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 Post subject: Gibson History
PostPosted: Thu Apr 24, 2008 10:37 pm 
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Can anyone help with a couple of questions I have on history of Gibson guitars and the background to the name ??

Was Gibson a person or just company name?
What year and where did they start to sell guitars.. I'd guess USA but as my interest is in UK...I'd like to know both!

If a person, who was it? and when and where did it all begin?

(website has loads of connections with USA but not so many in UK)

Any help from you would be good and thanks in advance.

AAx

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PostPosted: Thu Apr 24, 2008 10:40 pm 
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Orville Gibson

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gibson_Guitar_Corporation

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PostPosted: Thu Apr 24, 2008 11:03 pm 
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Cheers!

Orville that's a crap name ....poor man.

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PostPosted: Fri Apr 25, 2008 1:00 pm 
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I have had many, many discussions with much older guitarists who were around in the 1950s about the availability of American instruments.

There was an embargo on imported instruments from America. We could get European ones no problem, but U.S built ones - virtually forget it. The only way possible was to contact the manufacturer directly and how many were in the position to do that? Not many - except for Cliff Richard and Hank Marvin in 1959.

Alternatively, U.S instruments occasionally did appear because of them being bought by sailors + ship crew in New York etc... and being brought back here. George Harrison's 1957 Gretsch Duo Jet was bought this way (he got it second hand in 1961). It was only at the end of the 1950's that the rules were relaxed and done away with.

We all know the first Fender over here was Hank Marvin's Stratocaster ordered directly from Leo Fender in mid 1959 - I talked to a chap who worked for Selmer in 1959/'60 - Selmer became the importer for Fender in 1960 and he had the first 'official' Stratocaster in that same year. Sunburst with a rosewood fingerboard. Cost an absolute fortune too - anyone who complains about the prices of new Fenders and Gibsons should look at back then for a reality check - it was the equivalent to about £5,000

Gibsons appeared in shops around the same time - although I have seen photos of odd models in the UK before 1960. However, they would have been brought across in 'unofficial' ways. Marty Wilde's guitarist, Big Jim Sullivan, got a '53 Les Paul Goldtop in about 1958 that was reputedly Sister Rosetta Tharpe's. Again, it was aquired in a strange way - like with most other 'UK' Gibson's of that period, no shops were involved. In 1960 he 'officially' got a top of the range cherry red stereo Gibson ES 355

I remember talking to someone about a sunburst 1959 Les Paul Standard - he recalled seeing two for sale in a London shop in about 1962. He played one - didn't like it and bought a telecaster instead. They were brand new - not second hand and still hadn't sold months later. Now look at the prices.... :roll:


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PostPosted: Fri Apr 25, 2008 4:04 pm 
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Sir-Twangalot wrote:
with much older guitarists who were around


older than you, twangy ??

never !

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PostPosted: Fri Apr 25, 2008 4:54 pm 
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I'm still a young lad aren't I?


Well that's what I keep telling myself. :wink:

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PostPosted: Sat Apr 26, 2008 2:11 pm 
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[I remember talking to someone about a sunburst 1959 Les Paul Standard - he recalled seeing two for sale in a London shop in about 1962. He played one - didn't like it and bought a telecaster instead. They were brand new - not second hand and still hadn't sold months later. Now look at the prices....]

That's interesting, back in the 70's an ex of mine got one, he didn't like it but he held on to it for a while because of the name.

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PostPosted: Sat Apr 26, 2008 5:54 pm 
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There's a chap who used to set my guitars up who, years ago, was approached by a member of 10cc - he had a '59 Les Paul Standard and wanted it converting to a double cutaway :shock:

The luthier in question declined and the guitarist (could have been Eric Stewart?) had it done by someone in Leeds. Years later it was converted back - they had kept the sawn off chunk.




Morons.

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PostPosted: Sat Apr 26, 2008 8:48 pm 
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was that ted lee ? i'm sure he told me something like that yonks ago.

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PostPosted: Sun Apr 27, 2008 10:37 am 
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Yes it was Ted Lee who did the (ouch) job - he also put it back years later. Apparently did a really good repair on it too. It was Paul McNab from Huddersfield who turned the vandalism down - Paul's an amazing luthier btw. Really, really good.

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PostPosted: Sun Apr 27, 2008 1:15 pm 
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i rember ted saying what idiot would want to do that, but he was getting paid handsomely so....

i met ted cos i used to have an original epiphone casino and it fell offstage breaking the headstock off !!!!

ted fixed it nigh on invisibly.

i put it for sale in the guitar player shop in rochdale whence it was stolen.
the only guitars they nicked were mine and a pre cbs strat. classy thieves.

i was so upset that i never got to find out who got it

if you ever see a casino, number 001965......................

it's mine.

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PostPosted: Sun Apr 27, 2008 1:40 pm 
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I didn't know you played.....?


You've kept that quiet from me.

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