Gibson - Guitar Champion
Gibson Guitar company has been making guitars since the 1920s, when they evolved from a producer of mandolins. Though celebrated even then, it was in the 1950s into the 1960s and beyond that the company really hit its stride from a design point of view. The Les Paul and other famed instruments made then are among the most wildly played by professionals, and the most revered among enthusiasts.
It produced one of the first electric models, the ES-150, an electric Spanish design. When guitarist Les Paul gained fame in the late 1940s/early 1950s, he collaborated with Gibson’s designers to create what would become a standard among those in the know. Today, there are dozens of different styles that carry the Les Paul name, many just as proudly as they have for over 50 years.
Gibson is well-reputed for its whole line of electric guitars, a field it pioneered. The above-named Les Paul is just one major reason.
The Les Paul Standard has earned that name, thanks to its stellar design and construction. With a AA Maple top and Mahogany back and sides, it reverberates with style and outstanding sound. The Rosewood fretboard has a clean, solid attack surface that never tires you. And, the instrument has hardware to match its superior wood, with clean and smooth gold-plated control knobs and superior humbucker double pickups.
Since its debut in 1952, it has truly been a standard among professional guitarists. But it is hardly the only one, since the excellence of the originals is still around today. The company recently re-issued the classic 1961 SG, famed for its style and tone. From its bat-shaped wings to the gold-plated ‘57 Classic-style pickups it is a work of art. Ebony-finished, it never went out of style.
Gibson has been an innovator in all areas: shape, material, electronics and that elusive ’something’ that distinguishes a superior instrument from a merely ordinary one. One other contemporary model that has benefited from that experience: The Hummingbird.
Aptly named, this so-called ’square shoulder dreadnought’ style looks and sounds like what a guitar should. With an outstandingly responsive top of Sitka Spruce and back and sides made from Mahagony, it has a warm tone with bright highlights that ring out in the hands of a master artisan. The Rosewood fingerboard, with pearl inlays provides just the right surface for attack.
The overall result is a stellar example of the luthier’s art that any musician can appreciate. There’s a reason Gibson’s sell for $1,500. Handmade in the company’s Bozeman, MT facility for acoustic guitar production, they’re worth every penny.