Gibson Guitar Factory tour

Memphis is one of 3 factories crafting Gibson guitars and today we took the tour. I guess I expected to see huge machines, with wood going in one end and guitars coming out the other end, but I was amazed to see the individual craftsmanship going into every guitar. Below are the start for electric guitar bodies.



Computerized routers cut the bodies and "f" holes, but most everything else is in a luthier's hands, sometimes using hand tools and sometimes using power tools.

The hand building of a guitar is an intricate process of cutting stock, binding, neck-fitting, painting, buffing, and tuning to create these incredible musical instruments, and they've been doing it in the USA for over 100 years. No nails, screws, or fasteners are ever used. Rather, all joining is of precision fitted parts glued together. The final step is completed by professional musicians who string the bodies, tune them, and then play every string at every fret to test for tone.

Guitars that don't meet their vigorous standards in sound or appearance stripped of useable parts and the rest is destroyed. They also manufacture the Epiphone brand, but these instruments are made overseas using less quality parts and less expensive labor and sell for less. All Gibson branded guitars are made in our country (Nashville, Memphis, and Bozeman, Montana.)

Then we walked nearby Historic Beale Street again and had a wonderful late lunch at Superior Restaurant and Bar and perused the historic Memphis memorabilia gracing its walls.