The Gibson Guitar Corporation is one of the most famous guitar manufacturers, and many of their instruments have become famous¹. They have always rivalled Fender (except when Fender wasn't around, of course) and have always tried to outdo Fender with higher quality instruments. This is a guide to some of them.

Super Jumbo 200: Acoustically Famous

The Gibson Super Jumbo 200 (or SJ-200, or J-200) is one of the most famous acoustic guitars. This is fitting, as it was introduced as the biggest and fanciest guitar ever. It was manufactured to the specifications of Ray Whitley, a Hollywood singing star, who had spent his own money to create it. He received it in 1937, and production started in 1938.

The SJ-200 is a very attractive instrument: the classic body, the moustache bridge, the crown fretboard inlays, the engraved multi-colour pickguard; all contribute to the appearance. Current models have electronics so that the player does not need to use a microphone for the guitar.

The Les Paul: 'Nuf Said

The Les Paul: it's hard not to love this guitar. Not everyone knows what it is, but chances are they have seen one. It is ranked up there with the Stratocaster and Telecaster (both from Fender) on the list of most famous solid bodies ever².

The Les Paul was introduced in response to the Telecaster. Named after its designer Les Paul³, it was to be a high quality instrument as opposed to the cheaply-built Telecaster. In fact, Les Paul suggested that it should be offered in a gold finish to drive the point that it was expensive. The neck was glued in place unlike the Telecaster, whose neck was bolted on. The body was more like that of a traditional guitar, and was very elegant; some people would describe it as the most beautiful electric guitar ever. It was, however, quite heavy. The neck was maple, and the body was mahogany with a carved maple top, and both are heavy woods⁴. It was released in 1952, and was very expensive. It was discontinued in 1961 (see below) and reintroduced in 1968.

The Les Paul Family

• Les Paul Standard - Built like the originals, carved maple top, neck and body bindings, trapezoidal block neck inlays, everything (except single-coil pickups).
• Les Paul Studio - Same as Standard, but without the neck and body bindings.
• Les Paul Custom - Standard with multi-ply binding and gold-plated hardware.
• Les Paul Junior - Cheap one made for students.
• Les Paul Deluxe - Same as Standard, but with mini-humbuckers.
• Les Paul Special - Budget model, no carved top, no neck and body bindings, and dot neck inlays.
• Les Paul Supreme - Carved maple bottom as well as top.
• Les Paul Double Cut - Not the SG, but a double cut version of the Les Paul. Looks similar to the ES-335.
• Les Paul Bass - A bass version of the Les Paul, available in single and double cuts.

The Flying V: as Played by Hendrix

The Flying V was a very distinct and futuristic guitar when it was first released in 1958. It didn't sell well; they discontinued it a year later. Then came Hendrix and some other guitarists (like Albert King and Dave Davies) who wanted a distinct guitar with a powerful tone. They chose the Flying V as it fell into both of those categories. This led Gibson to reissue it in 1966. It has since became an iconic guitar, and is much copied. Many companies have released V-shaped guitars, with slight differences to avoid Gibson's legal wrath (which some companies still managed to incur).

The Explorer: Angles

The Explorer was released at the same time as the Flying V and was a part of the same series of futuristic-looking guitars. They shared the same electronics and were made of the same wood, so the difference is completely in the appearance. The body has almost no curves, and is mostly straight lines. Most people believe that the Firebird influenced the design of the Explorer, when in reality it's the other way around. Like the Flying V, the Explorer was unsuccessful during its initial run, so it was discontinued the same year, but was reissued in 1975 (nine years after they reissued the Flying V). Unlike the Flying V, it didn't get reissued due to its popularity after it was discontinued, it was released again due to the rise in demand of similar guitars (made after it was discontinued).

The ES-335: Crossbreed

The ES-335, introduced in 1958, was the first semi-hollow body instrument. This means that it has a hollow body, but has a solid centre block. In other words, the centre of the body is solid, everything else is hollow. This gave a tone similar to a hollow body, but still had the sustain and resistance to feedback of a solid body guitar. The most famous ES-335⁵ is BB King's 'Lucille'.

The SG: the Les Paul II, or Not

Due to competition from the Stratocaster, they decided to change the Les Paul, drastically. They made it smaller, and gave it a double-cutaway design. This new Les Paul was introduced in 1961. The Les Paul name was dropped in 1963, and the new guitar was branded the SG⁶. It originally had humbucking pickups, though single-coils were offered (which are not on many modern models). Tremolo devices were also offered eventually. The SG's aggressive look, humbucking pickups, and thin neck make it a popular guitar on the metal scene, and it was used by guitarists like Angus Young (AC/DC) and Tony Iommi (Black Sabbath). It wasn't just used by metal artists, it was also popular with psychedelic guitarists such as Eric Clapton (Cream), Gerry Garcia (Grateful Dead), and Robby Krieger (The Doors).

EDS-1275

A twin-neck SG, most notable for its use by Jimmy Page for live versions of 'Stairway to Heaven'. Introduced (in the SG form, originally a double-necked hollow body) in 1962, it has a 12-string neck and a 6-string neck. It is perhaps the best known twin-neck guitars there is. The draw is that a guitarist doesn't have to switch between a 6-string and 12-string mid-song - the only reason that Page used it (he rarely used it for other songs).

The EB-0 and EB-3: Electric Basses

The EB-0 and the EB-3 were electric basses built on the SG platform⁷. The EB-0 had a single pickup, while the EB-3 had two pickups. The EB-3 is regarded as Gibson's fastest bass, and is the only one of the two still in production (by Gibson).

The Firebird: A Guitar in Reverse

The Firebird is a guitar that had a body that was, well, reversed (originally). The right horn (the piece of the body which extends around the cutaway) was longer than the left, which was reverse in respect to most guitars of the time, so Gibson used to describe it as having a 'reversed' body⁸. The headstock was a six-on-one-side style (with banjo style tuning pegs), and it too was reversed. It was also the first Gibson to have mini-humbuckers (which were previously on Epiphone⁹ guitars), and the first Gibson to have a neck-through-body construction. It wasn't very successful, and they decided to change the body styling to a non-reverse form. This wasn't a winner either, so they dropped it. They didn't reissue it until the late 1970s. The reissues were all of the original body styling. One reason for the unpopularity was the weak tone produced by the mini-humbuckers; people generally expect more power from Gibsons.

The Thunderbird: the Reverse Bass

The Thunderbird was the bass version of the Firebird. As such, it shared the Firebird's reverse body styling and neck-through body construction. It was dropped due to unpopularity, but was reissued in 1976.