[2] Gibson's mandolins were "unlike any previous flatback instrument," according to music historian Paul Sparks.

[3][4] Gibson began in 1894 in his home workshop in Kalamazoo, Michigan, and patented his idea for mandolins in 1898.

[5] More importantly, they were louder and more durable than contemporary fretted instruments, and musicians soon demanded more than he was able to build in his one-man shop.

He and his company used music teachers to market the instruments, and strong print advertisements to displace the round-backed mandolins.

[2] According to George Gruhn, the idea of carving the instrument tops and bottoms appears to have originated with Gibson and is not based on any mandolin or guitar building tradition.

Among the changes that Loar introduced was the f-hole instead of a round or oval sound-hole, another violin-family feature imported to the mandolin.