Gibson, Epiphone & Maestro Effects Pedals now at Promenade Music!

Promenade Music are delighted to once again be UK dealers for the Gibson brand, including Gibson, Epiphone and Maestro Effects.

Gibson was founded by Orville Gibson who originally made mandolins in Kalamazoo, Michigan, in the late 1890s. He developed the making of archtop guitars and by the 1930s, the company was also making flat-top acoustic guitars, as well as one of the first commercially available hollow-body electric guitars, which were used and popularized by Charlie Christian. In the early 1950s, Gibson introduced its first solid-body electric guitar – the Les Paul. Today, Gibson is probably best known for it's range of iconic guitars like the Les Paul, the SG, the Flying V, the Explorer, the Firebird, ES333, ES335 and more. It also has some iconic basses like the Thunderbird and EB range, as well as acoustic icons like the Hummingbird, Dove, J200, J45 and more.

Gibson guitars have been used by too many iconic artists to list, but for starters, there's the Beatles, the Rolling Stones, the Kinks, the Who, Led Zeppelin, ACDC, Guns n Roses, Jimi Hendrix, BB King, Freddie King, Chuck Berry, Sister Rosetta Tharpe,  the Doors, Green Day and thousands more.

See our Gibson range HERE.

The Gibson brand also own and distrbute other brands including another classic brand, Epiphone.

Epiphone guitars was founded in New York by Greek immigrant luthiers at the turn of the 20th Century, with Epaminondas Stathopoulos naming the company he took over from his father. Over the years, they were amongst the original pioneers of the American electric guitars along with Gibson, Fender, Gretsch, Guild and Rickenbacker. Their classic models like the Casino were used by the Beatles and many more. They were bought out by Gibson in 1957. For the last couple of decades, Epiphones (apart from some top-end models) have been made in the far east, and are often affordable versions of classic Gibson designs, as well as re-issued Epiphone classics like the Riviera and Casino.

 

When the FZ-1 was released, the guitar pedal market was nonexistent, and this odd effect, intended to conjure something resembling a horn sound, fell largely on deaf ears. But then Keith Richards came along, and the Rolling Stones guitarist used the FZ-1 as a demo track on “Satisfaction” to signal how and when a horn section should enter the mix. “But he never meant for the part to be used on the final recording,” says Phil O’Keefe, Senior Editor, Gibson Brands. “It was strictly a demo. He thought, well, this is what we want the horns to do… Then that scratch track winds up on the final version, and ‘Satisfaction’ turns out to be the song of the summer in ‘65.” Gibson sold every FZ-1 in stock.

 

From then on, Maestro introduced all kinds of things from Ring Modulators, Phase Shifters, Envelope Filters, Wah Pedals and more. Sadly, the company ceased to be at the end of the 70s though their products became legendary amongst professional players and collectors. In 2022, Gibson relaunched the brand with enhancements and improvements aimed at the modern player.

 

See our Maestro Effects Pedal range HERE.