WEBVTT - The Birth of Gibson Guitars 0:00:04.160 --> 0:00:07.200 Get in touch with technology with tech Stuff from half 0:00:07.240 --> 0:00:13.720 stuff works dot com. Hey there, and welcome to tech Stuff. 0:00:13.760 --> 0:00:16.760 I'm your host, Jonathan Strickland. I'm an executive producer with 0:00:16.840 --> 0:00:20.240 how Stuff Works, No Love all Things Tech, and I 0:00:20.280 --> 0:00:23.400 had a listener recently give me a request to cover 0:00:23.480 --> 0:00:26.800 the story of Gibson Guitars, which has been in the 0:00:26.880 --> 0:00:31.680 news recently after the company filed for bankruptcy. Listener who 0:00:31.720 --> 0:00:34.920 requested this, I apologize because while I did a search 0:00:35.080 --> 0:00:37.880 in my email and on Twitter, I couldn't find where 0:00:37.880 --> 0:00:40.400 it was. And maybe you asked me somewhere else, And 0:00:40.400 --> 0:00:42.360 I apologize for for leaving your name out. If you 0:00:42.400 --> 0:00:44.040 can get in touch with me and let me know 0:00:44.080 --> 0:00:47.000 who you are, I'll make sure to to confirm your 0:00:47.000 --> 0:00:49.479 identity in a future episode. But I thought it was 0:00:49.520 --> 0:00:52.440 a great request. I have talked about electric guitars in 0:00:52.479 --> 0:00:55.040 the past, but it was a long long time ago. 0:00:55.160 --> 0:00:57.400 Chris Poulette, my original co host, and I we talked 0:00:57.400 --> 0:00:59.640 all about electric guitars. We're gonna cover some of that 0:00:59.720 --> 0:01:03.640 same territory here, but it's been like eight years, so 0:01:03.720 --> 0:01:05.600 I think it's okay for me to go back over it. 0:01:05.680 --> 0:01:07.880 So in this episode, we're gonna take a look at 0:01:07.920 --> 0:01:12.000 the founder of Gibson Guitars, how acoustic guitars work, the 0:01:12.040 --> 0:01:15.400 early days of electric guitars and how they work, and 0:01:15.520 --> 0:01:18.399 how the company grew into a household name if your 0:01:18.440 --> 0:01:21.319 household was pretty musical. In our next episode, we're gonna 0:01:21.360 --> 0:01:24.120 skip ahead to learn about why the company had to 0:01:24.160 --> 0:01:27.160 declare bankruptcy and what will come next for it. So 0:01:27.200 --> 0:01:30.120 we're gonna kind of book end the company in these 0:01:30.120 --> 0:01:34.560 two episodes. Now, the story of Gibson begins with its founder, 0:01:34.959 --> 0:01:39.800 Orville H. Gibson. Orville was born in eighteen fifty six 0:01:40.280 --> 0:01:44.000 in Chatta Gay, New York, or Chateau Gay if you 0:01:44.040 --> 0:01:46.319 want to pronounce it the French way, But as far 0:01:46.319 --> 0:01:49.320 as I could tell, the actual local pronunciation is closer 0:01:49.320 --> 0:01:51.520 to Chatta Gay. And I couldn't even be getting that wrong. 0:01:51.680 --> 0:01:54.680 And I apologize because I probably am. I'm a Southerner. 0:01:54.920 --> 0:01:58.400 That's a Yankee town. Let's chalk it up to that. Anyway, 0:01:58.400 --> 0:02:00.200 This town is not that far from the boy her 0:02:00.240 --> 0:02:03.720 with Canada, and his dad was originally from England. His 0:02:03.800 --> 0:02:06.280 mom was an American and very little is known about 0:02:06.280 --> 0:02:09.000 his life. He had several siblings. He was the youngest 0:02:09.120 --> 0:02:12.200 of the Gibson children, But there aren't a whole lot 0:02:12.280 --> 0:02:16.040 of records of his life, uh that have been discovered 0:02:16.080 --> 0:02:17.840 over time. So a lot of the stuff that we've 0:02:17.919 --> 0:02:22.520 learned about Gibson we've learned kind of through circumstantial evidence. 0:02:22.800 --> 0:02:25.000 There are a few records that we can cite, but 0:02:25.120 --> 0:02:27.440 we only know a few facts. So when he was 0:02:27.480 --> 0:02:32.200 in his late teens, Gibson moved to Kalamazoo, Michigan. We're 0:02:32.240 --> 0:02:35.440 not entirely sure why. He may have left with his brother, 0:02:35.639 --> 0:02:37.480 one of his older brothers, but we don't really know. 0:02:37.800 --> 0:02:40.840 He clearly had an interest in woodcarving and music when 0:02:40.880 --> 0:02:44.160 he was a kid. He became an accomplished musician, and 0:02:44.200 --> 0:02:46.560 he was the leader of a group called the Orpheus 0:02:46.600 --> 0:02:52.080 Mandolin Club. Author Joyce Brumbaugh suggests in her book Orville H. 0:02:52.160 --> 0:02:56.560 Gibson A Peculiar Excellency, that he was likely an animated 0:02:56.600 --> 0:03:00.400 and energetic person because he was performing on the vaudeville's stage. 0:03:00.480 --> 0:03:03.079 So if you're in vaudeville theater, in order to keep 0:03:03.080 --> 0:03:06.200 the audience's attention, you have to be really personable. This 0:03:06.320 --> 0:03:11.040 stands and start contrast with the standard photograph of Orville H. Gibson. 0:03:11.280 --> 0:03:15.840 It shows in unsmiling, heavily mustached gentleman with a really 0:03:15.919 --> 0:03:20.359 intense stare. He does not look like a fun loving individual, 0:03:20.440 --> 0:03:24.160 but since he was the band leader of a vaudeville group, 0:03:24.440 --> 0:03:27.760 he probably lightened up a bit on stage. Gibson began 0:03:27.800 --> 0:03:31.839 making musical instruments in Kalamazoo, possibly starting as early as 0:03:31.919 --> 0:03:34.840 the eighteen eighties. He worked as a clerk for a 0:03:34.880 --> 0:03:38.080 couple of Kalamazoo businesses to support himself, and he made 0:03:38.160 --> 0:03:42.600 instruments on commission only on occasion. Brumbal says that Orville 0:03:42.600 --> 0:03:45.360 may have viewed being a luthier, that's a person who 0:03:45.400 --> 0:03:49.760 actually builds stringed instruments as a kind of retirement plan, 0:03:49.960 --> 0:03:51.839 like once he got to a certain age, he would 0:03:51.880 --> 0:03:54.280 be making these kind of out of pleasure on his 0:03:54.320 --> 0:03:59.120 own pace for money. The first documented Gibson instrument, according 0:03:59.160 --> 0:04:04.000 to the company official history page, dates to eighteen ninety four. 0:04:04.400 --> 0:04:07.240 By then, Gibson had his own wood shop. His designs 0:04:07.240 --> 0:04:10.600 built off the arch top design of the violin. I'll 0:04:10.600 --> 0:04:12.440 talk a little bit more about what that arch top 0:04:12.480 --> 0:04:14.720 design means in just a second, but first let's talk 0:04:14.720 --> 0:04:18.200 about the basic structure of stringed instruments like guitars and mandolins, 0:04:18.200 --> 0:04:21.800 again understanding of their anatomy. Now I'm gonna focus mostly 0:04:21.800 --> 0:04:24.200 on guitars for our discussion, but many of the same 0:04:24.240 --> 0:04:27.880 things apply to mandolin's. Mandolin's and guitars are not that different, 0:04:27.880 --> 0:04:31.640 although their strings are grouped and tuned differently. Guitars have 0:04:31.839 --> 0:04:35.440 three major parts. You have the body, and acoustic guitars 0:04:35.440 --> 0:04:39.240 have a hollow body, upon which is the soundboard. More 0:04:39.279 --> 0:04:41.599 on that in a second. Then there's the neck of 0:04:41.640 --> 0:04:44.680 the guitar, upon which are the frets, and at the 0:04:44.800 --> 0:04:46.960 very end of it is the head of the guitar, 0:04:47.040 --> 0:04:49.960 which has the tuning pegs. So let's start with talking 0:04:50.040 --> 0:04:53.080 about the body. Now, you can divide the body of 0:04:53.160 --> 0:04:56.640 most acoustic guitars into three more parts, so you can 0:04:56.640 --> 0:04:58.760 think of a guitar kind of has almost like a 0:04:58.839 --> 0:05:01.000 pair shape or a figure rate shape in a way. 0:05:01.240 --> 0:05:04.040 The narrow part of an acoustic guitar is called the waist, 0:05:04.640 --> 0:05:06.479 and it's meant to make it easier to rest the 0:05:06.480 --> 0:05:10.159 guitar against your knee for playing. The wider sections, the 0:05:10.200 --> 0:05:13.600 ones that are that bow out a bit, they're called bouts. 0:05:13.640 --> 0:05:16.120 So the upper bout of a guitar is the bit 0:05:16.200 --> 0:05:18.919 that connects to the neck of the guitar. The lower 0:05:19.000 --> 0:05:22.599 bout has the bridge attached to it. The body on 0:05:22.640 --> 0:05:26.000 an acoustic guitar tends to have a large hole in it, called, 0:05:26.080 --> 0:05:30.440 appropriately enough, the sound hole. Below the sound hole is 0:05:30.480 --> 0:05:33.240 a piece called the bridge. This is the piece that 0:05:33.279 --> 0:05:36.000 acts as the anchor point for the strings on that 0:05:36.120 --> 0:05:39.239 end of the guitar. On the bridge is another piece 0:05:39.320 --> 0:05:42.360 called the saddle, and the strings of the guitar rest 0:05:42.480 --> 0:05:46.160 against the saddle, which provides a raised point so that 0:05:46.200 --> 0:05:48.839 the strings are clear of the bridge and of the 0:05:48.880 --> 0:05:51.960 rest of the guitar the frets along the neck. Otherwise 0:05:52.320 --> 0:05:54.279 the strings would not be able to vibrate properly. They 0:05:54.320 --> 0:05:57.040 would be uh brushing up against the guitar and you 0:05:57.080 --> 0:06:00.240 would get a buzzing noise. Strings stretch up to the 0:06:00.279 --> 0:06:02.559 neck to the head of the guitar, where they pass 0:06:02.600 --> 0:06:05.440 through a piece called the nut and wrap around the 0:06:05.440 --> 0:06:08.360 tuning pegs. So the nut is a piece with grooves 0:06:08.360 --> 0:06:11.760 in it that the strings fit through, and it's kind 0:06:11.760 --> 0:06:14.719 of similar to the saddle on the other end of 0:06:14.760 --> 0:06:18.360 the guitar. The nut and saddle act as as sort 0:06:18.400 --> 0:06:22.440 of um a raised section that keeps those strings clear 0:06:22.640 --> 0:06:26.279 of the rest of the guitar. Right, So very similar 0:06:26.320 --> 0:06:30.320 in many ways to the bridge and and saddle. If 0:06:30.360 --> 0:06:33.760 you to turn the tuning pegs, you can increase or 0:06:33.880 --> 0:06:37.880 decrease the amount of tension on individual strings, which changes 0:06:37.920 --> 0:06:41.640 their rate of vibration and therefore their pitch. The saddle 0:06:41.680 --> 0:06:44.760 and the nut represent the two ends of a guitar string. 0:06:44.880 --> 0:06:48.039 So even though the string technically extends past the nut 0:06:48.120 --> 0:06:51.720 and the saddle, so on one end, on the nut end, 0:06:52.200 --> 0:06:54.760 it continues on to wrap around the tuning peg. On 0:06:54.800 --> 0:06:57.760 the saddle end, it continues down to the anchor point 0:06:57.760 --> 0:07:00.359 on the bridge. Uh, we actually considered the length of 0:07:00.360 --> 0:07:05.000 the string to be saddle to nut. Now that distance 0:07:05.120 --> 0:07:08.800 between the nut and the saddle is the scale length 0:07:09.080 --> 0:07:12.880 of the guitar. When you strum a string, you cause 0:07:12.880 --> 0:07:16.040 it to vibrate, and vibrations pass through the saddle to 0:07:16.160 --> 0:07:19.360 the bridge and therefore to the soundboard. And let's stick 0:07:19.400 --> 0:07:21.400 with the strings for a second to have a discussion 0:07:21.400 --> 0:07:23.400 about pitch and notes, and then we'll get back to 0:07:23.440 --> 0:07:25.600 the soundboard and the body of the guitar and talk 0:07:25.640 --> 0:07:29.280 a little bit about acoustics, the frequency of the strings 0:07:29.320 --> 0:07:34.040 vibration determines its pitch. Rapidly vibrating strings create higher pitches 0:07:34.080 --> 0:07:38.000 than slower vibrating strings, and several factors determine how fast 0:07:38.040 --> 0:07:40.720 a string will vibrate. So one of those is the 0:07:40.800 --> 0:07:43.520 length of the string. Another is the amount of tension 0:07:43.680 --> 0:07:46.679 that's on the string. The more tension is on the string, 0:07:46.720 --> 0:07:49.160 the faster it's going to vibrate. The weight of the 0:07:49.200 --> 0:07:51.560 string matters. The lighter the string is, the faster it 0:07:51.560 --> 0:07:54.880 will vibrate, and how springy the string is. So if 0:07:54.920 --> 0:07:57.800 you have a very springy material like a rubber band, 0:07:58.240 --> 0:08:02.280 that vibrates a lot more than non stringy springy material 0:08:02.360 --> 0:08:06.320 like twine. For example, the first string on a guitar 0:08:06.440 --> 0:08:08.960 tends to be very very thin and have less weight, 0:08:09.280 --> 0:08:12.520 and the sixth string, the last string on a standard guitar, 0:08:12.640 --> 0:08:16.080 is much thicker and heavier. Pressing down on a string 0:08:16.120 --> 0:08:19.680 at a fret will decrease the strength strings length, and 0:08:19.720 --> 0:08:23.320 that increases the frequency of the strings vibrations, which also 0:08:23.360 --> 0:08:25.679 means it makes the pitch of the strings note higher. 0:08:25.760 --> 0:08:27.960 So when you have a guitar, you got that neck, 0:08:28.320 --> 0:08:30.280 you got all the frets on there. If you put 0:08:30.320 --> 0:08:33.679 your finger down on a string and you press down 0:08:34.000 --> 0:08:35.520 and you play that string, it's going to play at 0:08:35.520 --> 0:08:37.679 a higher pitch than it would if you didn't have 0:08:37.720 --> 0:08:39.320 your finger there, if you were playing it as they 0:08:39.360 --> 0:08:42.600 say open. Open is when you do not have a 0:08:42.640 --> 0:08:45.520 finger on the neck where you're pressing down at a 0:08:45.600 --> 0:08:48.480 fret on a particular string. And as you move up 0:08:48.520 --> 0:08:52.200 the neck closer toward the bridge, the pitch of the 0:08:52.240 --> 0:08:55.280 note you play will increase. It will go higher because 0:08:55.280 --> 0:08:57.880 you're decreasing the length of the string and making it 0:08:58.960 --> 0:09:01.840 vibrate more frequently within a second. Now, when I talk 0:09:01.880 --> 0:09:04.040 about frequency, what I'm really talking about is the number 0:09:04.040 --> 0:09:06.800 of times the string passes over an arbitrary point after 0:09:06.880 --> 0:09:09.760 you strum it. So imagine you've got a little sensor 0:09:10.080 --> 0:09:13.080 placed just below a string, and you strum the string, 0:09:13.440 --> 0:09:16.400 and the sensor counts every time the string leaves and 0:09:16.440 --> 0:09:20.000 returns to a certain position. So every time it moves 0:09:20.000 --> 0:09:23.440 out and back counts as a wave, like a sound wave. 0:09:23.760 --> 0:09:27.360 The frequency of those waves determines the pitch. So, for example, 0:09:27.440 --> 0:09:29.080 let's say you've got a guitar and you've tuned it 0:09:29.120 --> 0:09:32.360 to the standard guitar tuning, which is E, B, G, 0:09:32.760 --> 0:09:36.000 D A E. Your first string is tuned to EAT. Now, 0:09:36.000 --> 0:09:38.080 if you were to press down on the first string 0:09:38.160 --> 0:09:40.520 at the fifth fret, and then you were to strum 0:09:40.559 --> 0:09:43.320 that string, the string would vibrate at a frequency of 0:09:43.320 --> 0:09:46.520 four forty times per second, and that would produce and 0:09:46.720 --> 0:09:49.280 A note that is the frequency of an A note. 0:09:49.480 --> 0:09:52.600 Strumming an open first string to produce the E note 0:09:52.640 --> 0:09:55.440 it naturally would produce would cause the string to vibrate 0:09:55.440 --> 0:09:59.319 at three nine point six times per second. That's because 0:09:59.320 --> 0:10:03.280 an open note represents a longer string, so that's why 0:10:03.320 --> 0:10:06.520 it has fewer vibrations per second. It's a longer string. 0:10:06.559 --> 0:10:08.560 If you have a scale length of twenty six inches, 0:10:08.960 --> 0:10:11.200 meaning that's the distance between the nut and the saddle, 0:10:11.400 --> 0:10:13.520 the E note would represent a string that's twenty six 0:10:13.559 --> 0:10:16.680 inches long at that particular tension and that particular weight. 0:10:17.160 --> 0:10:19.160 If you put your finger on the fifth threat, the 0:10:19.200 --> 0:10:22.199 strings length has been reduced to nineteen point four eight inches, 0:10:22.400 --> 0:10:23.520 and if you were to go all the way down 0:10:23.520 --> 0:10:25.679 to the twelfth fret, you'd be at thirteen inches. You 0:10:25.679 --> 0:10:27.719 would produce an E note again, but that would be 0:10:27.760 --> 0:10:30.960 an octave higher than your original E. The notes from 0:10:30.960 --> 0:10:37.000 the major scale the C scale R, C, D, E, F, G, A, B, 0:10:37.320 --> 0:10:41.560 and then C again. The frequencies for those notes are 0:10:41.679 --> 0:10:44.920 two hundred sixty four hurts for C to ninety seven 0:10:45.000 --> 0:10:48.800 hurts for D, three hurts for E, three fifty two 0:10:48.880 --> 0:10:52.000 hurts for F, three nine six hurts for G four 0:10:52.080 --> 0:10:55.120 or forty hurts for A four, nine five hurts for B, 0:10:55.440 --> 0:10:58.800 and five eight hurts for C. Again, that means to 0:10:58.840 --> 0:11:01.040 go from C to D you would have to multiply 0:11:01.200 --> 0:11:04.560 sees frequency by nine eight. But to get from D 0:11:04.679 --> 0:11:07.400 to E you would have to multiply ds frequency by 0:11:07.400 --> 0:11:10.640 ten ninths. And to go from E to F you 0:11:10.720 --> 0:11:14.319 got to multiply by sixteen fifteen. Which sounds like some 0:11:14.400 --> 0:11:16.960 really screwy math. So how did we figure all this out? 0:11:17.400 --> 0:11:20.520 We'll explain all that in a minute, but first let's 0:11:20.559 --> 0:11:30.520 take a quick break to thank our sponsor. So how 0:11:30.520 --> 0:11:32.720 did we get this weird math where we take one 0:11:32.800 --> 0:11:35.280 frequency and then we start multiplying it by stuff like 0:11:35.400 --> 0:11:39.240 nine eighth or sixteen fifteen or ten ninths or whatever. Well, 0:11:39.280 --> 0:11:43.880 we actually work backward. The major scale represents songs or 0:11:44.120 --> 0:11:48.520 notes rather that we humans find pleasant, So what happened 0:11:49.080 --> 0:11:51.440 was we figured out the notes that we most like 0:11:51.520 --> 0:11:54.480 to listen to, and we started tuning our instruments to 0:11:54.520 --> 0:11:56.439 those notes. We said, oh, this is this has got 0:11:56.480 --> 0:11:58.040 a nice sound to it. It It appeals to me, so 0:11:58.080 --> 0:12:00.720 I'm going to tune this inst are meant to play 0:12:00.760 --> 0:12:03.720 these notes, And we just kept working with instruments to 0:12:03.720 --> 0:12:06.920 find the tunings that pleased us, and then they became 0:12:06.960 --> 0:12:10.520 the standard. Later, when acoustics really began to emerge as 0:12:10.520 --> 0:12:13.479 a branch of physics, we started to understand the mathematical 0:12:13.559 --> 0:12:16.560 relationships between these notes. Really, when you get down to it, 0:12:16.880 --> 0:12:20.840 music is math. So for example, the first ce and 0:12:20.920 --> 0:12:23.000 the major scale has a frequency of two hundred sixty 0:12:23.080 --> 0:12:25.880 four hurts. If you move up an octave to the 0:12:25.920 --> 0:12:29.400 next see as a frequency of five eight hurts. And 0:12:29.440 --> 0:12:32.960 if you pay attention, you see that that is twice 0:12:33.000 --> 0:12:35.440 the number of two sixty four. So the notes we 0:12:35.480 --> 0:12:39.160 are familiar with end up being arbitrary, right, the thing 0:12:39.200 --> 0:12:42.040 we called to see it's called a cee for arbitrary reasons, 0:12:42.360 --> 0:12:44.920 and in fact, the reason why we picked that set 0:12:44.920 --> 0:12:47.760 of frequencies as opposed to some other one. You know, 0:12:47.840 --> 0:12:51.360 we picked two sixty four instead of to seventy. It's 0:12:51.400 --> 0:12:56.080 because it sounded good to us, so we happen to 0:12:56.120 --> 0:12:58.760 like those notes. That's the ones that ended up being picked. 0:12:58.760 --> 0:13:00.920 And then it just turns out that, uh, we started 0:13:00.960 --> 0:13:05.000 learning about the mathematical relationships later. The mathematical connection allows 0:13:05.040 --> 0:13:08.320 for alternate tunings. If we take the same progression of 0:13:08.400 --> 0:13:10.640 fractions that we used in the C scale. You know 0:13:10.679 --> 0:13:13.760 when I said nine eights and then ten ninths and 0:13:13.800 --> 0:13:17.800 in fifteen sixteenth, it will use the exact same progression 0:13:18.400 --> 0:13:20.720 that you use to determine the different frequencies in the 0:13:20.760 --> 0:13:24.520 C major scale. And then you started with D as 0:13:24.559 --> 0:13:27.199 your first note. So you begin with D and then 0:13:27.240 --> 0:13:31.080 you decide to go up nine eighths and then etcetera, etcetera. 0:13:31.480 --> 0:13:34.880 You would find out that some of the notes would 0:13:34.920 --> 0:13:38.800 still have the same frequency as on the C major scale, 0:13:39.040 --> 0:13:40.960 but some of them would be a little different, not 0:13:41.080 --> 0:13:45.320 a lot, maybe just a few uh maybe a few 0:13:45.320 --> 0:13:48.559 waves difference of frequency maybe if you hurts difference, I 0:13:48.600 --> 0:13:52.080 should say in frequency. But you would also notice that 0:13:52.080 --> 0:13:55.800 the both the f uh and the C would have 0:13:55.880 --> 0:13:59.600 frequencies significantly higher than they did on the C scale. 0:14:00.000 --> 0:14:02.560 So you look at the D scale, and you say, huh. 0:14:02.760 --> 0:14:05.040 While most of these are more or less in line 0:14:05.320 --> 0:14:09.000 with their compatriots over in the C scale, F and 0:14:09.080 --> 0:14:12.160 C on this D scale are very different. They're higher. 0:14:12.559 --> 0:14:14.400 That's where we get F sharp and C sharp, and 0:14:14.400 --> 0:14:16.760 in fact that's where we get sharps. In general. That's 0:14:16.760 --> 0:14:18.960 why certain letters have a sharp or a flat. By 0:14:18.960 --> 0:14:21.880 the way, sharp and flat, it's all dependent on your perspective. 0:14:22.400 --> 0:14:28.520 Uh So a G sharp is or rather a G 0:14:28.640 --> 0:14:30.920 flat is the same as an F sharp. So F 0:14:31.120 --> 0:14:34.360 sharp would mean that the frequency is a little higher 0:14:34.360 --> 0:14:37.240 than your standard F note. G flat means that the 0:14:37.240 --> 0:14:39.560 frequency is a little lower than your standard G note. 0:14:39.760 --> 0:14:41.640 But F and G are right next to each other, 0:14:41.760 --> 0:14:44.440 So and F sharp and a G flat they're the 0:14:44.480 --> 0:14:48.800 same thing. Um so good to know. Also, when you 0:14:48.800 --> 0:14:51.360 play a note, you typically don't get one pure note, 0:14:51.480 --> 0:14:55.080 especially on the guitar, you actually get harmonics. Plucking a 0:14:55.160 --> 0:14:58.560 note doesn't just generate the frequency, the fundamental frequency for 0:14:58.600 --> 0:15:01.440 that note, but the harmonics at two, three, and four 0:15:01.480 --> 0:15:05.000 times the pure tone. However, each step up also has 0:15:05.000 --> 0:15:08.280 a reduction in amplitude or volume. So for example, let's 0:15:08.280 --> 0:15:10.080 say you play an A note, which is that four 0:15:10.560 --> 0:15:14.000 forty hurts. Uh. You also get some harmonics at eight 0:15:14.400 --> 0:15:17.760 eight hurts, but your amplitude will be lower, like half 0:15:17.920 --> 0:15:22.000 the amplitude of your fundamental frequency. So we tend to 0:15:22.040 --> 0:15:26.800 perceive these fundamental frequencies and their overtones as a single note, 0:15:27.000 --> 0:15:29.280 like we're not hearing multiple notes when we pluck this. 0:15:29.600 --> 0:15:31.800 They all kind of blend together to make one note. 0:15:32.240 --> 0:15:36.240 But combinations of overtones can create a different feel for sounds, 0:15:36.280 --> 0:15:39.320 so they are important in acoustics. The hollow body of 0:15:39.320 --> 0:15:43.320 the guitar amplifies the vibrations from the strings. The vibrations 0:15:43.360 --> 0:15:47.320 move through the strings, through the bridge onto the sound board. 0:15:47.400 --> 0:15:51.560 It causes air molecules inside the hollow body of the 0:15:51.600 --> 0:15:55.800 guitar to vibrate. They emerge from this whole in a concentration, 0:15:56.200 --> 0:15:59.520 and then those vibrating air molecules cause other air molecules 0:15:59.520 --> 0:16:01.920 to vibrate, and so on and so forth, until air 0:16:01.960 --> 0:16:05.680 molecules in your ear canals start to vibrate and press 0:16:05.720 --> 0:16:08.920 against your tim panic membrane or create areas of low pressure, 0:16:08.920 --> 0:16:12.520 allowing your tim tympanic membrane to press outward, and again 0:16:12.880 --> 0:16:15.840 we get the stimulation of nerve cells in our ears 0:16:15.880 --> 0:16:19.120 that ultimately our brains interpret as sound. But I've talked 0:16:19.160 --> 0:16:21.000 about that a lot in recent episodes, so we're not 0:16:21.000 --> 0:16:23.880 going to go over it again in any greater detail 0:16:23.880 --> 0:16:26.800 than what I just did. That is so Gibson's designs 0:16:26.840 --> 0:16:30.360 incorporated an arch structure. I mentioned that earlier. So what 0:16:30.400 --> 0:16:32.960 did that actually mean? Well, that was something that was 0:16:33.040 --> 0:16:36.160 common in violins, and by arch structure, I mean that 0:16:36.240 --> 0:16:40.040 the soundboard on the guitar bowed out, bowed out maybe 0:16:40.240 --> 0:16:42.520 or arched out. That's probably the better way of putting it. 0:16:42.920 --> 0:16:46.080 Arched out rather than being perfectly flat. So instead of 0:16:46.120 --> 0:16:48.800 having a flat face guitar, the face of the guitar 0:16:48.840 --> 0:16:52.680 actually uh arched outward a little bit from the player. 0:16:52.920 --> 0:16:55.400 The whole instrument was carved out of a single piece 0:16:55.400 --> 0:16:58.400 of wood, and Orville also hollowed out part of the 0:16:58.440 --> 0:17:00.920 neck of the guitar because he was hoping that it 0:17:00.920 --> 0:17:03.760 would help improve the quality of sound the guitar would produce. 0:17:03.840 --> 0:17:08.080 So at the base of the neck where it joins 0:17:08.119 --> 0:17:10.919 that upper bout that was actually hollowed out to try 0:17:11.000 --> 0:17:14.680 and create more resonance for the guitar. Orville Gibson actually 0:17:14.680 --> 0:17:18.240 filed a patent for his design, though specifically he filed 0:17:18.240 --> 0:17:21.199 it for mandolins, but it was the same approach and 0:17:21.240 --> 0:17:24.879 he filed for it in and the Patent Office granted 0:17:24.960 --> 0:17:28.880 him a patent in eight While constructing a guitar, Gibson 0:17:28.880 --> 0:17:32.479 would tap upon the partially finished body and listen for 0:17:32.560 --> 0:17:35.000 the sound that it made when he tapped it, and 0:17:35.040 --> 0:17:36.800 this would be a way that he would tune the 0:17:36.840 --> 0:17:41.440 guitar's body painstakingly between carving sessions to get it just right. 0:17:41.480 --> 0:17:43.880 So he listened to it and think, that's not the 0:17:44.000 --> 0:17:46.400 sound quality I'm gonna need. I'll carve away a little 0:17:46.440 --> 0:17:49.120 bit more to get the right kind of resonance. This 0:17:49.160 --> 0:17:52.560 was the same approach that master violin builders were using 0:17:52.560 --> 0:17:56.720 when they were making their incredible instruments, so it made 0:17:56.720 --> 0:17:59.960 the process of building a guitar really methodical. Another word 0:18:00.040 --> 0:18:04.159 from methodical would be really slow. Gibson actually gained a 0:18:04.200 --> 0:18:07.840 reputation as a talented luthier, and his instruments were really 0:18:07.880 --> 0:18:10.879 in demand, but he was not able to produce as 0:18:10.920 --> 0:18:14.000 many instruments as people wanted, and so he began to 0:18:14.000 --> 0:18:16.359 look around for a way to expand this and in 0:18:16.480 --> 0:18:18.560 nineteen o two he sought out help in the form 0:18:18.680 --> 0:18:22.200 of a business agreement with a collection of Kalamazoo business 0:18:22.280 --> 0:18:26.080 owners essentially five owners who were willing to launch a 0:18:26.160 --> 0:18:31.760 business around this. They formed the Gibson Mandolin Guitar Manufacturing Company. 0:18:31.800 --> 0:18:35.320 Here's the weird thing. Gibson himself was not a partner 0:18:35.359 --> 0:18:38.320 in this firm. Instead, he accepted a one time payment 0:18:38.359 --> 0:18:41.040 of two thousand five dollars for his patents where his 0:18:41.119 --> 0:18:44.560 patent I should say, and served as a consultant for 0:18:44.600 --> 0:18:46.879 the first two years of the company's history. But in 0:18:46.960 --> 0:18:50.600 nineteen o four, Orville Gibson left the company that bore 0:18:50.760 --> 0:18:54.439 his own name, and he would later leave Kalamazoo, Michigan entirely, 0:18:54.680 --> 0:18:57.680 perhaps due to declining health. He drew a pension from 0:18:57.680 --> 0:19:00.840 the company until his death in nineteen eight teen, um 0:19:00.880 --> 0:19:04.720 he died from heart failure. The company was building instruments 0:19:04.760 --> 0:19:08.160 based off of Orville Gibson's designs, however, and in nineteen 0:19:08.240 --> 0:19:12.240 nineteen Lloyd Lore joined the company l O. A. R. 0:19:12.880 --> 0:19:16.000 He'd become an important person at Gibson, as would another 0:19:16.000 --> 0:19:19.480 employee named Ted McHugh, and at that point the company's 0:19:19.520 --> 0:19:23.280 guitar line was called the L Series. The series had 0:19:23.440 --> 0:19:27.640 eschewed some of Gibson's original designs, like the intricate inlays 0:19:27.760 --> 0:19:30.800 that he would create for his soundboards that cut down 0:19:30.800 --> 0:19:33.000 on their manufacturing time and had also cut down on 0:19:33.040 --> 0:19:36.600 a cost. He also they also had abandoned the idea 0:19:36.600 --> 0:19:40.000 of carving out the UH the instruments sides and next 0:19:40.080 --> 0:19:42.680 from a single piece of wood, or hollowing out a neck. 0:19:42.720 --> 0:19:45.000 They had pretty much given up on some of the 0:19:45.040 --> 0:19:48.320 more time consuming elements of this. There were models that 0:19:48.359 --> 0:19:50.840 were called the L the and then they had the 0:19:50.960 --> 0:19:53.320 L one to the L four someone which had been 0:19:53.320 --> 0:19:56.240 discontinued by the time that Laura came on, But some 0:19:56.320 --> 0:19:59.320 of them were actually available in multiple sizes, so different 0:19:59.560 --> 0:20:03.960 model of guitar UH, sometimes with different sizes within a 0:20:04.040 --> 0:20:08.040 single model family. MQ would develop a steel bar that 0:20:08.080 --> 0:20:10.760 could fit inside the neck of a guitar to improve 0:20:10.800 --> 0:20:14.879 the instrument's strength and rigidity, while also giving Luthier's the 0:20:14.960 --> 0:20:18.160 ability to make the next a little more slim, which 0:20:18.160 --> 0:20:21.200 would make them easier to hold and more comfortable to play. 0:20:21.680 --> 0:20:24.160 His invention was called a truss rod, and it would 0:20:24.200 --> 0:20:26.080 find its way into what many people consider to be 0:20:26.119 --> 0:20:30.080 the first modern acoustic guitar, the L five. The L 0:20:30.160 --> 0:20:33.119 five was Lloyd Lore's baby. He had created some novel 0:20:33.160 --> 0:20:36.960 designs for the company's F five mandolin, and he decided 0:20:37.000 --> 0:20:39.679 to use those same design principles when working on the 0:20:39.840 --> 0:20:44.040 L five guitar. The design included getting rid of the 0:20:44.200 --> 0:20:47.359 sound hole entirely, so instead of having that sort of 0:20:47.440 --> 0:20:50.600 oval sound hole that's in the face of the guitar, 0:20:50.920 --> 0:20:53.719 he went with a pair of F holes. They're so 0:20:53.760 --> 0:20:55.960 called because they look kind of like a lower case 0:20:56.080 --> 0:20:59.239 stylized letter F, and they were on either side of 0:20:59.280 --> 0:21:02.040 where the string were. This is similar to the way 0:21:02.320 --> 0:21:06.040 violins were constructed and the F five mandolin as well. 0:21:06.720 --> 0:21:10.280 So this was a new way of um allowing sound 0:21:10.280 --> 0:21:12.760 to emerge from the body of the guitar, and it 0:21:12.840 --> 0:21:16.600 gave it a slightly different tone than the guitars that 0:21:16.640 --> 0:21:20.080 had round or oval sound holes. The guitar also had 0:21:20.119 --> 0:21:25.240 an adjustable bridge, and an adjustable bridge leads to adjustable action. 0:21:25.640 --> 0:21:28.760 The action on a guitar refers to the height of 0:21:28.800 --> 0:21:32.840 the strings above the guitars fretboard, so you're looking at 0:21:32.840 --> 0:21:34.879 the neck of the guitar, you're looking at the frets. 0:21:34.880 --> 0:21:37.600 The frets are slightly raised from the neck. That's the 0:21:37.600 --> 0:21:40.639 point where you can put pressure so that the string 0:21:40.920 --> 0:21:43.399 ends up changing its length. You can make the strings 0:21:43.440 --> 0:21:46.680