The History of Gibson, Part Two

In our last feature, we explored how innovative luthier Orville Gibson helped build the Gibson name. Working by himself in a one-room shop in Kalamazoo, Michigan, Gibson quickly established his company as a premium mandolin manufacturer. Orville sold the company to five investors in 1902 for the equivalent of $250,000 today.

The Gibson company continued to modify its existing mandolin design in the first two decades of the 20^th century, decreasing its size and pick guard. An intense marketing campaign helped the flourishing company capture a large share of the mandolin market. Gibson soon expanded their lineup to include acoustic guitars, banjoes, and violins.

Luthier Lloyd Loar joined the company in 1919 as an acoustical engineer and carved the F-5 mandolin and the L-5 guitar (pictured to the right). The Gibson L-5 was the company's first arch top guitar to feature f-holes instead of traditional round sound holes. The guitar soon became the standard in the orchestra scene.

Loar's technical contributions to stringed instruments are unrivaled. The inventor implemented a long list of features including longer necks, elevated fretboards, and arched soundboards. Loar is also credited with designing a prototype of an electrostatic pickup system, one of the first developments in electric amplification. Ironically, Gibson rejected his experimental product, prompting Loar to resign from the company.

It wasn't until a decade later, nearly half a century after Orville Gibson opened his shop, that the Gibson Guitar Corporation would begin work on its first electric guitar...