Vintage Guitar - September 2017 - open - 30

A BILL LAWRENCE
ORIGINAL
The Gibson Marauder
I

BY MICHAEL WRIGHT
THE DIFFERENT STRUMMER

f a Les Paul is your idea of the perfect guitar, you might cast a cocked
eye toward some of Gibson's more-whimsical creations of the '70s. While
many were interesting, some turned out to be excellent instruments.

VINTAGE GUITAR

30

September 2017

Big changes occurred at Gibson after the
company's longtime president and designer,
Ted McCarty, retired in 1966, after which
Ecuadorian Company Ltd. merged with
Gibson's parent company, Chicago Musical
Instruments (CMI), to form Norlin. Part of
a subsequent reorganization involved managers who came from outside the industry
and thus simply lacked key knowledge. Also
at play, however, was the fact Norlin was
blindsided by a volatile market.
By '67, the "guitar boom," during which
there was a buyer for virtually every guitar,
had begun to wane. Many top players - guys
like Mike Bloomfield and Eric Clapton -
were eschewing new models in favor what
would become "vintage" guitars. And while
the music "biz" was still largely monolithic,
cracks would show as "pop music" began to
fracture into subgenres. Fans of Three Dog
Night would not be fans of the Jackson 5,
the Stooges, or Willie Nelson. For players, it
would no longer be about wanting the guitar
played by the Ventures or Beatles. And last but
not least, American guitarmakers (Gibson,
in particular) were about to be hit with fierce
competition from Japanese companies during
the '70s, "copy era," when players could score
inexpensive versions of their favorite guitars.
Gibson had always relied on the opinions
of professional musicians, but under Norlin
its network expanded as the company began
to explore new ideas. After all, its iconic
designs dated to the '50s and early '60s. In
'72, Gibson contracted with Bill Lawrence
to devise more-contemporary solidbody
electric guitars.
Born Willi Lorenz Stich in 1931, he became
a hot jazz guitarist and obtained a degree of
fame performing in Europe using the stage
name Billy Lorento, especially at USO shows
on military bases with touring American
musicians. By the late '50s, Lorento's name
was big enough to garner a "signature"
guitar model from Bavarian guitarmaker
Framus - the Framus Billy Lorento was a
nice thin-body/f-hole electric archtop.
In the very early '60s, with the guitar boom
gaining steam, Philadelphia Music Company,
headquartered in Limerick, Pennsylvania,
began importing and distributing Framus
guitars, made in Germany. Philadelphia
Music was a regional distributor and operated
retail stores in the area. During a visit to the
U.S. to demo Framus guitars, Billy Lorento
did some consulting work with Philadelphia
Music, then stayed stateside while assuming
another nom de plume, Bill Lawrence, for a
long career as a technical consultant, guitar
designer, and - especially - pickup expert for
several companies. He worked on the guitars
Vintage Guitar - September 2017 - open

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