Vintage Gibson Electric Guitars

If you are a Gibson guitar owner, you can consider yourself to be in a league of guitarists with impeccable tastes and you are particularly fortunate if you own a pre-1980 vintage Gibson electric guitar.

Gibson electric guitars became famous throughout the world after the introduction of the Les Paul in 1952. This was the first solid body guitar to be made by Gibson, who prior to that, made acoustic guitars, mandolins and the first commercially available hollow body electric guitars.

In the late 1960s the Gibson company founder Mr. Orville Gibson sold his company to the Norlin Corporation, but unfortunately this was not a very successful move for the company as it completely declined in reputation and production quality, until it was sold again in 1986.

The pre-1980 vintage Gibson electric guitars, which are of most value to collectors, are the solid body models such as Les Paul, the SG, the Flying V, the Explorer and the Firebird.

The Les Paul is undoubtedly the most well known Gibson guitar. It was actually available in a few different models, including the Custom, the Standard, the Special and the Junior. Famous Les Paul lovers include Slash from Guns N' Roses, Jimmy Page of Led Zeppelin, Thin Lizzy, Keith Richards, Eric Clapton and Peter Green. Gibson Les Paul guitars hold their value well and particularly so if they were pre-owned by a famous guitarist. An early Les Paul Electric Guitar with a Cherry Sunburst finish is considered to be a high demand collectible.

The SG electric guitar was actually just a slight remodel of the original Les Paul and was specifically designed to compete with the Fender Stratocaster. The initials SG stands for “solid guitar”. Rocking guitarists who favour the SG include members of The Who, AC/DC, Iron Maiden and Black Sabbath.

The FlyingV and The Explorer were both designed in 1958 in a bid to give Gibson electric guitars a modern twist. They were slow to take off but became pretty popular by the early seventies.

The Firebird was designed by car designer Ray Dietrich and again it was in a bid to outdo rival company Fender with their modern and successful range of popular electric guitars. The original Firebirds featured a ‘reverse-body’ design and these models are the more collectable as far as pre-1980 vintage Firebirds go.

The Gibson L-5 was originally an acoustic model but electric versions were brought in at a later date.

Had Gibson not made such an impressive comeback in the eighties, then the chances are the pre-1980 guitars wouldn’t hold much value, but the return to greatness has certainly reinstated Gibson as one of the world’s top electric guitar manufacturers and as such, these vintage guitars enjoy great respect from collectors and guitarists alike.

Used Vintage Guitars » Gibson Electric

Vintage Gibson Electric Guitars

Vintage Gibson Electric Guitars