Gibson

Gibson Guitar Corp. is an American maker of  guitars and other instruments, now based in  Nashville, Tennessee. Orville Gibson founded the company in 1902 as "The Gibson Mandolin-Guitar Mfg. Co., Ltd." in  Kalamazoo, Michigan to make mandolin-family instruments. [1]  Gibson invented  archtop guitars by constructing the same type of carved, arched tops used on violins. By the 1930s, the company was also making flattop acoustic guitars, as well as one of the first commercially available hollow-body electric guitars, used and popularized by  Charlie Christian. It was bought by Chicago Musical Instruments in 1944, which was then acquired by the E.C.L. conglomerate that changed its name to Norlin Inc. This was seen as the beginning of an era of mismanagement.

Acoustic-Electric Guitars

 * Gibson J-160E (used by John Lennon and George Harrison)
 * Gibson SJ-200 (used by Harrison)

Electric Guitars

 * Gibson SG (used by George Harrison)
 * Gibson Les Paul (used by Eric Clapton, then Harrison)
 * Gibson ES-345 (used by Harrison)