Kalamazoo Rock And Roll

By Craig Manning

When people think of the most instrumental cities in the history of rock and roll, Kalamazoo is probably not high on most lists, including those compiled by Western Michigan University students. What most WMU students do not realize, however, is that Kalamazoo has played a major role in the music industry throughout the years, thanks to its status as one of the birthplaces of the modern electric guitar.

In 1896, Orville Gibson opened a self-run show on South Burdick, moving three years later to a larger location on East Main Street, according to Kalamazoo Public Library’s local history website. What started as a one-man mission, with Gibson making mandolins and acoustic guitars by hand, would, over the next century, morph into one of the most iconic names in the music business.

Though Orville Gibson’s involvement with his company was rather short lived—he left the company in 1909—the Gibson Mandolin and Guitar Company would thrive long after his departure, creating the first commercially successful electric guitar in 1937 (the ES-150), a hollow bodied, wooden instrument that was the natural evolution from the basic acoustic guitar.

The first ES-150 shipped from Kalamazoo’s Gibson factory on May 20, 1936, marking the start of an age of domination in the guitar industry for the company, according to Gibson’s official site.

Gibson’s dominance was challenged briefly in the early ‘50s when Fender, the biggest rival guitar company, released the Telecaster, a solid-body electric guitar characterized by a sleek design and a piercing sound. According to the Smithsonian institute, the hollow-bodied electric guitar had always faced issues with “distortion, overtones and feedback – the amplification of vibrations in the body of the instrument as well as in the strings.”

Fender’s Telecaster removed these issues and became the first instance of the electric guitar as it is generally known today.

Gibson, now led by Ted McCarty and still a fixture of Kalamazoo, recognized the threat of Fender’s innovation, and immediately began developing their own version of the solid-body electric guitar.

The result was the Les Paul guitar, endorsed by Lester “Les Paul” Polsfuss, who was one of the most notable guitarists of the day, and debuted in 1952.

For many guitarists, the Les Paul remains the benchmark for guitar sound and design to this day, as well as the most important step in Gibson’s defining musical adventure.

“Where would music be without Gibson electric guitars?” Walter Carter asks in the introduction to The Gibson Electric Guitar Book. “What would Charlie Christian have used to invent the very concept of an electric jazz guitarist? What would Scotty Moore have reached for when Elvis started singing ‘That’s Alright Mama.’? What would Chuck Berry have played to lay the foundation of rock ‘n’ roll guitar licks?”

Needless to say, Gibson guitars have played a massive role in the genesis and evolution of much of the music that is prevalent in the world to day, and until the company moved to a new Nashville headquarters in 1984, every single one of those instruments was made right here in Kalamazoo.

A local legend even says that Elvis Presley, the King of rock ‘n’ roll himself, made a stop in Kalamazoo to visit Gibson Guitars and have an instrument made.

“One of the stories that floats around is that he stayed at the old Columbia Hotel, which is on the corner of East Michigan and Pitcher Street, while visiting Gibson,” Lynn Houghton, the regional history curator at the East Campus Archives and Regional History Collection, said.

Despite the company’s departure, Kalamazoo remains steeped in Gibson history and tradition even to this day.

Heritage Guitar Inc., located at 225 Parsons St., originated when a group of Gibson craftsmen resisted the company’s move to Nashville and started their own business in order to remain here.

The founders, Jim Deurloo, Marvin Lamb and JP Moats started their business in one of the former Gibson Guitar Corporation buildings. They continue to utilize some of Gibson’s old machinery, as well as the skills they learned in their time with the company.

“The owners themselves each had in excess of 25 years of hands on experience in making guitars. To this day each of the owners is directly involved in the manufacturing of each instrument,” an article on the Heritage website said.

The Kalamazoo Valley Museum hosts the Kalamazoo Fretboard Festival each year, inviting attendees to “meet instrument designers and learn about their trade, attend workshops for a variety of stringed instruments and hear live performances from area musicians.”

This year’s festival will be held at the Museum on March 24 from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m., with a kick-off concert the night before at 7p.m.

In addition, Tom Dietz, the curator of the Kalamazoo Valley Museum, will present a lecture session on The Life and Legacy of Orville Gibson this coming May as a part of his regular Sunday History Series. For tickets or more information, call (269) 373-7990.

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Posted by HeraldAdmin on Jan 26 2012. Filed under Weekend Scene. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry

Cody Kimball
Web Manager: I'm a Communication Student at WMU, a SCUBA Diver, Boater, Ordained Minister, Notary Public, Web Designer, Film Maker, DJ, and of course a Journalist. Born and raised in Port Huron, MI and a graduate of SC4. http://www.codykimball.com