Gibson Pickguard art-what is it?

[MelB]

Hello, does anyone know what the art is or what it represents? Sorry, sort of a newbie here. Came across this art with lines/whiskers with a red dot.

[E-minor7]

Good Q - and it's been up before. Some call it the boob-logo, which may be the authentic back-then-nickname.                                                                                                                                                                                                       I personally like to see it as a fingertip touching the 6 strings thus generating a red hot power-spot : The Gibson-tone. 

 

                                                                                          Luckily interpretations are free. It is what it is to you, , , or anybody. . . 
                                                                    Still an authorized explanation could be good after all these years - come forward, please, Bozeman. 

 

 

Edited December 27, 2020 by E-minor7

[j45nick]

To follow up, that logo was only used on pickguards for a one- or two-year period around 1968.

Not sure what the original thinking was that led to this design.

[MelB]

3 hours ago, MelB said:

2 hours ago, E-minor7 said:

Good Q - and it's been up before. Some call it the boob-logo, which may be the authentic back-then-nickname.                                                                                                                                                                                                       I personally like to see it as a fingertip touching the 6 strings thus generating a red hot power-spot : The Gibson-tone. 

 

                                                                                          Luckily interpretations are free. It is what it is to you, , , or anybody. . . 
                                                                    Still an authorized explanation could be good after all these years - come forward, please, Bozeman. 

 

 

Ha! Thanks for the info, the logo for strings is an interesting thought!

[MelB]

1 hour ago, j45nick said:

To follow up, that logo was only used on pickguards for a one- or two-year period around 1968.

Not sure what the original thinking was that led to this design.

Thanks! It’s on a pickguard for a guitar in the early 2000’s. Wonder if it’s a vintage pickguard...

[j45nick]

19 minutes ago, MelB said:

Thanks! It’s on a pickguard for a guitar in the early 2000’s. Wonder if it’s a vintage pickguard...

They have done a few modern reissue guitars with those pickguards. They are not hard to reproduce.

[Dave F]

I've mainly seen that logo on the J-45 60's reissue. This one is from 2016.

Their description is "a distinctive white pick guard with Gibson stamped logo ". Doesn't sound too artsy does it?

 

 

 

Edited December 28, 2020 by Dave F

[E-minor7]

3 hours ago, Dave F said:

I've mainly seen that logo on the J-45 60's reissue. This one is from 2016.

Their description is "a distinctive white pick guard with Gibson stamped logo ". Doesn't sound too artsy does it?

That's goes for the written part - the font. The graphic sign flies over their radar; they haven't got at clue. But no designer makes a symbol without explanation.                                                                                       The person behind this one probably laid awake for nights to figure out how he/she should solve the task and defend the solution. 

[fortyearspickn]

I was an early client of  a new healthcare software company in Boston, let's say 25 years ago.  They took off like gangbusters and realized they needed a 'logo'.  They hired a PR type company and paid tens of thousands for one - which they liked.  Until a year or so later someone looked up and realized it was an exact copy of an air conditioning/ heating return vent in their ceiling.   

[j45nick]

1 hour ago, fortyearspickn said:

I was an early client of  a new healthcare software company in Boston, let's say 25 years ago.  They took off like gangbusters and realized they needed a 'logo'.  They hired a PR type company and paid tens of thousands for one - which they liked.  Until a year or so later someone looked up and realized it was an exact copy of an air conditioning/ heating return vent in their ceiling.   

That raises the question of what the designer of that particular Gibson logo was looking at or thinking of when he/she designed it.

I'll just leave that one sitting out there as food for thought...

[Dave F]

We are talking 60’s. Maybe Gibson breaking the sound barrier. 

 

 

Edited December 28, 2020 by Dave F

[E-minor7]

7 minutes ago, Dave F said:

We are talking 60’s. Maybe Gibson breaking the sound barrier. 

Wow ^ very qualified  bid there.

[62burst]

you beat me to it. Dave for the win:

https://commons.m.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Sound_barrier_chart.svg

also- looking at that older thread on the matter, I had referenced a ‘68 at Gary’s, where he had described it as the “sonic” P/G in the listing.

Edited December 28, 2020 by 62burst

[DanvillRob]

I’m thinking it’s a recreation of the scene in “Sons Of Anarchy” when Greg The Peg gets shot in the forehead!

[Gasman]

Yep Gibson's new "Sound Wave"

[Gasman]

recent Soundwave - TShirt

[olie]

The thing that puzzles me is that there are 7 lines. At first I thought the lines represented guitar strings, but a 7-string guitar?

I think some graphic designer was having fun with us.

[zombywoof]

Gibson going toe to toe with the Silvertone "Space Dot."

 

[Dave F]

Must be Zombie week

[Murph]

20 minutes ago, olie said:

The thing that puzzles me is that there are 7 lines. At first I thought the lines represented guitar strings, but a 7-string guitar?

I think some graphic designer was having fun with us.

The 7th line is the fret.

[QuestionMark]

2 hours ago, Murph said:

The 7th line is the fret.

Agree, the 7th line is the fret.

I never thought inn detail about the logo, but I always thought it was kinda cool.  
 

Out of left field on this, but looking at it, it could be a finger’s callous touching the strings.  Callouses were pretty much kind of  badges of honor in the 60s among steel string guitar players, if I recall.  Just a thought.

QM aka “Jazzman” Jeff

 

 

 

[Dave F]

Here's a new one announced today

Dave Mustaine pioneered a new path for thrash metal, and now he’s breaking ground at Gibson. Gibson is excited to introduce the first 24 fret neck ever installed on a Gibson acoustic guitar, with the new Dave Mustaine Songwriter as a core artist model.

[Murph]

Looks like something a 12 year old would want.

Bad idea.