When Did Gibson Begin Making Guitars?

When Did Gibson Begin Making Guitars? Orville Gibson started making instruments in 1894 and founded the company in 1902 as the Gibson Mandolin-Guitar Mfg. Co. Ltd. in Kalamazoo, Michigan, to make mandolin-family instruments. What did Gibson guitars originally produce? The year is 1894 and Orville Gibson has just created the earliest documented Gibson instrument: a