Though Orville Gibson’s involvement with his company was rather short lived—he left the company in 1909—the Gibson Mandolin and Guitar Company would thrive long after his departure, creating the first commercially successful electric guitar in... What started as a one-man mission, with Gibson making mandolins and acoustic guitars by hand, would, over the next century, morph into one of the most iconic names in the music business. What most WMU students do not realize, however, is that Kalamazoo has played a major role in the music industry throughout the years, thanks to its status as one of the birthplaces of the modern electric guitar. When people think of the most instrumental cities in the history of rock and roll, Kalamazoo is probably not high on most lists, including those compiled by Western Michigan University students. In 1896, Orville Gibson opened a self-run show on South Burdick, moving three years later to a larger location on East Main Street, according to Kalamazoo Public Library’s local history website.

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Accuracy and Tone for Slide Guitar

It's hard to say who first got the idea to break the neck off a bottle and slide it along a guitar's strings to make music. We know of a primitive instrument made by African American slaves called the diddley bow that was played with

Guitar Book's $1500 Price Suits Huge Package, $40000 Dragons

Orville Gibson, he writes, worked as a shoe- store clerk in Kalamazoo, Michigan, in the 1890s before he started making guitars. The number of "played by" guitars will impress a range of fans: Tampa Red, Jimmie Rodgers, Gene Autry, Elvis Presley,

Guitar maestro Jason Vieaux comes home for a concert with the BPO

His dad, now retired, was a service technician for Orville's. Like a lot of suburban teenagers, Vieaux liked hip-hop and heavy metal. "I'm of the generation where hip-hop really first hit the suburbs," he says. But there was something else in his life,

Current Issue

How to use graphic and parametric Eqs to adjust your guitar's amplified sound. With video. By Doug Young. Accuracy and Tone for Slide Guitar. Get started on slide guitar with these simple note-targeting exercises. With video and tab. By Orville Johnson

Tunes on the Town: Dec. 8 to Dec. 14

Allen Estes and Orville Gidding, 7 pm , The Rhumb Line, 41 Railroad Ave., Gloucester. Original country and folk rock. Open mic night, 7 to 11 pm, The Rhumb Line, 41 Railroad Ave., Gloucester. Hosted by Dan King; bring your instruments and be heard.