sad news from the world of music iconic guitar maker gibson brands incorporated based in nashville tennessee may be forced to file for bankruptcy the story company was founded in one thousand open to buy or build gibson and the as the gibson mandolin guitar manufacturing company ltd the company was responsible for many innovations including archtop and hollow body guitars though the company is most famously associated with one model that's the les paul name for itself top inventor among the myriad famous players of the les pauls are chuck berry the everly brothers chet atkins elvis paul mccartney bob dylan dylan allman sheryl crow peter frampton billie joe armstrong the edge eddie van halen the new slash totally iommi keith richards and ronnie wood carlos santana and neil young and led zeppelin's jimmy page who once called gibson's les paul my mistress and my wife while the company still boasts a reported one point two billion dollars in annual revenue it's way down by five hundred million in debt and many observers blame the troubles on gibson c.e.o.'s decision to reshape gibson into a music lifestyle company and sell branded consumer electroni