Legendary Rock Stars Who Play Gibson Guitars Made in Kalamazoo

It's difficult to remember that a name like Gibson, which is so world-renowned now, started right here in southwest Michigan. Obviously, when you're the best in the world at what you do, it doesn't matter where you're located, even though Gibson did decide to move to Nashville in 1974.

But even before they moved to a bigger city, Gibson was spreading across the world, and some of the biggest names in Rock and Roll were using these Kalamazoo-made machines. It's likely, before the mid 1970s, if your favorite rock star was playing a Gibson guitar, it was made right down the street from you.

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As we mentioned, Gibson moved their main operation to Nashville in 1974. Some operations stayed for another 10 years, but those were mostly for their acoustic guitars. But prior to that, all of their series and signatures were made in the Kalamazoo factory - even the custom lines with modern rock stars' names attached to them.

So it's likely, any number of these INCREDIBLE rock stars likely rolled through Kalamazoo's Gibson factory at one time or another to either check on the progress of their own guitar series, or to shop for their next on-stage instrument.

Does anyone remember seeing any of these rock stars rolling through the factory back in the day?

Guitar Gurus Who Play(ed) Kalamazoo-Made Gibsons

Specifically, the famous Gibson Les Paul was started in the Kalamazoo Gibson factory. The factory closed, and moved to Nashville in 1974, but it's possible that these legends played guitars made right here in southwest Michigan