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Gibson Dove
2005 Gibson Dove
Manufacturer	Gibson
Period	1962–present
Construction
Body type	Flattop
Neck joint	Maple
Woods
Body	Maple
Neck	Maple
Fretboard	Rosewood
Hardware
Bridge	Tune-O-Matic or adjustable or fixed rosewood
Pickup(s)	LR Baggs
Colors available
Sunburst, Natural, Ebony

The Gibson Dove is a flattop steel-string acoustic guitar made by the Gibson Guitar Corporation since 1962.

History

The Dove was Gibson's second square-shouldered dreadnought, after the introduction of the Hummingbird in 1960. First made in 1962 in Kalamazoo, Michigan, it was based on the Martin D-style dreadnought.^[1] Both Gibsons have solid spruce tops and engraved pickguards. The Dove has solid maple back and sides instead of the solid mahogany used for the Hummingbird, and a longer scale length (25.5" vs 24.75"). These make it a louder, brighter guitar than the Hummingbird.^{[citation needed]}

The double parallelogram fingerboard inlays, the two doves on the bridge, and the dove on the pickguard are mother-of-pearl. The original Doves had Gibson's metal tune-o-matic bridge, which seemed like a technological improvement at the time but had negative effects on tone and volume.^{[citation needed]} The Dove has factory installed LR Baggs active electronics powered by a 9-volt battery.^{[citation needed]}

In 1968 the internal bracing of the Dove was made heavier.^[2] This sturdier guitar was less likely to be returned to Gibson for warranty work, but its volume was reduced and tone negatively affected.^[3]

In 1985 Gibson's new owners began to address the quality issues that were affecting the company's products and reputation.^[4] By 1992 production of Gibson acoustic guitars was shifted to Bozeman, Montana.

I'll often be playing bass lines instead of just regular guitar chords, and I would find that with any other guitar I was playing, I couldn't get that force of bass and that real richness of the bass tones that I could get on the Dove.

— KT Tunstall about the Gibson Dove^[5]

Models

Models include the Dove Performer (with a Fishman Prefix T Pickup), the Dove Quilt (limited to 20 made with a quilted maple back and sides), the Doves in Flight (with extra ornaments), and the Elvis Presley Dove, based on the 1969 custom Dove that Elvis used in the early 1970s.^[6]

References

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Gibson Dove.

• Official website