Uploaded July 2026 | Updated September 2026, 2 weeks ago
From protest singers to rock ’n’ roll icons, from the world’s biggest stages to campfires and front porches, Gibson flat-tops have provided the soundtrack to a century of trailblazing popular music. The first chapter of our story explains how the Gibson flat-top became the guitar of choice for musicians in every genre.
▶ Shop Gibson acoustic guitars: bit.ly/4fD7Uvc
Gibson is celebrating 100 years of flat-top acoustics, and to mark it, Gibson Gear Guide host Dinesh Lekhraj heads to Bozeman, Montana for an exclusive tour of the Gibson Acoustic Craftory. Across chapter one, he sits down with Robi Johns, Senior Product Development Manager at Gibson Acoustic, to trace the story back to founding luthier Orville Gibson and the mandolins that started it all, then walks the floor with Don Ruffatto, Product Development Manager, to see how raw wood becomes the Gibson acoustic guitar that you make your own music with.
Learn how Robi came to Bozeman to study guitar at Montana State University and never left, and he saw first-hand why so many fine acoustic builders were drawn to the same valley. As he puts it, “the climate is dry and very nice in the summertime, and it’s a wonderful place to be inspired, so they started building instruments here, particularly mandolins.”
While Gibson was focused on electrics in Tennessee, those Bozeman builders were turning out world-class mandolins from a small downtown shop called the Flatiron Mandolin Factory. Gibson bought it in the mid-1980s, broke ground on the current facility in 1987, and shipped its first guitars in July 1989. That original building is still the heart of the craftory today, where wood is sorted, cut, and sanded before it ever becomes a guitar.
Inside the acoustic craftory, Don shows Dinesh how tops and backs are jointed against a bright light table until no light passes through the seam, and opens up the rib bending press area where sides are shaped in molds for the J-200™, Hummingbird™, Dove™, J-45™, L-00, and more. It’s slow, hands-on work, and deliberately so. As Don says, “we have 130-plus years of experience, and people try, always try to find ways to make it better, but in so many cases it’s just the nature of what we do that is already right.”
That philosophy runs all the way back to Orville. “Orville Gibson had an obsession that how you put an instrument together, if at all possible, and every method that you connect the neck, every method that you put the bracing in, should enhance the performance,” Robi explains. A century on, the approach hasn’t changed: “we’re looking at what was needed and we morphed into something unique every time.”
Chapters:
0:00 Welcome to the Gibson Acoustic Craftory, Bozeman, Montana
0:50 Gibson L-00 Century 12-fret acoustic demo
1:36 Why did so many acoustic builders flock to Bozeman, Montana?
2:51 Orville Gibson and the birth of the Gibson mandolin
3:48 The first step of building your Gibson acoustic guitar
4:30 Gibson L-00 Century 12-fret acoustic demo continued
5:04 Reviving Gibson acoustic guitars and the gluing process
6:24 Why did Gibson move to Bozeman to build acoustic guitars?
7:17 Gibson J-45 Century 12-fret acoustic demo
7:50 How different Gibson acoustic guitars are shaped
8:45 A brief history of Gibson acoustic guitar shapes
10:59 Gibson J-45 Century 12-fret acoustic demo continued
11:35 Building acoustic guitars based on what guitarists need
12:41 The Gibson acoustic guitar warehouse
13:14 Gibson J-185 Century 12-fret acoustic demo
13:55 Handcrafting acoustic guitars based on more than 130 years of experience
15:05 Gibson J-185 Century 12-fret acoustic demo continued
📼 Related Videos To Watch Next:
▶ Is the Gibson J-45 for you? youtu.be/7ZB7XCGbM_A
▶ How to choose the BEST Gibson acoustic for you: youtu.be/BRJpkTLubas
▶ Gibson Custom acoustic comparison: youtu.be/0gymuGMog18
Follow Dinesh on Instagram: instagram.com/dineshlekhrajofficial
Subscribe to the Official Gibson Gear Guide: youtube.com/@gibson?sub_confirmation=1
📩 Get Gibson guitar news before ANYONE else: bit.ly/GetGibsonNEWS
📱Follow Us On Social Media For Early Access To Product News
▶ twitter.com/gibsonguitar
▶ instagram.com/gibsonguitar
▶ facebook.com/Gibson
📹 Follow our other channels!
Official Epiphone: youtube.com/@OfficialEpiphone
Official Mesa Boogie: youtube.com/@mesaboogie
Official Gibson TV: youtube.com/@gibsonguitar
Official Kramer Guitars: youtube.com/@KramerGuitarsUSA
Official KRK Music: youtube.com/@KRKSYSTEMS
ABOUT GIBSON GEAR GUIDE:
Welcome to Gibson Gear Guide – the official YouTube channel made by gearheads, for gearheads. Get first access to our latest guitars, basses, amps, pedals, and pro-audio gear. Watch equipment reviews, exclusive artist interviews and performances, deep dives into the history of the world’s most iconic guitars, and more.
From protest singers to rock ’n’ roll icons, from the world’s biggest stages to campfires and front porches, Gibson flat-tops have provided the soundtrack to a century of trailblazing popular music. The first chapter of our story explains how the Gibson flat-top became the guitar of choice for musicians in every genre.
▶ Shop Gibson acoustic guitars: bit.ly/4fD7Uvc
Gibson is celebrating 100 years of flat-top acoustics, and to mark it, Gibson Gear Guide host Dinesh Lekhraj heads to Bozeman, Montana for an exclusive tour of the Gibson Acoustic Craftory. Across chapter one, he sits down with Robi Johns, Senior Product Development Manager at Gibson Acoustic, to trace the story back to founding luthier Orville Gibson and the mandolins that started it all, then walks the floor with Don Ruffatto, Product Development Manager, to see how raw wood becomes the Gibson acoustic guitar that you make your own music with.
Learn how Robi came to Bozeman to study guitar at Montana State University and never left, and he saw first-hand why so many fine acoustic builders were drawn to the same valley. As he puts it, “the climate is dry and very nice in the summertime, and it’s a wonderful place to be inspired, so they started building instruments here, particularly mandolins.”
While Gibson was focused on electrics in Tennessee, those Bozeman builders were turning out world-class mandolins from a small downtown shop called the Flatiron Mandolin Factory. Gibson bought it in the mid-1980s, broke ground on the current facility in 1987, and shipped its first guitars in July 1989. That original building is still the heart of the craftory today, where wood is sorted, cut, and sanded before it ever becomes a guitar.
Inside the acoustic craftory, Don shows Dinesh how tops and backs are jointed against a bright light table until no light passes through the seam, and opens up the rib bending press area where sides are shaped in molds for the J-200™, Hummingbird™, Dove™, J-45™, L-00, and more. It’s slow, hands-on work, and deliberately so. As Don says, “we have 130-plus years of experience, and people try, always try to find ways to make it better, but in so many cases it’s just the nature of what we do that is already right.”
That philosophy runs all the way back to Orville. “Orville Gibson had an obsession that how you put an instrument together, if at all possible, and every method that you connect the neck, every method that you put the bracing in, should enhance the performance,” Robi explains. A century on, the approach hasn’t changed: “we’re looking at what was needed and we morphed into something unique every time.”
Chapters:
0:00 Welcome to the Gibson Acoustic Craftory, Bozeman, Montana
0:50 Gibson L-00 Century 12-fret acoustic demo
1:36 Why did so many acoustic builders flock to Bozeman, Montana?
2:51 Orville Gibson and the birth of the Gibson mandolin
3:48 The first step of building your Gibson acoustic guitar
4:30 Gibson L-00 Century 12-fret acoustic demo continued
5:04 Reviving Gibson acoustic guitars and the gluing process
6:24 Why did Gibson move to Bozeman to build acoustic guitars?
7:17 Gibson J-45 Century 12-fret acoustic demo
7:50 How different Gibson acoustic guitars are shaped
8:45 A brief history of Gibson acoustic guitar shapes
10:59 Gibson J-45 Century 12-fret acoustic demo continued
11:35 Building acoustic guitars based on what guitarists need
12:41 The Gibson acoustic guitar warehouse
13:14 Gibson J-185 Century 12-fret acoustic demo
13:55 Handcrafting acoustic guitars based on more than 130 years of experience
15:05 Gibson J-185 Century 12-fret acoustic demo continued
📼 Related Videos To Watch Next:
▶ Is the Gibson J-45 for you? youtu.be/7ZB7XCGbM_A
▶ How to choose the BEST Gibson acoustic for you: youtu.be/BRJpkTLubas
▶ Gibson Custom acoustic comparison: youtu.be/0gymuGMog18
Follow Dinesh on Instagram: instagram.com/dineshlekhrajofficial
Subscribe to the Official Gibson Gear Guide: youtube.com/@gibson?sub_confirmation=1
📩 Get Gibson guitar news before ANYONE else: bit.ly/GetGibsonNEWS
📱Follow Us On Social Media For Early Access To Product News
▶ twitter.com/gibsonguitar
▶ instagram.com/gibsonguitar
▶ facebook.com/Gibson
📹 Follow our other channels!
Official Epiphone: youtube.com/@OfficialEpiphone
Official Mesa Boogie: youtube.com/@mesaboogie
Official Gibson TV: youtube.com/@gibsonguitar
Official Kramer Guitars: youtube.com/@KramerGuitarsUSA
Official KRK Music: youtube.com/@KRKSYSTEMS
ABOUT GIBSON GEAR GUIDE:
Welcome to Gibson Gear Guide – the official YouTube channel made by gearheads, for gearheads. Get first access to our latest guitars, basses, amps, pedals, and pro-audio gear. Watch equipment reviews, exclusive artist interviews and performances, deep dives into the history of the world’s most iconic guitars, and more.
