Don and Phil Everly were among the most sucessful rock’n’roll artists in the late 1950s with such hits as ‘Bye Bye Love’ and “Wake Up Little Susie”, and they were the only Gibson artists of the 1960s to have a signature flat-top model.

The brothers learned guitar from their father Ike Everly, who played a Gibson and, when they gained their first notoriety, they special-ordered a pair of J-200s.

When Gibson made the relationship official with a signature model, they based it on the J-185, which had the J-200’s circular lower bout but was slightly smaller. The black finish matched the tuxedos that the Everlys wore onstage. The oversized double pickguards protected more of the top from pick scratches. And the pinless bridge (like Everly’s design) allowed for quicker string changes.

The Everlys had their last Top 10 singles in 1962, just as the Gibson Everly Brothers model was introduced, but the model lasted through the 1960s. It was revived from 1986 to 2005 as the J-180.