Thursday, 27 March 2008

One of Gibson's more eccentric designs...

Gibson CorvusI won't be the first to ask and I very much doubt I'll be the last: Just what were Gibson thinking of in the early 1980s when they dreamt up the design for the Gibson Corvus? Commonly likened to a tin-opener, its seemingly-abstract assymmetrical shape begs the question "WHY?"

My only guess is that perhaps it's an attempt at an ergonomic design. The contours on the body's treble side suggest it was designed to sit comfortably on the lap, and the strap button inside the cutaway at the rear of the guitar is possibly positioned so that the guitar hangs nicely on a strap. (Although, having said that, the other strap button up by neck doesn't look very well situated at all - I can imagine the guitar and strap parting company quite easily without some kind of strap locking device).

I wonder what Robert Irizarry over at Building The Ergonomic Guitar would make of it? Ergonomic or not?

Despite wondering what planet Gibson were on when they produced this guitar, I have to confess that I do actually quite like it. It has a Sci-Fi alien ray gun feel to it, and puts me in mind of Dave Hill's now legendary Superyob guitar.

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