Three Generations of Gibsons

[Corey]

Three Generations of my Gibson Family. In the center is Grandpa J50 (born in 1950) and as you can see he is not the guitar he once was; Son J-100 dressed in black and born in 1987 (and currently available on Ebay), and blond grandson J50 born in 2007.

 

http://i1364.photobucket.com/albums/r728/cormos1/threeGs_zps18fe1988.jpg

[zombywoof]

Interesting family having a son and grandson born the same year.

 

But it is an interesting thing to play with. I have to admit I do break Gibson flattops down into generations.

 

My take:

 

1. 1926-1941. The L guitars transform into flattops and the introduction of the first round shoulder jumbos.

 

2. 1941-1948. The years when the stalwarts of the future Gibson line - the J-45, J-50, SJ, and LG - become part of the music

landscape.

 

3. 1948-1954. The birth of the modern Gibson with its block logo and 1 11/16" nut.

 

4. 1955-1959 The non-scallop braced, big pointy pickguard guitars.

 

5. 1960-1968. A generation in flux with everything from nut width, to bridges, to headstock angle undergoing dramatic change.

 

6. 1969-1987. The Dark Years, although the Mark series was interesting and there was an attempt in the mid-1980s to

resurrect the acoustic line.

 

7. 1988-present. Gibson reborn in Bozeman.

[Corey]

Typo on my part. I changed the blonde grandson from 1987 to the correct date of 2007.

[onewilyfool]

I LOVE the variety of sounds of my generational groups. My so called "vintage" Gibson guitars are (Before Millennium):

 

1923 Gibson L-2

1953 Gibson CF-100

1957 Gibson L-1

1976 Gibson MK-72

1994 Gibson L-20 Special

 

 

Modern era (Bozeman) guitars, which I consider some of the best made and form a "generation" of their own (post 1988). Some during Ren's tenure, and some after, which may become a sub-generation breakdown in the future.

[BigKahune]

.

 

Definitely not a one guitar guy thread. . B)

 

 

.

[Corey]

I thought later that maybe I should have added Uncle Martin D18 who was born in 1970 to the group, but he's kind of the black sheep of the family

[ParlourMan]

.

 

Definitely not a one guitar guy thread. . B)

 

 

.

 

Unless you have a 30's body with a 40's bridge, 50's scratchplate, unfortunate 60's neck and a 70's headstock.

[onewilyfool]

Interesting family having a son and grandson born the same year.

 

But it is an interesting thing to play with. I have to admit I do break Gibson flattops down into generations.

 

My take:

 

1. 1926-1941. The L guitars transform into flattops and the introduction of the first round shoulder jumbos.

 

2. 1941-1948. The years when the stalwarts of the future Gibson line - the J-45, J-50, SJ, and LG - become part of the music

landscape.

 

3. 1948-1954. The birth of the modern Gibson with its block logo and 1 11/16" nut.

 

4. 1955-1959 The non-scallop braced, big pointy pickguard guitars.

 

5. 1960-1968. A generation in flux with everything from nut width, to bridges, to headstock angle undergoing dramatic change.

 

6. 1969-1987. The Dark Years, although the Mark series was interesting and there was an attempt in the mid-1980s to

resurrect the acoustic line.

 

7. 1988-present. Gibson reborn in Bozeman.

Zomby, where do you put the "Lacey Act" guitars, shouldn't they have a slot of their own???

[ParlourMan]

Zomby, where do you put the "Lacey Act" guitars, shouldn't they have a slot of their own???

 

Hahaha..... nearly a definitive list, almost time to get it laminated. :D

[bobouz]

Kalamazoo made Epiphones, both acoustic & electric, might comprise an interesting little sub-group.

 

Sometimes they were virtual clones of a Gibson cousin, but in many cases they were unique and very cool, such as the Howard Roberts oval-hole hollowbody (which morphed into a Gibson model in the '70s).

[zombywoof]

Zomby, where do you put the "Lacey Act" guitars, shouldn't they have a slot of their own???

 

As I said, this was just my own take on it. You could probably go on forever working out new slots. But since the Lacy Act dates to 1900 I assume you are talking about the embargo on the importation of Brazilian rosewood or CITES Treaty. I guess I just do not see this coming into play with Gibsons. There was so much going on in the way of unwise design changes from the mid-1960s into the 1970s that any changes in the wood Gibson was using would have been barely noticed.