In 1972 Gibson produced a series of 'Guitar of the Month' brochures, each dedicated to one of their high end models, the Les Paul Recording guitar, L5-CES, ES-175D, Super 400-CES, ES-355TD-SV and Byrdland. Each brochure was a single sheet folded into four panels, with details of the instruments themselves, their features, musical purpose, and a little history behind the development of each guitar. Only the Les Paul Recording was a new model; the others were all well established in the Gibson line. Follow the link to see scans and further information on these leaflets and other Gibson guitar catalogues from the CMI and Norlin periods.

1966 Kalamazoo KB-1 bass

Gibson assembled these 30 1/2" scale Kalamazoo KB-1 basses in their electronics plant in Kalamazoo, MI - separate from the main Gibson plant. They used the same components and hardware as on the Gibson EB bass series; but with a pre-painted masonite body and a bolt-on maple neck; a very different construction to Gibson's usual output. Initially the KB bass had a Mustang-shaped body (see the 1966 Kalamazoo KB-1, left), which was soon redesigned with the classic SG shape (see the 1967 Kalamazoo KB-1, right). Have a listen to sound clips of this bass here.

Older updates here

home | guitar classifieds | forum | sitemap | search

Google+ | Facebook

Trying to find a guitar valuation?
Do you want to buy/sell a guitar?

Gibson Guitar / Amp Advertisements, 1950s-1980s

See also the advertising for Epiphone, Fender, G&L, Gibson, Gretsch, Guild, Hagstrom, Harmony, Martin, Music Man, Rickenbacker, Vox

Vintage guitar advertisements

Vintage advertisements; 58 adverts covering a period of 29 years, from 1953 to 1982. Click the images to have a closer look.

Gibson Les Paul Standard They're Tops... Les Paul, Mary Ford and their Gibsons 1953	Gibson ES-150 George Barnes "fascinatin' rhythm" 1957	Gibson ES-350 "Gibson Boy"... Tal Farlow 1957	Gibson ES-355TD Gibson Thin Body Guitars Feel Just Right 1959
Gibson SG custom Solid Hit 1961	Gibson Barney Kessel Custom Barney Kessel Guitar 1962	Gibson L-5 CES The Incredible Jazz Guitar of Wes Montgomery 1964	Gibson Johnny Smith Three of a Kind 1965
Gibson Trini Lopez Deluxe Trini Lopez 1965	Gibson L-5 CES Wes Montgomery 1965	Gibson Johnny Smith Johnny Smith 1966	Gibson Super 400 CES Kenny Burrell 1966
Gibson L-5 CES Gibson, The Workingmans Guitar 1967	Gibson Trini Lopez Deluxe Gibson, the workingman's guitar (Trini Lopez) 1967	Gibson Barney Kessel Gibson, the workingman's guitar (Barney Kessel) 1967	Gibson ES-345TD People Change To But Never From 1967
Gibson Firebird III Some Guitarists Have All the Fun 1968	Gibson Electric Guitars Including beginners 1968	Gibson Les Paul Standard Daddy of 'em All 1969	Gibson ES-175D Steve Howe plays Gibson 1971
Gibson Citation The Gibson Citation 1972	Gibson SG standard Gibson lets you feel what you play - so you can play what you feel 1972	Gibson ES-355TD-SV The Man and the Woman 1972	Gibson Electric Guitars Heart And Soul 1972
Gibson Les Paul Recording Say it All With the New Les Paul 1972	Gibson Les Paul Recording If You Ever Lost a Les Paul, You'd Just Have to Buy Another 1972	Gibson SG standard Already Standards, Always Special 1973	Gibson ES-355TD-SV Yeah I Paid Some Dues 1973
Gibson SG standard The Moment of Truth 1973	Gibson Howard Roberts The beauty of Howard Roberts new guitar is in the design 1974	Gibson L6-S Custom Its the best damn guitar you ever played 1974	Gibson L6-S Custom Santana Calls it His Rainbow 1974
Gibson Les Paul Signature Les Paul Designed It. Gibson Makes It 1974	Gibson Les Paul Recording Show us a man whos too good for a Gibson Les Paul 1974	Gibson Marauder No one ignores the Marauder 1975	Gibson Les Paul Special 55 Would you sell your soul for a 1955 Les Paul Special 1975
Gibson Marauder KISS Knows looks Aren't Everything 1976	Gibson S-1 Before Gibson Designed The S-1, Ron Wood Had His Guitars Customized 1976	Gibson L6-S Custom Santana Calls It his Rainbow 1976	Gibson S-1 Before Gibson Designed The S-1, Ron Wood Had His Guitars Customized 1977
Gibson L5-S As pickups stack up, Gibsons on top 1978	Gibson Les Paul Standard The Most Les 1978	Gibson RD Artist Passive Active Gibson RD 1978	Gibson RD Artist There Is No Energy Shortage 1979
Gibson The SG An SG. For Half A G 1979	Gibson RD Artist The Active Sound Of The 80s 1979	Gibson The SG Gibson Guitars. To the Tune of $399 and Up 1979	Gibson RD Artist Power Play - Basses Loaded 1979
Gibson The Paul And Now For My Next Number..... 1979	Gibson 335-S A Shape You've Seen. The Sound You're Looking For. 1980	Gibson Flying V II A New Look for a New Decade 1980	Gibson The SG The Firebrands. Hot New Brands at a Price that Doesn't Burn. 1980
Gibson ES-347TD In the Gibson Spotlight... 1980	Gibson Howard Roberts Fusion The Fusion by Howard Roberts and Gibson 1981	Gibson ES-347TD Larery Carlton and the Gibson TP-6 1981	Gibson Flying V Airborne Again. The original Flying V 1982
Gibson Les Paul Standard Vintage Voltage. 30th Anniversary Les Paul Standard 1982	Gibson Les Paul Standard American-made. World-played. 1982

Vintage bass advertisements

Vintage advertisements; 15 adverts covering a period of 33 years, from 1954 to 1987. Click the images to have a closer look.

Gibson EB-1 Revelation in Rhythm 1954	Gibson EB-2 People Change To But Never From 1967	Gibson EB-1 Your Long Lean Mother Is Comin' Back To You 1970	Gibson Bass guitar Jack Bruce basses his sound on Gibson 1972
Gibson Les Paul Triumph Show us a man whos too good for a Gibson Les Paul 1974	Gibson L9-S Ripper The Ripper. Designed To Rip Your Ears Off 1974	Gibson Grabber G1 We dont promise you fantasies 1975	Gibson L9-S Ripper Try Gibson for a change of bass 1977
Gibson L9-S Ripper It Sounds Like Peter Ceteras Playing A Lot Of Basses 1977	Gibson RD Artist There Is No Energy Shortage 1979	Gibson Grabber G1 Gibson Guitars. To the Tune of $399 and Up 1979	Gibson RD Artist Power Play - Basses Loaded 1979
Gibson Victory Standard The Thrill of Victory 1981	Gibson Victory Standard When a Bass Sounds This Good, You Just Can't Keep it To Yourself 1981	Gibson 20/20 Gibson is Back to Bass-ics! 1987

Vintage amplifier advertisements

Vintage advertisements; 4 adverts covering a period of 15 years, from 1954 to 1969. Click the images to have a closer look.

Gibson GA-90
Revelation in Rhythm
1954

Gibson GA-400
Gibson Thin Body Guitars Feel Just Right
1959

Gibson GSS-100
Some Guitarists Have All the Fun
1968

Gibson Amplifiers
Voice of the Underground
1969

Vintage acoustic guitar advertisements

Vintage advertisements; 8 adverts covering a period of 7 years, from 1967 to 1974. Click the images to have a closer look.

Gibson SJN People Change To But Never From 1967	Gibson B25-12 Some Guitarists Have All the Fun 1968	Gibson Flattops Including beginners 1968	Gibson J-160E Gibson Set the Standard for Which All Others Strive 1969
Gibson Flattops Here's the INSIDE Story on Gibson 1971	Gibson Flattops Gibson Offers a World of Sound 1972	Gibson Flattops The Natural Sound 1972	Gibson Gospel The Gibson Gospel. One Heavenly Guitar 1974

Guitar makers have advertised in music magazines such as Down Beat, Guitar Player and very many more. Some manufacturers advertised widely (Guild, Gibson, Fender) but many more didn't and adverts are few and far between. Here are some of my favourite ads out of the ones i've seen. You can browse through all the images from the category links above, or by manufacturer from the links below.

AMPS
Ampeg, Leslie, Marshall, Orange, Peavey, Sunn
GUITARS
Epiphone, Fender, G&L, Gibson, Gretsch, Guild, Hagstrom, Harmony, Martin, Music Man, Rickenbacker, Vox


1967 Epiphone Ad featuring a psychedelic fish playing an Epiphone Riviera	1967 Fender Ad - Full Colour Sound

1973 Fender Stratocaster add - The Worlds Favourite Flying Machine	1972 Gibson Ad featuring BB King - The Man And The Woman