Storied guitar-maker Gibson Brands Inc., whose customers have included B.B. King, Chuck Berry and Jimmy Page, filed for bankruptcy protection Tuesday with a deal to hand control of the company, which has struggled with its debt load after a series of soured acquisitions, to bondholders led by private-equity giant KKR & Co.

The Nashville, Tenn.-based musical-instrument maker, founded in 1894, said the bankruptcy filing was prompted by looming debt maturities and the unsuccessful 2014 acquisition of Philips’s consumer-electronics...