Vintage Gibson advertisements; 94 adverts covering a period of 34 years, from 1953 to 1987. Click the images to have a closer look.
They're Tops... Les Paul, Mary Ford and their Gibsons
Gibson Les Paul Standard - 1953
Gibson Les Paul Model
Gibson Les Paul Standard - 1953
Revelation in Rhythm
Gibson EB-1 - 1954
Les Paul Says: It's Gibson
Gibson Les Paul Standard - 1956
George Barnes "fascinatin' rhythm"
Gibson ES-150 - 1957
"Gibson Boy"... Tal Farlow
Gibson ES-350 - 1957
A Billy Byrd-Hank Garland Collaboration
Gibson Byrdland - 1957
Gibson Thin Body Guitars Feel Just Right
Gibson ES-355TD - 1959
Solid Hit
Gibson SG custom - 1961
Barney Kessel Guitar
Gibson Barney Kessel Custom - 1962
Tony Mottola has a New Sound
Gibson ES-355TD-SV - 1963
The Incredible Jazz Guitar of Wes Montgomery
Gibson L-5 CES - 1964
Three of a Kind
Gibson Johnny Smith - 1965
Trini Lopez
Gibson Trini Lopez Deluxe - 1965
Wes Montgomery
Gibson L-5 CES - 1965
Tony Mottola
Gibson ES-355TD-SV - 1965
Johnny Smith
Gibson Johnny Smith - 1966
Kenny Burrell
Gibson Super 400 CES - 1966
Gibson, The Workingmans Guitar
Gibson L-5 CES - 1967
Gibson, the workingman's guitar (Trini Lopez)
Gibson Trini Lopez Deluxe - 1967
Gibson, the workingman's guitar (Barney Kessel)
Gibson Barney Kessel - 1967
People Change To But Never From
Gibson ES-345TD - 1967
Some Guitarists Have All the Fun
Gibson Firebird III - 1968
Including beginners
Gibson Electric Guitars - 1968
Daddy of 'em All
Gibson Les Paul Standard - 1969
Voice of the Underground
Gibson Amplifiers - 1969
Gibson Set the Standard for Which All Others Strive
Gibson J-160E - 1969
Your Long Lean Mother Is Comin' Back To You
Gibson EB-1 - 1970
Steve Howe plays Gibson
Gibson ES-175D - 1971
Here's the INSIDE Story on Gibson
Gibson Flattops - 1971
The Gibson Citation
Gibson Citation - 1972
Gibson lets you feel what you play - so you can play what you feel
Gibson SG standard - 1972
The Man and the Woman
Gibson ES-355TD-SV - 1972
Heart And Soul
Gibson Electric Guitars - 1972
Say it All With the New Les Paul
Gibson Les Paul Recording - 1972
If You Ever Lost a Les Paul, You'd Just Have to Buy Another
Gibson Les Paul Recording - 1972
Jack Bruce basses his sound on Gibson
Gibson Bass guitar - 1972
Gibson Offers a World of Sound
Gibson Flattops - 1972
The Natural Sound
Gibson Flattops - 1972
Already Standards, Always Special
Gibson SG standard - 1973
Yeah I Paid Some Dues
Gibson ES-355TD-SV - 1973
The Moment of Truth
Gibson SG standard - 1973
The beauty of Howard Roberts new guitar is in the design
Gibson Howard Roberts - 1974
Its the best damn guitar you ever played
Gibson L6-S Custom - 1974
Santana Calls it His Rainbow
Gibson L6-S Custom - 1974
Les Paul Designed It. Gibson Makes It
Gibson Les Paul Signature - 1974
Show us a man whos too good for a Gibson Les Paul
Gibson Les Paul Recording - 1974
The Ripper. Designed To Rip Your Ears Off
Gibson Ripper - 1974
The Gibson Gospel. One Heavenly Guitar
Gibson Gospel - 1974
No one ignores the Marauder
Gibson Marauder - 1975
Would you sell your soul for a 1955 Les Paul Special
Gibson Les Paul Special 55 - 1975
We dont promise you fantasies
Gibson Grabber - 1975
KISS Knows looks Aren't Everything
Gibson Marauder - 1976
Before Gibson Designed The S-1, Ron Wood Had His Guitars Customized
Gibson S-1 - 1976
Santana Calls It his Rainbow
Gibson L6-S Custom - 1976
Before Gibson Designed The S-1, Ron Wood Had His Guitars Customized
Gibson S-1 - 1977
L6-S. It's the Best Two Guitars Al DiMeola's Played
Gibson L6-S Custom - 1977
Try Gibson for a change of bass
Gibson Ripper - 1977
It Sounds Like Peter Ceteras Playing A Lot Of Basses
Gibson Ripper - 1977
As pickups stack up, Gibson's on top
Gibson L5-S - 1978
The Most Les
Gibson Les Paul Standard - 1978
Passive Active Gibson RD
Gibson RD Artist - 1978
A new instrumental album featuring a man, his guitar, and our amplifier
Gibson Lab Series L5 - 1978
LAB Series
Gibson Lab Series L5 - 1978
There Is No Energy Shortage
Gibson RD Artist - 1979
An SG. For Half A G
Gibson The SG - 1979
The Active Sound Of The 80s
Gibson RD Artist - 1979
Gibson Guitars. To the Tune of $399 and Up
Gibson The SG - 1979
Power Play - Basses Loaded
Gibson RD Artist - 1979
And Now For My Next Number.....
Gibson The Paul - 1979
It's no big thing. 'Til you turn it on.
Gibson Lab Series L3 - 1979
Win a grand guitar
Gibson Lab Series amplifiers - 1979
Employment Assurance
Gibson Lab Series L2 - 1979
A Shape You've Seen. The Sound You're Looking For.
Gibson 335-S - 1980
A New Look for a New Decade
Gibson Flying V II - 1980
The Firebrands. Hot New Brands at a Price that Doesn't Burn.
Gibson The SG - 1980
In the Gibson Spotlight...
Gibson ES-347TD - 1980
It's got to be about the best tranny amp I've ever heard – damn it, it's got to be one of the best apps I've heard, tranny or not!
Gibson Lab Series L7 - 1980
Try my sound.. See if you like it!
Gibson Lab Series L5 - 1980
Lab Series. They've never sounded so good
Gibson Lab Series L2 - 1980
The Fusion by Howard Roberts and Gibson
Gibson Howard Roberts Fusion - 1981
Larry Carlton and the Gibson TP-6
Gibson ES-347TD - 1981
Only the Price Brings it Back to Earth
Gibson Sonex-180 deluxe - 1981
Sounds Like... All Of 'Em
Gibson Victory MV II - 1981
Gibson Sonex. Only the price is cheap.
Gibson Sonex-180 deluxe - 1981
Sonex. Another first for Gibson technology.
Gibson Sonex-180 deluxe - 1981
The Thrill of Victory
Gibson Victory Standard - 1981
When a Bass Sounds This Good, You Just Can't Keep it To Yourself
Gibson Victory Standard - 1981
"My Lab Series amp takes all the bumps, and still gives a smooth performance."
Gibson Lab Series L5 - 1981
Lab series. If only you could see how they sound.
Gibson Lab Series amplifiers - 1981
Airborne Again. The original Flying V
Gibson Flying V - 1982
Vintage Voltage. 30th Anniversary Les Paul Standard
Gibson Les Paul Standard - 1982
American-made. World-played.
Gibson Les Paul Standard - 1982
Gibson is Back to Bass-ics!
Gibson 20/20 - 1987
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
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