Gibson USA factory tour

[Marto]

Thanks for the Vid. I live in the hills of Virginia and I've been to Nasville many times. My brother has a recording studio down there. But I've never been to the Gib factory. I'm gonna go.

If any you folks are ever in or around Nashville, check out Artisan Guitars. Great store. Artisan Guitars - Acoustic Hand Built & Custom Guitars, Mandolins, Archtops and Instruments.

[tanijean]

Every time we drove through Memphis, we always intended to take the tour at the factory, but it has never worked out in the past. We ended our vacation in Orlando on May 9th after visiting my family for a wedding. We then proceeded to head towards Tennessee in hopes we could reach Memphis before we grew too tired to drive any longer. With two young children in tow, the day grew long as we traveled northwest across the south. We reached the southeastern side of Memphis around 10 pm, checked in at a hotel and crashed. The next day, we planned on taking it easy, going to the Gibson Factory for my husband and eating lunch on Beale Street before filling up at a gas station and finishing our trip to our southwestern Missouri hometown.
We arrived at the factory at 10 am, with an hour to spare before the first tour of the day. My husband and I browsed the gift shop when I came across a sign that read "No children under the age of 5 allowed on the tour". Having a 6 year old and a 3 year old, that meant our daughter couldn't go. I insisted that my husband and our son should still go on the tour, since we have missed the tour before. I decided to take our daughter for a walk while the boys went on a one hour tour of the factory. Afterwards we continued on with our plans, ate lunch and got gas before finishing our trip. Home sounded real good at this point.
As we headed towards Little Rock and Fort Smith, the afternoon sky turned black. We started north and other than the tornado warnings on the radio for Oklahoma, the day was beautiful in Fayetteville and Rogers AR. That soon changed when it started storming like you wouldn't believe in Bella Vista, only about an hour from our home. We pulled off the road and waited for it to stopped, and after 15 minutes it did. When we pulled back on the road, our cell phones began to ring. It was our neighbors calling to tell us that a tornado just went through our valley! The trees were down everywhere and our neighbors were trying to make phone calls to see if everyone was all right. We dropped our children off with their great grandparents and went on to see what was left of our home...
More than half was gone...our neighbors home took ours out. Some neighbors weren't so lucky and lost their lives, but many were away from their homes like us. The experts said the tornado was as much as 1 mile wide and 70 miles long.
We would have been there, right in the middle of it, if we decided to skip the hour long tour.
We have so much to be thankful for. "...what we don't have, we don't need it now..." the lyrics from a U2 song blared out over the radio the following weeks as we cleaned up. And so true it is. You will never ever know unless you are faced with the destruction of mother nature.
We lost just about everything, including my husband's band's music equipment, which typically stays at the bassists house. The trailer with all of the equipment happened to be parked at our home before we left for our vacation. We have replaced much of the equipment for the guys, but as for my husband's love of guitars and drums, replacing those will have to wait for now.
I just want to say one more thing----Thank God for my husbands love for music and Gibson guitars! If it wasn't for the tour, we would have been home who knows doing what....unpacking, playing in the yard, napping...
Our tragedy may have been much worse if we had been home. Right down to the last minute, something was keeping us away from our home, protecting us! THANK HEAVEN FOR THE GIBSON FACTORY!! IT SAVED MY FAMILY'S LIFE!

[sdiggz]

Originally Posted by kentr

Les Paul studios are pretty inferior when compared to the true USA les pauls. ie: Standard, Custom. Probably not much difference to the Epiphones.

my studio was made in TN. found the birthday from the serial number. can't get more USA than that

[jay007]

Originally Posted by Eddie

Does anyone know if the Custom Shop in Memphis does tours?

Eddie

Yes they sure do. Went on a tour this past summer...

[GuitarGuy503]

Originally Posted by coldsteal2

Wasnt that Cliff Claven?

Yeah. I noticed him to.

[rrlespaul]

Originally Posted by kentr

Les Paul studios are pretty inferior when compared to the true USA les pauls. ie: Standard, Custom. Probably not much difference to the Epiphones.

you don't know what your talking about dipshit

[Mr Insane]

I know where I'm going for a roadtrip.

[lennon47]

Originally Posted by Mr Insane

I know where I'm going for a roadtrip.

disneyland?

[dcmey]

Originally Posted by kentr

Les Paul studios are pretty inferior when compared to the true USA les pauls. ie: Standard, Custom. Probably not much difference to the Epiphones.

The main difference between a studio and standard or custom is a binding. It is a hell of a lot of difference Gibson and Epis. Better electronics, parts, woods, labor. The only Epiphone that compares to a Gibson was the elitist wich was discontinued.

[electricflag20]

I myself am not a fan of studios, but to say they're quality is on par with what epiphone is putting out is completely false. Made in USA, with most of it's production being done by hand etc.
I've always seen studios as a les paul standard without some of the frills, and there's nothing wrong with that... i know guys who have had them for 7+ years without a single problem (not many epiphone users can say that). Studios are workhorses and very fine guitars, i'm a standard guy myself but to compare an EPI to one is insulting to anyone who owns one. If you feel that way i'd be surprised if you've ever sat down and played an epiphone then tried a studio after.

[transparentbluefanatic]

sweet

[oldGNRfan]

Originally Posted by kentr

Les Paul studios are pretty inferior when compared to the true USA les pauls. ie: Standard, Custom. Probably not much difference to the Epiphones.

Do you really know what you just said? First off, it is a real USA model and Secondly, it is a GREAT guitar. I love the finish and it's light. It's great for hard rock stuff and it looks uber cool on stage. The Les Paul Studio is every bit as good as the more expensive bling-bling models. Do your research bud. It is one of the most popular models of Les Paul EVER. Have a nice day.

[Mr Insane]

I used a studio at GC to try out amps, because that was the closest thing they had in specs to my Standard.

[Falcon007]

very cool!

[Moxley]

If you feel that way i'd be surprised if you've ever sat down and played an epiphone then tried a studio after.

after i stuck an angus young sig. pickup in the bridge position, a '57 classic neck pickup, redrilled the TOM bridge posts and set up a limited edition G400, it sounded/played just as well as any gibson ive owned/played.

so well, infact, that i have been trying to buy that guitar off my friend who owns it. that being said, it did take a lot of work to get it to sound/play that way.

but from the studios i have seen in my local store with neck/fret/finish issues... id say that g400 blows em out of the water. i'll probably make a comparison video some time in the future.

[MarkV]

The link does not seem to work anymore. Does anybody have working link to the original video discussed?

Thanks

[Studio fire]

thx man great tour!!!!

[Rikochet]

link dosent work, just takes me to the page with les pauls and sg's

[Mr Insane]

I really want to get out this town and tour the factory.

[leifpaul]

Originally Posted by kentr

Les Paul studios are pretty inferior when compared to the true USA les pauls. ie: Standard, Custom. Probably not much difference to the Epiphones.

nonsense

i have played many epiphones. they all fell short compared to a gibson . my lp studio is a great guitar

[qwank]

YouTube - Gibson VOS Factory With Duane Eddy

YouTube - Gibson VOS Factory With Duane Eddy

[SKATTERBRANE]

Maybe a short quiz should be administered before a person is accepted as a member? Like name the first 4 models of Les Pauls and give a brief description of each.

[Throwing7]

I just took the Memphis factory tour on Saturday.

It was pretty cool, but didn't get to see any action as they weren't working that day.

I was just curious as to why they only do Alpine White Les Paul Customs and Double neck SGs there. It seems out of place since the rest of that factory is hollow and semi-hollow bodies.

I guess the Doublenecks can be considered there own beast, but why just Alpine white LP Customs? Seems like you'd make them where you make all the other ones.

anyone have any insight on that one?

[qwank]

must have something to do with the paint process

[Mr Insane]

Originally Posted by qwank

YouTube - Gibson VOS Factory With Duane Eddy

[yamahasoldier]

My wife took me to memphis last year for my birthday to a shinedown concert and while I was there i went over to the Gibson factory and took a tour. I took alot of pictures, but here are a few of them...

















If you notice in the second tolast picture there are red tags on some of the guitars. Those are guitars that almost made it to the finished product and had flaws discovered so they literally cut them up into pieces. Makes me sick. I asked why they dont just sell them at a discounted price, and their answer was that they used to accually do that, but it was hurting there regular line because people would just wait on the b stock.

[Mr Insane]

Nice pictures.

[robb01]

great pics, I sure hope to do that some day

[Liter O'Cola]

Originally Posted by yamahasoldier

If you notice in the second tolast picture there are red tags on some of the guitars. Those are guitars that almost made it to the finished product and had flaws discovered so they literally cut them up into pieces. Makes me sick. I asked why they dont just sell them at a discounted price, and their answer was that they used to accually do that, but it was hurting there regular line because people would just wait on the b stock.

Wait, gibson actually discarded a shoddy product?? Q.C.??? I keed.

Thanks for the pics.

[melloyello]

This is a link to more than one factory tour vids since the other links aren't really working anymore. Just click on the vid screen and it will take you to youtube.

YouTube - A tour in the GIBSON guitar Factory

YouTube - A tour in the GIBSON guitar Factory

I was just in Nashville on the 13th and 14th. Did a few things there but didn't make it to the factory. Wish I had more time. I will get back there though. I think it would be awesome if I could get just one of the people that made mine sign it for me.