Henry Juszkiewicz

Gibson Brands Inc. (formerly Gibson Guitar Corporation) 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 the same type of carved, arched tops used on violins.

Orville Gibson began to sell his instruments in 1894 out of a one-room workshop in Kalamazoo, Michigan.

Orville Gibson patented a single-piece mandolin design in 1898 that was more durable than other mandolins and could be manufactured in volume.

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 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.

"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 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."

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.

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.

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."

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 the next two decades "The Guy Hart Era" and spelled it out in his definitive history of the company:.

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 the military.

Between 1942 and 1945, Gibson employed women to manufacture guitars.

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 the same year to Norlin Corporation.

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 the Gibson Pro Audio division, which includes KRK.

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.

The company was formerly known as Gibson Guitar Corporation and renamed Gibson Brands Inc. on June 11, 2013.

"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 statementshttps://kalamazoogals.com.

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 November 2018, the company was acquired by a group of investors led by private equity firm Kohlberg Kravis Roberts.

Gibson sells guitars under a variety of brand names and builds one of the world's best-known guitars, the Gibson Les Paul.

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.