From mandolins made in Kalamazoo Michigan in the later part of the 1800s to the majestic Les Paul guitar that Gibson is best known for, the disciples of the well-known Gibson company (established in the 1920s), formerly known as Gibson Mandolin Guitar Manufacturing Co., Ltd., has succeeded in keeping one of America's best guitar brands as the benchmark by which other guitars are now being measured. Gibson has come a long way, even further than what its founder could've even dreamed of reaching. In those days, businesses weren't exactly as technical and in-depth with their approach to consumer needs but the stiff competition that Fender brought into market allowed for the manufacturing of reliable Gibson guitars and equipment to boot. The guitarist, aptly named Les Paul, almost had everything to do with the inception of the most likable Gibson brand: the Les Paul, but unfortunately, he may have had better things to do than indulge in improving the make and tone of this guitar and preferred to simply endorse it.
The early Les Pauls, namely the Custom, Standard, Studio and others, which now sports top-of-the-line hardware, superior humbucker pickups and its traditional high quality solid-body, underwent its own unique evolution. The continuous development and refinement of this model led to the conceptualization of the Gibson SG. The SG guitar, or better known as the more awkward looking Les Paul with its dual-cutaway design, also achieved legendary status after rockdom's biggest icons began endorsing the said model. Other Gibson guitars that introduced a more progressive look were the Explorer (often used by James Hetfield of Metallica) and the Flying-V (also used by another Metallica member, Kirk Hammett).
In the early 80s, Gibson moved to Nashville and soon the business suffered to the point where the company required a change of ownership to improve the quality and sales of its products. It was then that Henry E. Juszkiewicz, David H. Berryman, and Gary A. Zebrowski contributed their expertise by providing better business insights, procuring new facilities/production plants and boosting marketing efforts. Gibson is best known for producing fat, milky tones that suit varied musical styles such as jazz and blues, and is currently best represented by guitarist Slash who endorses the Les Paul line of guitars, both for Gibson and Epiphone, a subsidiary company of Gibson. The sound produced by Gibson is unique and quite distinguishable from the sounds produced by Fender, Peavey, Ibanez, ESP and PRS guitars.
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