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Guitar chord forum - chordie → Guitars and accessories → CNET:Where Gibson guitars are custom-made
http://news.cnet.com/2300-13576_3-62428 … ne.gall.pg
photo essay on Gibson's Nashville custom plant. Most steps a done by hand and it takes 7 days to build 1 custom guitar.
Pretty nice essay. I went to the Martin Guitar Factory on a tour. There were ladies cutting abalone and mother of pearl by hand and inlaying them into guitars. Some of the pieces were so tiny, their precision was a wonder. I would need a straight jacket after a week on that job.
nazareth is not so far for me. I should check it out.
I did once the tour in the MEMPHIS plant.
We WERE NOT ALLOWED TAKING PICTURES, and cellphones 7-8 years ago didn't have a camera.
We say made with machines.
NO and NO, partial yes machines to cut out a top, a back and sides. You still need a lot of people to make a Gibson.
The most difficult and also the most delicate part = the lacquer process. Almost all the electronics are placed in the guitar by women, and if I'm correct the winding is no problem if you have what you need, meters, and measuring.
All these GIBSONS were hollowbodies, especially the "famous"LUCILLE guitar, made for BB KING. At the end of the processing line are some inspectors, looking for 1 little bubble + sound check. 30% of these guitars don't pass that controle.
AMAZING TOUR. Gibson workers get EACH year a brandnew guitar as bonus for
- not being too much sick
- and working good.
a new guitar a year?
think they are hiring?
I'd sweep floors, clean toilets, whatever...
YES I am not kidding. I don't know what you have to do to "get no gibson each year". That was what they told during the tour, that EVERY WORKER devoted to their job and not too many absent receives a hollow body Gibson as extra bonus each year. I really don't know if they get a solid body because you can't visit the Nashville plant.
SH** I just found this: Finest Quality and here Short Description:
Origin : beijing,China
Material : Guitar FANTASTIC! They sell the finest Gibson Custom and the material they use is GUITAR, this is the best description I ever saw.
http://www.dhgate.com/p_ff8080811acea9b … 4626a.html
I think that they make their custom guitars in NAZARETH (not so far from BETLEHEM) 
I have a GIBSON SJ-200 MONTANA GOLD and this beauty is made in BOZEMAN Montana.
I think that
1) Acoustics are made in MONTANA
2) Solid Bodies in NASHVILLE, Tennessee
3) Semi-hollow and hollow bodies are made in MEMPHIS Tennessee
I have a friend that used to work for Breedlove just over the mountain from here in Bend Oregon. They also allow their employees to build themselves one guitar a year as a "Fringe Benefit". Needless to say he has one beautiful guitar! But one of his jobs there was doing that mother of pearl inlay... tedious.
Dave told me about one that he worked on that took over a year to complete the inlay part of it. You were only allowed to put 2 hours a day at the bench because the pieces have to be matched by color, grain and sheen and hand fitted/sanded perfectly. Mess it up and the guitar goes in the burn pile and you start over. If you still have a job.
Doc,
Great link! Looks awfully like a 335 body to me, but I could be wrong.
As for that "guitar" wood that it is made of..... Only the finest re-cycled shoe boxes and best resins that money can buy is used in the pressure casting process!
But a fantastic deal at just under $350.00.....
Take Care; Doug
Hey DOUG
- about the so called "PRE FACTORY GUITARS" like PRS.
- What is the difference since we have now 3 different & similar stories.
1) MINE and the GIBSON "HOLLOW BODY PLANT" in MEMPHIS.
2) TONYDR = About the making of GIBSON CUSTOMS
3) DR.EVIL = the MARTIN tour in NAZARETH
I AM TIRED of thinking about the difference "PRE-FACTORY" and "FACTORY"We all saw (the 3 of us, how a top guitar is made. It needs indeed a lot of work to put all that mother of pearl inlay, not to mention the lacquer procedure.
What was really strange for me was that 50-60% are women, they do the "MOST DELICATE PROCESSES" and at least 60% of the workers wear a mask. I don't call this a FACTORY, each guitar is made with passion and love, and talking about Martin, Gibson, they use the finest wood. PRS pre-factory? can you imagine him making a guitar with 5 others, only using their hands and some tools like a saw to cut MANUAL a guitar top, back and sides? I don't think so.
Guitar chord forum - chordie → Guitars and accessories → CNET:Where Gibson guitars are custom-made
