Gibson USA

The term Gibson USA refers to Gibson's standard production line models, as opposed to those built by the Custom Shop. Before the Custom Shop was created in 1993, there was no such distinction because Gibson only ever had one production line. Gibson USA models are all built in the Nashville factory (Memphis does not build solidbodies, so until they make a semi-hollow SG, they're not relevant to this wiki).

1982-1993 Limited Run logo

However, just because the USA line is the standard production line doesn't mean limited runs only come out of the Custom Shop. In fact, very many limited runs have come from the USA line over the years. From as early as 1982, Gibson put a "Custom Shop" decal on the back of the headstock of any limited run or custom order guitar. With these decals, "Custom Shop Edition" denotes a limited run, while "Custom Shop Original" denotes a custom order (custom orders moved exclusively to the Custom Shop in 1993). Those decals ended use around 1993.

1990s USA Limited Run logo

In a similar style to the actual Custom Shop decal, Gibson also put a "Limited Edition" decal on limited runs from the USA line during the 1990s. That logo is pictured to the right. All guitars bearing this logo were built on the USA production line, and not by the Custom Shop.

Note on production numbers: Even if a model was only produced for a single year, that doesn't make it a limited run. Only limited runs have specified production limits, which will be stated in the corresponding model's page. Any model only produced for a single model year was produced at roughly the same rate as any other model produced that year.

Gibson USA

USA SG Models (1993 - Present)[]