Orville Gibson
In 1894 Orville made his first instrument - a 10 string mandolin guitar. He was eccentric and brilliant with no formal training and went on to found Gibson Mandolin-Guitar Manufacturing Company in Kalamazoo, Michigan, where he pioneered his own style of archtop instruments in all sorts of shapes and sizes. He made some seriously funky instruments in his day. You can see his Mando-Bass in our portrait of Eleanor Camp.
In 1894 Orville made his first instrument - a 10 string mandolin guitar. He was eccentric and brilliant with no formal training and went on to found Gibson Mandolin-Guitar Manufacturing Company in Kalamazoo, Michigan, where he pioneered his own style of archtop instruments in all sorts of shapes and sizes. He made some seriously funky instruments in his day. You can see his Mando-Bass in our portrait of Eleanor Camp.
In 1894 Orville made his first instrument - a 10 string mandolin guitar. He was eccentric and brilliant with no formal training and went on to found Gibson Mandolin-Guitar Manufacturing Company in Kalamazoo, Michigan, where he pioneered his own style of archtop instruments in all sorts of shapes and sizes. He made some seriously funky instruments in his day. You can see his Mando-Bass in our portrait of Eleanor Camp.