What's the Hullaballoo About Gibson Guitars?

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What's the Hullaballoo About Gibson Guitars?

Date Added: January 16, 2009 12:36:47 AM

Author: Hilary Givner

Guitars and guitar brands are often revered, but perhaps none holds as much status as the Gibson Guitar - new and vintage. What's the big deal? Some say it's due to our adoration of legendary guitar heroes like Chuck Berry. While their playing style revolutionized music, the guitars they chose to play also went on to hold icon status. Chuck Berry's #1 guitar was the Gibson ES-335 which was the first semi-hollow guitar commercially available. Because Berry influenced so many guitarists, it has been said that the ES-335 is the most popular semi-hollow guitar ever made. The Gibson Guitar Company also produces the famous Les Paul guitar. This electric guitar was originated by Les Paul himself, but oddly the Gibson brand initially turned down him down. They later changed their mind to compete with Fender, and together with Les Paul created one of the most enduring electric guitars ever made. There are many other big name guitar players who remain loyal to their Gibson. Led Zeppelin's Jimmy Page is one. While he is often associated with the Double-Neck Gibson EDS-1275 on which he plays Stairway to Heaven, his number one guitar was the 1958 Gibson Les Paul, while his number two was the 1959 Gibson Les Paul. Other big name fans include Pete Townsend (The Who 1973-78), Slash (Guns N' Roses), Ace Frehley (KISS) and Neil Young. Introduced in 1961, the Gibson SD also has its fans, particularly among heavy metal guitarists. This is partly due to its mean look though Tony Iommi of Black Sabbath used to tune his Gibson SD guitar down to C# from E giving it an equally mean sound. Other fans include Robby Krieger (The Doors), Pearl Jam front man Eddie Vedder, Pete Townsend and Angus Young (AC/DC.) The Gibson Guitar legend shows no sign of waning. The popular video game Guitar Hero was actually modeled after Gibson guitars and the Version 3 of the game has made over 1 billion dollars in sales. That's a lot of new fans in the making. In addition to electric guitars, Gibson also produces some of the finest acoustic guitars available. Hilary Givner is a writer who reveres the rock gods and their vintage guitars. You can get gibson guitars for sale here.