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拍品专文
Gibson Guitars
If the adage “only in America” could be applied to any story, it is that of Orville Gibson and the company he founded. Gibson, who in 1894 worked as a part-time shoe salesman and restaurant clerk in Kalamazoo Michigan, possessed a dual passion for music and woodworking. Although Gibson lacked any formal training as a luthier, it was his creative thinking at the nexus of these two passions which convinced him that he knew the means to greatly improve guitar construction. It was an idea that might have appeared misguided, but in truth turned out to be stunningly brilliant. Given the traditional school of instrument making that existed in Europe at the time and Gibson’s lack of formal training, it is unlikely that his creative thinking would have yielded such success anywhere other than in America.
For over two hundred years traditional guitar construction was based on a method of fabricating the instrument’s sound box, commonly referred to as the body, from thin plates of wood for the top and back. These would be braced internally so as to withstand the pressures exerted by the tension of the strings. Instead of following this formula Orville looked to the violin for inspiration. The tops and backs of violins are carved from thick stocks of wood, resulting in an arched form. This arch is self-sustaining and, like those found in architecture, able to withstand both downward and inward pressure. Applying this thinking to guitar construction created what we know now as the arch-top guitar. These instruments were louder and more durable than comparable works of the time and were immediately successful with musicians. As such, the demand for Gibson’s instruments quickly exceeded his ability to produce them. Without the capital to expand Gibson sold his name and operation to a group of Kalamazoo businessmen and with this, The Gibson Mandolin-Guitar Manufacturing Company was born.
Innovations in guitar design did not end with Orville Gibson’s departure in 1903 from the company he founded. When we examine the history of Gibson as a company we find they were relentless in pursuing new ideas. In 1921, Thaddeus McHugh, a woodworker at the Kalamazoo factory, invented and put into production both the adjustable truss-rod and adjustable bridge. These advances made it possible to set and maintain the string height to perfectly fit the player's needs. One year later, in 1922, the musician and Gibson acoustical engineer, Lloyd Loar, expanded on the original ideas of Orville Gibson by adding the violin-style “f” holes on the tops of guitars and mandolins. The first guitar of this design, named the L-5, would prove itself a superior rhythm instrument when incorporated into the jazz bands of the 1920s.
The Jazz Era produced an insatiable desire for guitars that could produce the loudest volume due to the growing size of both the performance venues and ensembles that played in them. In 1924, Gibson introduced the “Advanced” L-5 to fill this need for greater sound. By enlarging the width to 17 inches the air volume and vibrating surfaces were increased, resulting in a louder guitar. The pinnacle of arch-top design was reached this same year with Gibson’s introduction of the Super 400. Measuring a full 18 inches in width, it was the largest, loudest and most expensive guitar Gibson had yet produced. Building on the momentum of these innovations, two years later Gibson achieved the ultimate solution in maximizing the volume a guitar could produce.
In 1936 Gibson introduced the “Electric Spanish” guitar. The ES-150 was featured in the new 1937 catalogue and cost $150, which included a matching amplifier. This guitar was essentially a standard Gibson arch-top fitted with a single magnetic pickup. When the young jazz guitar virtuoso Charlie Christian first “plugged in” with Benny Goodman’s orchestra, this marked the moment when the guitar moved from the traditional rhythm section to solo and lead instrument. It would be twenty years before the significance of this moment could fulfill its true potential, which burst forth in the form of the Rock and Roll guitar.
The ES-300
The Electric Spanish 300 (ES-300) was introduced by Gibson in 1940 to fill a void for higher-end electric arch-top guitars manufactured by the company. With its exposed pole and slant mounted pickup and 17-inch-wide body, the instrument offered a different and deeper dynamic range than the earlier ES-125.
Production ceased in 1942 because of the shift to war time production needs. The instrument would return to the Gibson catalogue mid to late 1946 now with a laminated maple body and the ubiquitous P-90 pickup. The guitar would go out of production in 1952.
If the adage “only in America” could be applied to any story, it is that of Orville Gibson and the company he founded. Gibson, who in 1894 worked as a part-time shoe salesman and restaurant clerk in Kalamazoo Michigan, possessed a dual passion for music and woodworking. Although Gibson lacked any formal training as a luthier, it was his creative thinking at the nexus of these two passions which convinced him that he knew the means to greatly improve guitar construction. It was an idea that might have appeared misguided, but in truth turned out to be stunningly brilliant. Given the traditional school of instrument making that existed in Europe at the time and Gibson’s lack of formal training, it is unlikely that his creative thinking would have yielded such success anywhere other than in America.
For over two hundred years traditional guitar construction was based on a method of fabricating the instrument’s sound box, commonly referred to as the body, from thin plates of wood for the top and back. These would be braced internally so as to withstand the pressures exerted by the tension of the strings. Instead of following this formula Orville looked to the violin for inspiration. The tops and backs of violins are carved from thick stocks of wood, resulting in an arched form. This arch is self-sustaining and, like those found in architecture, able to withstand both downward and inward pressure. Applying this thinking to guitar construction created what we know now as the arch-top guitar. These instruments were louder and more durable than comparable works of the time and were immediately successful with musicians. As such, the demand for Gibson’s instruments quickly exceeded his ability to produce them. Without the capital to expand Gibson sold his name and operation to a group of Kalamazoo businessmen and with this, The Gibson Mandolin-Guitar Manufacturing Company was born.
Innovations in guitar design did not end with Orville Gibson’s departure in 1903 from the company he founded. When we examine the history of Gibson as a company we find they were relentless in pursuing new ideas. In 1921, Thaddeus McHugh, a woodworker at the Kalamazoo factory, invented and put into production both the adjustable truss-rod and adjustable bridge. These advances made it possible to set and maintain the string height to perfectly fit the player's needs. One year later, in 1922, the musician and Gibson acoustical engineer, Lloyd Loar, expanded on the original ideas of Orville Gibson by adding the violin-style “f” holes on the tops of guitars and mandolins. The first guitar of this design, named the L-5, would prove itself a superior rhythm instrument when incorporated into the jazz bands of the 1920s.
The Jazz Era produced an insatiable desire for guitars that could produce the loudest volume due to the growing size of both the performance venues and ensembles that played in them. In 1924, Gibson introduced the “Advanced” L-5 to fill this need for greater sound. By enlarging the width to 17 inches the air volume and vibrating surfaces were increased, resulting in a louder guitar. The pinnacle of arch-top design was reached this same year with Gibson’s introduction of the Super 400. Measuring a full 18 inches in width, it was the largest, loudest and most expensive guitar Gibson had yet produced. Building on the momentum of these innovations, two years later Gibson achieved the ultimate solution in maximizing the volume a guitar could produce.
In 1936 Gibson introduced the “Electric Spanish” guitar. The ES-150 was featured in the new 1937 catalogue and cost $150, which included a matching amplifier. This guitar was essentially a standard Gibson arch-top fitted with a single magnetic pickup. When the young jazz guitar virtuoso Charlie Christian first “plugged in” with Benny Goodman’s orchestra, this marked the moment when the guitar moved from the traditional rhythm section to solo and lead instrument. It would be twenty years before the significance of this moment could fulfill its true potential, which burst forth in the form of the Rock and Roll guitar.
The ES-300
The Electric Spanish 300 (ES-300) was introduced by Gibson in 1940 to fill a void for higher-end electric arch-top guitars manufactured by the company. With its exposed pole and slant mounted pickup and 17-inch-wide body, the instrument offered a different and deeper dynamic range than the earlier ES-125.
Production ceased in 1942 because of the shift to war time production needs. The instrument would return to the Gibson catalogue mid to late 1946 now with a laminated maple body and the ubiquitous P-90 pickup. The guitar would go out of production in 1952.