinâmico, (their trade term for resophonic instruments). In addition to

5160-650: The fingerboard extension. In the case of single-cone models, the sound holes are either both circular or both f-shaped, and symmetrical. The older tricone design has irregularly shaped sound holes . Cutaway body styles may truncate or omit the lower f-hole. John Dopyera , responding to a request by the steel guitar player George Beauchamp , developed the resonator guitar to produce an instrument that could produce sufficient volume to compete with brass and reed instruments. Dopyera experimented with configurations of up to four resonator cones and with cones composed of several different metals. In 1927, Dopyera and Beauchamp formed

5246-509: 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, 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

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5332-482: 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 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

5418-511: 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 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,

5504-405: The guitar played in the conventional position. Many different tunings are used. Some square neck tunings are not recommended for round neck resonator guitars, owing to the high string tension required, which in turn requires the stronger square neck. Slack-key guitar tunings are most suitable for bottleneck playing, and conventional E-A-D-G-B-E guitar tuning is also popular. The resonator guitar

5590-485: The guitar's bridge rested on an eight-legged cast aluminum spider sitting on the perimeter of the cone (US patent 1896484), rather than on the apex of the cone as it did in the National design. In the following years, both Dobro and National built a wide variety of metal- and wood-bodied single-cone guitars, while National also continued with the tricone for a time. Both companies sourced many components from National director Adolph Rickenbacher , and John Dopyera remained

5676-553: The instruments because they were louder than standard acoustic guitars, which enabled them to play for a larger crowd in areas that did not yet have electricity for amplifiers. For the same reason street musicians like Arvella Gray used resonator guitars while busking , e.g. on Chicago's Maxwell Street . One of the few Delta Blues players to play lap style in the 1930s was Black Ace , also known as B.K. Turner. He toured and recorded with his mentor Oscar "Buddy" Woods , who also played lap style Resonator guitar and Lap Steel. Woods, who

5762-435: 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 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

5848-421: 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 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,

5934-476: 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 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

6020-401: The relatively elaborate and expensive tricone was for some time out of production. Players and collectors also used the term for the older tricone instruments, which despite their softer volume and rarity were still preferred by some players. In 1942, the National Dobro Corporation, which no longer produced Dobros or other resonator instruments, reorganized under the name Valco . Valco produced

6106-403: The serial numbering system in use until 2006. An eight-digit number on 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,

6192-588: The world of blues music, particularly the Southern style of country blues that grew out of the Mississippi Delta and Louisiana . Unlike country and bluegrass players, most blues players play the resonator guitar in the standard guitar position, with the fretboard facing away from the player. Many use slides or bottlenecks. Many players in the 1920s and 1930s, including Bo Carter , and others like Bukka White , Son House , Tampa Red and Blind Boy Fuller , used

6278-453: 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 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

6364-490: 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 is used for semi-hollow and custom shop instruments, while

6450-530: Was fifteen years older than Ace, taught him his guitar playing techniques. The instrument is still used by some blues players, notably Taj Mahal , Eric Sardinas , Alvin Hart , The Deacon Brandon Reeves, Warren Haynes , Derek Trucks , Doyle Bramhall II , Roland Chadwick , John Hammond Jr. , Roy Rogers , John Mooney , and Megan Lovell of Larkin Poe . Mark Knopfler has also played the guitar, and his National resonator

6536-419: Was first introduced to country music by Bashful Brother Oswald , who played dobro with Roy Acuff starting in January 1939. The first and second prototypes of the Dobro created by the brothers reside at the invention's birthplace of Taft, California, in a museum about the town's oil production history. On June 19, 2019, a 1933 Dobro Resonator Guitar Model 27, owned by David Gilmour was sold at auction for

6622-459: Was incorporated to market the instruments. Initially, the company produced only Orville Gibson's original designs. The company moved into 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

6708-411: Was introduced to bluegrass music by Josh Graves , who played with Flatt and Scruggs , in the mid-1950s. Graves used the hard-driving, syncopated three-finger picking style developed by Earl Scruggs for the five-string banjo. Modern players continue to play the instrument this way, with one notable exception being the late Tut Taylor who played with a flat pick. Tuning for the resonator guitar within

6794-404: Was largely supplanted by the pedal steel guitar during the 1950s. Despite this, the instrument is still frequently used as an alternative to the steel guitar. James Burton and Grady Martin played flat picked dobro on many recordings. Leon McAuliffe initially played a dobro before exclusively transitioning to electric lap and console steel guitars. The resonator guitar is also significant to

6880-592: Was originally a guitar manufacturing company founded by the Dopyera brothers with the name "Dobro Manufacturing Company". Their guitar design, with a single outward-facing resonator cone, was introduced to compete with the patented inward-facing tricone and biscuit designs produced by the National String Instrument Corporation . The Dobro name appeared on other instruments, notably electric lap steel guitars and solid body electric guitars and on other resonator instruments such as Safari resonator mandolins . The roots of

6966-427: Was shifted from Kalamazoo to Nashville, Tennessee . The Kalamazoo plant kept going for 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

7052-612: 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 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

7138-591: 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 the Gibson Custom Shop in March 2021. The opening of this division was announced in December 2019. On May 1, 2018,

7224-676: 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 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

7310-638: Was taken over by the South American brewing conglomerate ECL. Gibson remained under 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

7396-405: Was the third resonator guitar design by Dopyera, but the second to enter production. Unlike his earlier tricone design, which had three ganged inward-facing resonator cones, the Dobro had a single outward-facing cone, with its concave surface facing up. The Dobro company described this as a bowl-shaped resonator. The Dobro was louder than the tricone and cheaper to produce. In Dopyera's opinion,

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