THE G.A.S. GALLERY

Meet the Gibson Family!





I was fascinated by the first "electrified" efforts and since the lap steel guitar was the instrument of choice for early experimentation it fit right in with my insanity. Adolph Rickenbacher, Paul Tutmarc and others all have legitimate claims on the introduction of the first electric pickup and truly Gibson was late to the table. However, their blade pickup, or what has come to be known as the "Charlie Christian", is still considered by many to be the tone of choice for the traditional jazz guitarist. The association of the pickup to jazz guitar legend Charlie Christian was due to his use of the ES-150 and later ES-250.

I didn't start out thinking, "I want to collect all of the original electric instrument models made by Gibson". Rather, it just evolved and then became a challenge finding clean examples of each. I fell short unable to acquire an ES-250 and, of course, the ultra rare EB-150 but I certainly can claim to own the majority. Not that I've given up on completing the collection but have to be realistic from a finnacial standpoint as the cost to acquire the last 2 pieces could exceed the value of my current 8 instruments. More on my "holy grails" a bit further down on the page.

1935 E-150                           1936 EH-150           

                   
      
Like many of the other manufacturers Gibson's first commercially released instrument was a metal (aluminum) bodied lap steel in late 1935, the E-150. Less than 100 were produced before they switched to a woodbody model in 1936, the EH-150. That same year they released their first electric guitar, the ES-150, which was their L-50 archtop with the addition of the new blade pickup. It didn't take Gibson long to also install a smaller version of the pickup in a tenor guitar (EST-150), mandolin (EM-150) and tenor banjo (ETB-150). Just a quick note, the tenor banjo is really more like a tenor guitar with a banjo neck since the body is solid maple. 

Gibson also produced their first electric bass, EB-150, using the pickup however only two were ever built. Their top of the line electric archtop, the ES-250, with its 17" body and high end appointments was introduced in 1939. Of course there were several additional lap steel models including the EH-185 and beautiful Console Grande both of which also reside in my collection.

Of course the hawaiian guitarist like to have multiple tunings available so Gibson offered its double neck EH-150D. My version has a 7 and 8 string necks however other variations were offered but overall very limited production. I've only seen 2 other examples to date.

1939 ES-150                                   1938 ETG-150

                   

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                     

Gibson produced several versions of its early pickup - one with two (2) flat bar magnets and another with a compact horseshoe magnet that was used in non-guitar models starting in 1938. Gibson's prewar house brand instruments (Kalamazoo, Cromwell, Recording King, etc.) also made use of a similar blade pickup except in an oval housing.  

Even their entry level EH/ES-100 series sported a very similar design although there is difference in the # of windings as compared to the actual Charlie Christian.

Gibson also introduced a matching amplifier with the same model designation as their lap steel guitar, the EH-150. The amp went through several design changes during its production run including the cabinet shape and size. It is still one of Gibson's most recognized amplifiers with clean examples selling for well over $1K. I'm fortunate to own one of the first (if not the first) EH-150 amplifiers off the line in 1935. It uses the old Edison style house fuse and the Gibson logo doesn't even appear on the amp. A prized possession, it is still in working condition and the match to my E-150 metalbody lap steel. I also have an exceptionally clean 1936 version with a standard fuse cap and finally a 1938 when Gibson changed to the rounded cabinet which is the most recognizable version of the amplifier. You'll find individual photos under the Electric G.A.S. Gallery page. 




                     
     
         1939 EM-150                                                               1938 ETG-150 
                         

  By 1939 Gibson had added what is referred to as the ES-300 pickup which was used for both lap steel and archtop guitar models e.g. EH-150, EH-185, EH-275 and ES-300.  They also released a longer variation of the pickup on the ES-300 archtop guitar. Gibson began to phase out the blade pickup and by 1940 it was replaced with two metal covered designs one with adjustable poles that would become the forerunner of the post war P-90.

The war limited Gibson's instrument production during the mid-1940s so they ended up with a substantial inventory of their new metal pickup. After the war and with the release of their new P-90 design, Gibson sold off their prewar pickup inventory to Kay and Harmony. The pickup is now referred to as the "P-13" and found its way into early post war lap steel and archtop models by both manufacturers.


                               


                  

               1938 EH-150D                1939 Console Grande     
    




                

Gibson briefly reintroduced the original blade pickup design with flat bar magnets in 1978-79 releasing the ES-175 CC (Charlie Christian) so it was not actually a reissue of the ES-150. Gibson's custom shop however produced a small quantity of an ES-150 reissue for Guitar Center however it used the odd ES-225/Les Paul tailpiece of the 1950s and not the standard raised diamond. Hey Gibson, when are you guys going to make an actual resissue? 

 
                  
                
The pickup could also be ordered for any of Gibson's custom shop models. I've noted them in L-5s and other archtops ocassionally. Jason Lollar, Seymour Duncan and others maintain the design today by producing a contemporary version of the pickup.



My Grails! 

The instruments missing in action from this collection! Only two (2) of the EB-150 were shipped. One resides in The National Music Museum located at the University of South Dakota and the other in the hands of a very lucky collector. I missed its sale by Elderly last year. Boo hiss!

Gibson's top of the line prewar electric, the ES-250, with its 17" x-braced body and carved spruce top is another rare bird with only 70 shipped between 1939-41. This became Charlie Christian's intrument of choice by the early 1940s as well as other artists including T-Bone Walker. The only clean ES-250 I've found for sale is priced at $28K and being offered by who else, Gruhn. It comes with an EH-185 amp but  $28K? Can I drive it too? Needless to say the search continues!

                    

 
     

The REAL Gibson Family? Nah...but I heard they had a Top 40 hit!