gibson retail guide

7/30/2019 Gibson Retail Guide

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TIMELINE

1894 Orville Gibson of Kalamazoo, MI, invents the

archtop guitar and mandolin

1902 The Gibson company formed

1921 Gibson invents the adjustable truss rod

still the industry standard and the height

adjustable bridge

1935 Gibsons first electric model, the E-150 Hawaiian

lap steel

1936 First standard Gibson electric, the ES-150

(ES stands for Electric Spanish)

1939 First cutaway Gibsons Super 400 Premier andL-5 Premier

1946 The P-90 single-coil pickup debuts

1949 First three-pickup guitar, the Gibson ES-5

1949 First guitar with a Florentine pointed cutaway,

the Gibson ES-175

1952 Gibsons first solidbody electric, the Les Paul Model

1954 Les Paul Custom Black Beauty and Les Paul

Junior officially introduced

1954 Tune-o-matic bridge, designed by Gibson president

Ted McCarty, introduced on Les Paul Custom

1955 Les Paul Special introduced

1957 Double-coil humbucking pickup debuts, invented

by Gibsons Seth Lover

1958 First cherry sunburst finish on Les Paul Model,

name changed to Les Paul Standard

1958 Explorer, Flying V and Moderne introduced,

designed by Ted McCarty

1958 First semi-hollowbody electric guitar, the ES-335,

invented by Ted McCarty

1959 Les Paul Special gets double-cutaway body

1961 Les Paul line changes to SG body shape

1963 SG model name is official, Les Paul name dropped

1963 Firebird guitars and Thunderbird basses introduced

1968 Les Paul Standard and Custom reintroduced

1974 Gibson opens a plant in Nashville to make Les Pauls

1982 First solidbody acoustic, the Gibson Chet Atkins CE

1984 Gibson closes Kalamazoo plant, moves headquarters

to Nashville

1986 Current owners Henry Juszkiewicz and

Dave Berryman acquire Gibson

2002 Gibson introduces worlds first digital guitar

FEATURES

FACTS

ADVANTAGES

A RETAIL SALES GUIDE FOR

GIBSONSOLIDBODY

GUITARS

ELECTRIC

A RETAIL SALES GUIDE FOR

GIBSONSOLIDBODY

GUITARS

ELECTRIC


2/4


3/4

SET NECK(EXCEPT NECK-THRU FIREBIRD MODELS)

5 Glued neck joint not bolted or screwed formaximum contact between neck and body

ADNeck and body function as single unit = better

tone, better sustain

5 No air space in neck cavityADNo loose or misaligned neck = no shimmy or

tuning problems

ANGLED HEADSTOCK

5 Strings cross nut at an angle of up to17 degrees, increasing string pressure

ADNo loss of vibration of strings between nut and

tuners = better sustain

ADStrings stay in nut slots (no buzz)

ADNo need for string trees or string guides tocompensate for bad headstock design

BINDINGVERY LABOR INTENSIVE, BUT MAKES

A GUITAR LOOK BETTER. AND

5 Protects edgesADFewer dings in areas most susceptible to damage

5 Neck binding installed over fret ends (most makersinstall frets after binding, exposing fret ends)

AD Smooth neck, no cut hands

LACQUER FINISH

NITROCELLULOSE LACQUER (MULTIPLE COATSON MOST MODELS) INSTEAD OF POLYURETHANE

USED BY MOST GUITAR MANUFACTURERS, USED

BY GIBSON ON ALL MODELS SINCE 1894

5 RepairableAD Scratches and dings can be touched up. A poly

finish can NOT be touched up.

5 Porous natureAD Does not seal wood in an airtight shell as poly

does, lets wood breathe = better tone

5 Dries to a thinner coat than polyAD Less interference with natural vibration of

instrument = purer tone

EQUILIBRIUM MOISTURE CONTENT5 Wood is dried to a point of equilibrium

determined by the temperature and humidity ofthe factory where the moisture content doesnot change during the manufacturing process

AD Tight-fitting joints, no expansion, shrinkage orwarping

5 All wood has same moisture contentAD After leaving plant, guitar responds evenly to

temperature and humidity changes


4/4

PICK

UPS

PICKUP

S

MAGNET

DESC

RIPTION

490

AlnicoII

classicdesign,upper-midboost

498

AlnicoV

classicdesign,

hottermagnet

496

ceramic

hotsound,neckposition

500

ceramic

super

hot,USAshighestoutput

AngusY

oung

AlnicoV

highoutput

57Classic

AlnicoII

vintagespecs,matchedbobbinwindings

BurstBucker1

AlnicoII

unm

atchedbobbinwindings,

slight

lyunderwound

BurstBucker2

AlnicoII

unm

atchedbobbinwindings,

same

rangeas57Classic

BurstBuckerPro

AlnicoV

neck

andbridge,

likeBB1and

2with

hottermagnet

Minihu

mbucker

AlnicoII

cuttin

gsound

BURSTBUCKERPRO(NEC

K)

BURSTBUCKERPRO(BRIDG

E)

BURSTBUCKERTYPE

1

BURSTBUCKERTYPE

2

BURSTBUCKERTYPE

3

57CLASS

IC

57CLASSICPLUS

TONYIOMMI

ANGUSYOUN

G

DIRTYFINGERS

490R

490T

498T

500T

496R

MINIHUMBUCKER

P-90

P-94R

P-94T

RELATIVEOU

TPUT

W

edrywoodtobelow7%m

oisturecontent,

as

someguitarmakersclaim,

isa

meaningless

statement.Woodshouldbedried

toalevelof

eq

uilibriumwhereitneither

gainsnorloses

mo

isturecontentandthatleveldependson

the

temperatureandhumidityof

thefacility.

GREEN

AtGibsonUSA,wemaintainhumidityat

45%.

Atatemperatureof70degrees,woodreaches

the

equilibrium

levelat8.5

%m

oisturecontent.Any

low

erorhigher,andthewoodwillnotbestable.

YEL

LOW

Wedrybelow7%.

Ifbelow7%gets

dow

nto6.5

%,

thenthisguitarm

akerneedsto

kee

phisplantat35%h

umidity

withatemperature

of100degrees.

RED

Aguitarmakerinadryclimate,witha

humiditylevelof25%,needsto

drywoodeven

farther

below6%

toreacheq

uilibrium.

EQU

ILIBRIUM

MOISTU

RECONTENTTAB

LE

30F

40F

50F

60F

70F

80F

90F

100F

110F

120F

1.1

C

4.4

C

10.0

C

15.5

C

21.1

C

26.6

C

32.2

C

37.7

C

43.3

C

48.8

C

5%

1.4

1.4

1.4

1.3

1.3

1.3

1.2

1.2

1.1

1.1

10%

2.6

2.6

2.6

2.5

2.5

2.4

2.3

2.3

2.2

2.1

15%

3.7

3.7

3.7

3.6

3.5

3.5

3.4

3.3

3.2

3

20%

4.6

4.6

4.6

4.6

4.5

4.4

4.3

4.2

4

3.9

25%

5.5

5.5

5.5

5.4

5.4

5.3

5.1

5

4.9

4.7

30%

6.3

6.3

6.3

6.2

6.2

6.1

5.9

5.8

5.6

5.4

35%

7.1

7.1

7.1

7

6.9

6.8

6.7

6.5

6.3

6.1

40%

7.9

7.9

7.9

7.8

7.7

7.6

7.4

7.2

7

6.8

45%

8.7

8.7

8.7

8.6

8.5

8.3

8.1

7.9

7.7

7.5

50%

9.5

9.5

9.5

9.4

9.2

9.1

8.9

8.7

8.4

8.2

55%

10.4

10.4

10.3

10.2

10.1

9.9

9.7

9.5

9.2

8.9

60%

11.3

11.3

11.2

11.1

11

10.8

10.5

10.3

10

9.7

65%

12.4

12.3

12.3

12.1

12

11.7

11.5

11.2

11

10.6

70%

13.5

13.5

13.4

13.3

13.1

12.9

12.6

12.3

12

11.7

75%

14.9

14.9

14.8

14.6

14.4

14.2

13.9

13.6

13.2

12.9

80%

16.5

16.5

16.4

16.2

16

15.7

15.4

15.1

14.7

14.4

85%

18.5

18.5

18.4

18.2

17.9

17.7

17.3

17

16.6

16.2

90%

21

21

20.9

20.7

20.5

20.2

19.8

19.5

19.1

18.6

95%

24.3

24.3

24.3

24.1

23.9

23.6

23.3

22.9

22.4

22

98%

26.9

26.9

26.9

26.8

26.6

26.3

26

25.6

25.2

24.7

RH

(RH=

RELATIVEHU

MIDITY

%)

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