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John is the BEST. Tall, goofy, authentic, honest, and he is a great player. Most importantly, more than almost anyone else, he knows how to ask a question and then let the person talk as much as they want. If anyone wants to know how to do any kind of interview, watch John. Best in the business.
Im sitting here playing my 2019 LP standard as I watch. I see good and bad comments, but Ive gone over mine very closely and its perfect! I play it through a fender tube amp and it is an incredible sounding guitar. Expensive, yes, but it was my once in a lifetime new purchase of an iconic guitar. Cool to see where and how it was built!
@@DamianoftheRyans That's the reason Ive never owned one until now. I was hearing good things about the 2019 standards and found a good one. I think Gibson suffered from success, like a rock band whos on top of the world and they just stop trying because of arrogance, only to have the back up bands blow them off the stage. My brother bought a Custom new in 1978. Its the best guitar Ive ever played, and I have a 1995 Nighthawk that I gigged with for years. Its the best of my collection for reliability and tonal range. So there are some great Gibsons, but Ive played some through the years that were garbage. I gigged with a guy who had a Deluxe (I think) Between every song...ding ding...ding ding, as he checked his tuning. My Nighthawk? I would check it with the tuner between sets just to be safe, but never needed to tune on stage. I finally talked him into playing my tele and we kept his LP as a back up. So yeah it is sad.
My 2019 Classic Gold Top is flawless, feels and plays beautifully. Sure there are gonna be some issues..some people just gotta hate. I played a dozen different Les Pauls till I found the one that felt “right”. That’s how I selected all my guitars except one. That was back in the 80’s, it’s a Kramer and I couldn’t pass up the deal
@@CaptnGeetchI did the same thing. Went to every music store in town and found the one that felt right. I was actually tossed between the Goldtop with P90s and this one. No regrets though, I love this thing! So enjoy your guitar!
Much like Apple, Gibson is a textbook example of how to turn a company around. JC and Cesar have really hammered home quality control and now Gibson is back on top. Bravo, Bravo!
Steve Jobs rescued Apple after it was crippled without his leadership. The greedy mindless suits sold off the IP for the operating system which allowed any Tom, Dick or Harry to build a Mac (hardware) and sell it. What happened? The Starmax came out and undercut the Apple Mac G3 by 40% - killed sales. The idiots also didn't know how to run production - every Mac was using its own bespoke build and parts making production vulnerable (to a shortage) and expensive. Steve Jobs did two things immediately on his return... and before the iPhone / iPad. He took ownership of the OS again so the only way to get a Mac was through Apple - in doing so he regained quality control and market price. He then consolidated the production to essentially three channels - the G4 tower (professional), the iMac (domestic) and the Macbook (laptop) and critically they shared relatively common parts including the GPUs. Steve Jobs saved Apple by owning the company in his heart, not in his wallet and he had a vision and an objective for the product line and legacy. The commercial and production changes were logical, not rocket science, so why did the company get so messed up? Because many CEOs and CFOs are short term thinkers, gold diggers who will pillage the company accounts, supply line and pension, then move on to another company.
I have been playing guitar for 53 years, owned 14 guitars, currently down to 5. I still own the 1979 Les Paul Deluxe I purchased new. It is the constant in my evolving humble collection and has always been flawless. Well done Gibson! Thanks John.🎸👍
Im happy to see the good people who built my amazing guitar. Gibson is a gift America has given to the world. All you guys in that factory are true rock stars. I got one Trad and five other friends.
Loved this! Though I live in Nashville, I've never been to the factory. And, I think I'm safe, my wife doesn't watch Rig Rundowns. I currently have 47 guitars. But, I need just one more!
With basses included, I think I have 21 guitars. I’m know that’s a lot. I’ve been playing for over 25 years though, so it’s basically what I spend my tax return on each year. I keep guitars in different places. The basement, the living room, my work, the bed room. I cycle them around every few weeks, so they all get played. I like to be able to just pick up a guitar and play whenever I have a few spare minutes. It makes me happy.
I used to work there before they turned finally assembly into an assembly line. We used to have our own benches and would install all the hardware on each guitar we handled. Now it's like a Chinese widget factory where one guy puts on one part all day long. That place is incredibly loud and dusty too, and we regularly worked 11-12 hour days to hit our number. When I was there we would pump out 400-600 guitars a day. That number is much higher now. Can you imagine flooding the market with 12,000+ guitars a month? It makes me wonder where they all go. I used to dream of working there but the novelty wore off quick. That was a grueling factory job with no sort of glamor attached to it at all. I burned out after 4 years. It was draining.
I was wondering how true PR guy's (you could tell immediately he was just there to do as much marketing as he could and has never done any real work in his life) "we love our people" bullshit was. In my experience if you hear someone at a business say that, or anything like it, you can be almost positive their employees are treated like shit. I do my best to stay away from any job that jerks it's employees off by saying "we're family" "we're a team" or, and this one is just the laziest and most awful, "our people are great." Oh really? Is that why they all look like they'd rather be literally anywhere else?
All this extra production, and they still charge an absurd price. They do nothing better than any other company. If I want to spend $3k on a guitar, I'll get a Paul Reed Smith, which is actually handcrafted.
Blondie really knocked that burst out in a matter of seconds, impressive. I've watched many youtube luthiers struggle for hours w/ paint, she was - spray/change color. DONE.
Agreed! 'play authentic' was sickeningly corporate and totally off tone, but what actually happens in the factory - and the changes and reinvestment - are awesome
This is fun! So cool to see how much human hands are still involved in the process! The first time I visited the old Parsons Street plant (Kalamazoo) the process was very similar - the machining is far more advanced and accurate, the new place is cleaner, but the people look to be just as skilled - the binding scrapers, the gal running the spray guns - not for the novice or faint of heart! And that great old 335 side bender was in daily use then too! Thanks for filming this!!
LAST LEAF OFFICIAL She doesn’t need a mask because there is a huge air filter right in front of her that sucked every molecule of spray in the air into it.
My 1980 335s deluxe Professional is by far the most versatile guitar that any player can appreciate. I'm dead serious too. It was the guitar to end all guitars for me. Every tone, every genre, tremendous durability. Thank you, Gibson.
When he said the average guitar player has 8 I was like pffft no way then I went to check what I have ....... 4 electric 2 acoustic 1 electro acoustic 1 bass yup that’s 8 😅
that crazy I just counted and I have 2 fender Strats, 1 fender Tele, 1 Epiphone SG, 2 Gibson Les Pauls, 1 Mini Squire Strat, and 1 Acoustic Guitar lmao total of 8. holy crap
Epi Custom Les Paul, Fender Strat Ultra, Fender Sixty-Six, 1990 Cort, 1991 Epi\Gibson acoustic and a Gibson SG expected Tuesday. So six for a guy who only plays for himself.
Great video! Thanks to John and PG Gibson for the tour! I just bought a new Les Paul Standard 50’s and now I can see why it plays and looks and sounds so awesome! It’s the best regular production guitar I’ve seen in many years from Gibson. I’ve played for 40 yrs and have also done the pro guitar repair thing for 25 so I’m very familiar with guitars. It’s great to see Gibson finally listen to players and pay respect to their history but look to the future and use the best methods they can to build a guitar that players have asked for.
Maybe he wasn't always in final inspection. Normally if you have a factory putting out bad product, it's because management is pushing for quantity over quality. I wouldn't put the bad quality on final inspection. He's only doing the job he's paid to do.
@@TexanUSMC8089 You nailed it. I worked quality in an off wing aviation facility and ended up leaving because of being forced to sacrifice quality to push work orders out the door.
hE SAID nc IS neumaticall controlled at 16 minutes 0 sekonmds. nc STANDS NUMEBRICAL CONTROPLE, it is controlles by A COM0PUTER., NOT NEUMATIC AIR OR OIL, LIKE TH ENEUMATICS IN A BLOODOZER OR FRONT END LODER. thanes you and thyumbes ups!
You can see a big difference in shop from the last Factory tour videos posted years ago...Improvements in Organization, Cleanliness, Lighting, Production and Employee Safety...Go Gibson!
@@tarunkumaar625 I've accumulated the guitars over thirty years, twenty of which as a gigging musician; I've had a good paying carrier, not as a musician, over that span which has afforded me with the means to obtain and maintain my musical equipment. In addition, not marrying or having kids until I was older allowed me the freedom of deposible income. Playing guitar is my primary passion, as a hobby primarily. In summary; guitars are what I like :-)
@@tarunkumaar625 I can almost guarantee that your Epiphone is better than the first electric guitar I owned (Univox Baddazz), so you're probably good to go with that guitar (I have an Epiphone Les Paul SL, which is a very simple guitar, and does have sharp frets, but is still a really nice playing/sounding guitar). If you don't have any luthiers in your area that can perform a basic setup, maybe try searching for TH-cam videos on addressing fret issues; it might provide insight on how to remedy fret related issues. Pickups are always a preference sort of thing, and really depends on the style of music you want to play; I used to go for high output pickups, but ultimately found that lower output pickups could sound pretty good, and just required adjustments at the amplifier. The amp you own is a million times better than what I owned as my first amp; with the different settings you'll be able to produce everything from clean tones to super saturated metal...nothing at all wrong with that amp as a beginner, or even practice as a practice amplifier as you get more experienced playing guitar.
@@tarunkumaar625 try to get the action (e.g. height of the strings off the frets) to a point that feels comfortable, yet doesn't produce much/any fret "buzz"; that makes a huge difference in playing. Also make sure your neck has appropriate "relief" by adjusting the truss rod (definitely find videos on TH-cam related to adjusting the truss rod, as it can be a bit tricky for the uninitiated). Saving for new gear is always fun, but just keep playing with what you have currently to build up your "chops", then when you have money to upgrade it will be all the more fulfilling :-)
@@tarunkumaar625 sounds like you've got a pretty good handle on what you need. I've found that some blue loctite works good for keep rattling saddles from chattering, but still allows for intonation adjustments.
Same here 2019 Standard 50's in Heritage Cherry Sunburst, and it's absolutely flawless............sorry Gibson haters but the quality is top notch these days.
I have a ‘19 Classic Gold Top and love it. Just added a String Butler to her today. Tuning stability wasn’t that bad, but now I can do full vibrato bends on the B string w/o fear of her slipping out of perfect tune
I tell ya what, this new plant is a HUGE improvement over the older one and I notice their employee base is much better. They still have a few QC issues to work on, such as the binding on the neck along the fret board. I have seen plenty of reviews of various 2019 models and the edges looked very bad! But overall I would say Gibson is indeed working to make their products better.
Thanks for the tour John, that was great! With respect to the number of guitars I have, I have 9: 4 Gibson Les Pauls ('72/'54 Custom LE, '76 Deluxe, '11 Frampton, '13 R9) 1 Gibson Alex Lifeson "Inspired By" ES-355 ('08) 1 Gibson Wes Montgomery L-5 ('14) 1 Fender Stratocaster (MIA '01) 1 Martin D-35 ('11) 1 Washburn D10S-N ('06) Cheers, MB
I like how Gibson puts so much effort into making the guitar feel so comfortable. The rolled edges on the neck, the perfectly level frets, and the binding over the edges of the frets so you don't even feel them. It's all those little touches that make Gibson guitars a step above even the best Epiphone. You might be able to get an Epiphone that sounds as good as or better than a Gibson but it will never have that feel. I guess thats part of what you pay for. I still think the prices are ridiculous but oh well.
I guess the I'm one of the very few that watched this to the very end where they are asking how many guitars you own: I think it adds up to more than 20 in my case and the list is still growing!
My parents and I stopped by the factory in Nashville on a Saturday back in the 90's, and my dad went in and asked if by chance they gave tours. They weren't in full production that day, and somebody offered to give us a tour right then and there! I hadn't gotten my first Les Paul yet, and this made a tremendous impression on me. I wish I could remember that guy's name! 😂 Aerosmith was supposed to be stopping by that day, but we didn't get to see them.
I don’t agree with what Jim Decola says at 20:37 about today’s prices set using an inflation factor. In 2012 the Les Paul Jr was $699; today it’s $1499. Based on inflation it should be $971. I own 2 Gibson’s, 1 Epiphone, 1 PRS, 3 Fenders, 1 Taylor acoustic, and 2 self built Warmoths.
Steven, I agree with you that Gibson is absurdly expensive. However American made products are all the same. And when he says that he means the inflation affecting the commodities to build the guitars, not the final price. The final price is firstly affected by the costs and then the production expenses. I think America is the only country where people gets paid "fairly" for their time. The rest of the world makes money in detriment of their own labor force. But yet you're right. They don't optimize costs. Gibson management has terrible cost optimization rate. For example Fender still offers great quality products from the most low-end to the Custom Shop ones and the prices haven't grown up as much as Gibson's.
@Memo Herdez - Gibson and Fender hires a lot of green-card workers and the american workers that DO work at their factories aren't paid as well as believed. Even PRS does the same thing. They jack up the price and claim 'labor costs'. The woman in the booth in THIS video with NO protective gear AT ALL while spraying toxic paint in a booth shows me how much they care about their workers. It's not like this was some hidden camera situation, either! This video was AUTHORIZED by Gibson themselves!
Axess2084 I didn’t know this you’re telling me about hiring a lot of green-card employees at Gibson (I knew about Fender) and the bad payment. Well I guess they’re victim of their own bad management and unfortunately the ones that pay the broken dishes are their own employees: by working extra hours, with no full protection and as you said being payed bad. Certainly they don’t care much about their employees. They are very very focused on the business.
@Memo Herdez - I can't tell you how many times I've been accused of hating Gibson or that I never owned one or couldn't afford one. None of that is true at all. I started playing guitar in 1978 BECAUSE of Gibson and how cool a Les Paul looked when Tom Scholz (Boston) and Ace Frehley (KISS) were playing theirs! But, Gibson isn't Gibson anymore. They got taken over by greedy corporate people who don't care about quality anymore. To them, it's about using Gibson's name recognition to make tons of money by inflating prices to ridiculous levels. Like I said, PRS and Fender do the same thing. It's pretty sad. I've been working on guitars as long as I've been playing them. I've owned/played many Gibsons and Fenders. They're no better than a decently set-up average electric guitar that costs WAY less! And the pickups/electronics can be upgraded to the same level as a $3000+ Gibson/Fender/PRS for a $100-$300. I recently bought an Epiphone G400 Plus SG and upgraded the pickups to nearly the best Seymour Duncan humbuckers you can buy. It sounds even BETTER than a Gibson 'Custom Shop' SG now! And I did it all, guitar included, for just under $700. I could have easily taken that money and bought a regular, entry level, Gibson SG. But I would be getting less quality for a higher cost. In my opinion, for just a name on a headstock, that's not a smart move at all.
When showing us how the guitars are made please leave the salesman in his office. Apart from that this was a really nice tour. Would love to see the Custom Shop
@@marsman8627 he seems a little off there.. probably misses Norms but signed a big contract with Gibson and is making money so he has to stay there. its kinda sad really seeing as how cool he was at norms vs his new gibson videos..
6 guitars - 2019 LP Standard, 2003 50th Anniversary American Deluxe Strat, Taylor T5Z Pro, Martin D28 (and a 15/16 Martin as a travel acoustic guitar), 1995 Gibson ES-335 Dot Reissue, and a Spector Bass (and a mandolin).
I own 13 guitars, 3-Gibson (Les Paul, Firebird, Explorer), 1-Epiphone (SG), 2 Fender (Strat & Tele), 1-Squire (PJ Bass), 1-Jackson (HH Dinky), 1-Fernandez (24 Fret Super Strat), 1-Washburn Acou/Elec), 1-Ovation (Cust Balladeer), 1-Taylor (Baby), 1-Lyle (Classical 1966). I use them all in my studio and gig with most of them.
Thats what i thought too.. After all the hard work of creating this in a factory, the nightmare of the truck crash scene is at the back of our heads smh lol. Donating those instead could have been a great PR.
Gibson rules! I have 6 Les Pauls, 1 Sg, 1 Midtown, 1 J100 Xtra, and........ The 2020 Les Paul Standard I have is by far the best by far as build quality and the frets are the smoothest of any of them. The finish is perfect and the setup out of the case was spot on.....Good Job Gibson and JC
I started building guitars as a hobby about a year ago. i have 12 store bought guitars, 3 heavily modified store bought guitars, 3 kits, and 7 parts casters. its a "one of each" collection that includes 7 and 8 string fan frets, a 20 string harp guitar, 12 strings, hollow and semi-hollow bodies, a yet to be built classic style Flying V kit, and a Modern clone due in next month. The collection also includes steel string acoustics, classical acoustics, a fender jazz bass, a 5 string banjo, and two Guqins - almost everything except a LP. I've been playing for 42 years.
"We don't steam many necks off. Doesn't happen very often." Yeah. We know. You just ship em out with bad neck pitch and leave it for the dealer and customer to fight over.
I have 8 guitars. AND I REALLY CANT PLAY BUT A FEW CORDS. I love how beautiful pieces of art they are. I have a Les Paul Custom, a Firebird and a Flying V. Also a Squire that was autographed by a band my wife got me at an auction. And from the other side, a Strat and a Tele-Esq also have 2 acoustics. Loved the tour. Thanks
I know how you feel :) Same like me, an intermediate player, but love the beautiful pieces of art. So I own a Fender American Professional Strat, Schecter C-6 PRO and Schecter C-1 Hellraiser
This was interesting. I toured the Epiphone factory in Qingdao, China a while back and was impressed with the workmanship I saw there during the tour, and after speaking with a craftsman, with my Chinese colleague to help with the language barrier, I was impressed with him as well. Comparing my memory of that tour to this video, I remember the Epiphone factory having at least as many specialist craftsmen (more employees at Epi for sure from what I can tell) and I distinctly noticed that the machines/equipment were more state-of-the-art at the Epi plant as well. The 2 Americans that were managing the plant at the time spoke to us during the tour and were previously Gibson employees from Nashville. They oversaw every level of craftsmanship and were comfortable with how the Epi's were being produced. I will tell you that after my tour I had no qualms at all buying from Epiphone and was impressed with the plant and people in China. I do own 2 USA made Gibson's (LP & SG), but after watching this video, I'm struggling to see the $2000-$3000 price difference in the final products versus Epiphone. I know there are differences, but are they large enough differences to warrant the extra money? From what I've seen and heard, I personally would say no. I guess this is a personal question for players and Gibson's are obviously better in terms of resale, but after watching this video, I guess I was surprised to see how this Gibson plant looks in comparison to the Epi plant. Not in a bad way, just different. I guess it's a good thing to have as many choices for guitars these days. Funny how one company can have 2 entirely different divisions making almost identical products at completely different price points. It's for sure one way to see the differences in labor costs between the two countries. I wonder how I'm going to determine the differences between USA made Stratocasters and the one's made in Mexico, Japan and Indonesia (I'm leaving out the Squires, which I know are made in China and other places). People have been saying good things about the Squire's quality improvement. I think, over time, these satellite factories are only getting better at what they do...
Enjoyed that, I visited Memphis, Beale St and Nashville, Opry Mills in 2007 and it was a great experience. I'm a pro guitarist and currently own and use 61 instruments by Gibson, Gretsch, Fender, Martin, Burns, G&L, PRS, Vintage, Squier, Washburn, Takamine, Yamaha, Brian May and many more - I love them all ! Keep ip the good work.
I'm sure I may have responded to this once. But the update is that as of March of 2021 I have 9 guitars. 1 home grown Telecaster, 1 ES335, 2 Les Paul's, 1 Ibanez, 1 Stratocaster, 1 Martin Acoustic, 1 Fender Acoustic, 1 Acoustic I'm not really sure of what it is. It was inherited along with the strat. I'm allowed one more according to my wife. Then we run out of wall space. Of course I could always retire one or two into their cases and then free up more wall space...Lol. that being said, honestly I have my eyes on one more and I think I will be done. I may move into making some for family members. That might be fun. I made a Telecaster for myself so why not. It was fun and it's a good hobby. Especially now that I'm getting close to retirement. This will keep me busy.
Hey Jon I have 24 guitars including five Les Pauls one SG one a ES 339 and I love my custom collection 1959 Les Paul named Sandy. My very first electric guitar was a Gibson SG Junior that I got back in 1967. Anybody that says the Gibson Guitars nowadays aren’t any good are probably just jealous. I also have 1 Epiphone custom that is excellent. Great job Jon as always. Thanks Premier Guitar.
7 guitars.......... ~~ Two Things ~~ Did they say there is an RF chip under the fretboards ??? And... no ear protection ??? even in the wood working sections..
I forget where I saw it but "if you need a face mask your extraction isn't good enough". Behind the guitar is a huge extractor that will be pulling all over spray away from the painter. I am sure this is all closely monitored and measured, if they needed masks they'd be wearing them. No gloves will be a feel and control thing. There's a Fender Custom shop painter on Instagram who even with a suit and air fed mask doesn't wear gloves as he says it ruins the feel.
@@themaninthesuitcase I can see that there is ventilation. I get the no gloves thing, but even if the air current is strong enough, you still breathe the evaporating fumes. It's up to the person to take precautionary measures, but I wouldn't want to breathe this every day...
I started playing guitar about 8 months ago, at 29 years old. I started out with an old Oscar Schmidt acoustic that belonged to my grandpa. I found it in the closet when I was moving some stuff from my grandmas to my new house in January of 2020. I took that guitar home, TH-cam’d my way through string changing and started trying to figure it out. I’m now 8 months or so in, and I have 12 guitars. My most recent of which is a tv yellow Gibson les paul special I purchased new and is defiantly my holy grail
Im playing my 2019 Les Paul Studio as I watch this video. Its one out of nine guitars I own and the only Gibson. I really love the piture that came with it.
20:30 the guy starts talking about how inexpensive Gibson’s are. Gibson’s are expensive. Wtf is he talking about? His employee discount? Or did he just admit they are very cheap to make?
@@perryholcombe everything manufactured anywhere is priced according to what the market will stand. While ever there are customers buying $3000 Gibsons the price will not come down. The customers are to blame for the high prices. I once worked in management in a factory which sold to Europe at inflated prices while selling to the USA at cost or less because the US market would not support the high price and they wanted the turnover and prestige that high US sales would give the company.
@@perryholcombe More to do with controlling the European pricing I think. Prices are pretty similar in all the dealers, all rising together at roughly the same rate, regardless of whether they are old stock or new orders. It goes along the way of " if you want to continue to stock Gibsons you will not sell at silly prices". Taylor did exactly the same thing - 20% increase in all the dealers overnight, no exceptions, and including current stockholding.
Gibson's prices are higher because they are going broke. They jack up the prices to try to stave off the inevitable. How many more guitar makers are there today than 60 yrs ago? Gibson is losing market share.
This is great! Glad I own PRS! The fact he had a businessman following him waving his JAZZ hands really shows where this company is. I'm not even going to go to the other place everyone else is thinking....
I worked in final assembly and it was a joke, all they cared about was numbers the hell with quality, workers were not treated very well. It was a sweat shop.
j man I worked for Fender and it was a similar experience. Numbers were the most important factor. We built the best Guilds Fender had ever seen, in the Tacoma guitar factory, but ultimately the cost of fine luthiery was too high, so they moved operations to a state where labor costs were lower, and quality took a dive.
I’ve got to say that I was a strictly Gibson USA fan but some of the shit that’s coming out of Mexico from fender is ridiculously good. I bought EVH Franken Strat and let me tell you that’s my favorite guitar ever. Kudos to that Mexico factory that’s just pumping out some killer shit
a cool tour, for sure. I have 3 guitars, a Gibson Les Paul jnr, an imitation Les Paul, and an other brand Explorer. The old Les Paul jnr tops the other two even with one pickup. Gotta get Gibson!!!
Thanks for making this video. I’m glad that I could show my wife and kids a glimpse of me at work. I am the QC in Final Assembly on the other side of Stacy Stewert ☺️ and yes I too have 8 guitars but they are not all Gibsons although my son’s name is Gibson Les Paul 😁
Hey Perry, thanks to u and all the team there for making us such great guitars. If u guys are interested, id like to invite you to our facebook gibson guitar owners groups. Im sure everyone would appreciate your knowledge and expertise in our neverending discourse of all things Gibson. 🙂✌
Glad to hear I'm not the only one with a few instruments. After the kids left, I got back into playing with a 2008 LP, Strat and Tele. Added more colours later with a 2012 ES-339, 2016 SG, 2010 Godin Icon, 2012 Godin Montreal Premiere, Taylor 310CE, 2012 Fender Select P bass and a 2001 Jazz 5. Ten real guitars plus a few oddballs that don't count.
Crazy to think my 2019 Les Paul Standard was somewhere in the building when they filmed this. I understand the Gibson hate, because there are still (minor) flaws that should not exist at this pricepoint... but at the same time - nothing plays like a Gibson Les Paul.
It’s crazy how much of the process is basically just an assembly line yet they still charge thousands and thousands of dollars for each of these instruments. Maybe you’re paying a premium since they seem to destroy so many of them with bulldozers to avoid paying tax
It's an assembly line, but it's not a rushed, mass assembly line. That would decrease the value of gibson guitars. It's basic supply and demand. Demand + limited supply = high price. Demand + high supply = low price. If you think that's expensive, try $15 million for a shitty looking piece of art that took the creator minutes to make. People pay for it because there's only 1 in the world. If that same art piece was mass produced, hypothetically lets say 15 million units for easy math. The $15,000,000 purchase price of the single piece of art could be divided the the amount of units produced. 15,000,000 / $15,000,000 making the value of the piece of art $1 per unit. Of course the single piece can appreciate in value vs the mass produced rarely ever does, but i won't get into that now. Bottom line is, the market sets the value. It's what anyone is willing to pay for a product or service.
You pay for the name not the quality with Gibson. Fans and Collectors are keeping the resale value high because they tend to be blind to the issues they have had. They destroyed those guitars when they fell under new ownership - and they were defective products not fit for use. It is a very common practice for factories to do this and it has nothing to do with tax avoidance. They actually do give away lots of usable b-stock guitars to schools and foundations and such.
I own 4 Guitars 1. Gibson Les Paul Classic 1997,Gibson Les Paul 2019 60's,Gibson SJ-200 2008 acoustic,And an Alvarez acoustic I use as a beater/loaner .
If I was an es355 craftsman, I wouldn’t be a big fan of moving my life every decade. After looking him up, the Argentinian guy’s name is Cesar Gueikian and had some business experience, which helped him get his job, but more importantly is a guitar player, collector and does have a well established passion for Gibson guitars through his own collection. Gibson has actually come a long way from its stumbling and bumbling of years past with his help. Its great to see Gibson making a come back here in the USA and not just making a quick buck off the name and outsourcing everything where labor rates are cheaper and environmental concerns remain unaddressed (D’Angelico comes to mind). Its too great of a national treasure to see fall by the wayside. It is also great to see Gibson doing their best to be competitive with other American made guitar treasures like Rickenbacker. Gibsons are beautiful guitars for sure, especially the American made models. It sure would be an awesome place to work and have a hand in. The ability to adjust their collector models pricing based of of 1960 pricing with inflation added is very cool. I didn’t know what to expect going into this video, but it was fun to see the operations of such a cool company making such an awesome comeback. Thanks for the video tour!
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2:36 : "there's just stacks of bodies everywhere". The only context where that is not a terrifying remark XD
LET THE BODIES HIT THE....oh it's a guitar factory...
CHIKITA BB
@@evenzeroescanbeheroes6875 Front end digger!
@@evenzeroescanbeheroes6875 😂😂😂😂I tip my hat to you sir 👍
@@evenzeroescanbeheroes6875 😂😂😂😂😂
John is the BEST. Tall, goofy, authentic, honest, and he is a great player. Most importantly, more than almost anyone else, he knows how to ask a question and then let the person talk as much as they want. If anyone wants to know how to do any kind of interview, watch John. Best in the business.
Im sitting here playing my 2019 LP standard as I watch. I see good and bad comments, but Ive gone over mine very closely and its perfect! I play it through a fender tube amp and it is an incredible sounding guitar. Expensive, yes, but it was my once in a lifetime new purchase of an iconic guitar. Cool to see where and how it was built!
It's the fender tube amp, any guitar would sound good on it.
@@DamianoftheRyans That's the reason Ive never owned one until now. I was hearing good things about the 2019 standards and found a good one. I think Gibson suffered from success, like a rock band whos on top of the world and they just stop trying because of arrogance, only to have the back up bands blow them off the stage.
My brother bought a Custom new in 1978. Its the best guitar Ive ever played, and I have a 1995 Nighthawk that I gigged with for years. Its the best of my collection for reliability and tonal range. So there are some great Gibsons, but Ive played some through the years that were garbage. I gigged with a guy who had a Deluxe (I think) Between every song...ding ding...ding ding, as he checked his tuning. My Nighthawk? I would check it with the tuner between sets just to be safe, but never needed to tune on stage. I finally talked him into playing my tele and we kept his LP as a back up. So yeah it is sad.
My 2019 Classic Gold Top is flawless, feels and plays beautifully. Sure there are gonna be some issues..some people just gotta hate. I played a dozen different Les Pauls till I found the one that felt “right”. That’s how I selected all my guitars except one. That was back in the 80’s, it’s a Kramer and I couldn’t pass up the deal
@@CaptnGeetchI did the same thing. Went to every music store in town and found the one that felt right. I was actually tossed between the Goldtop with P90s and this one. No regrets though, I love this thing!
So enjoy your guitar!
People like to bash expensive guitars to make them feel more justified for not owning one
Much like Apple, Gibson is a textbook example of how to turn a company around. JC and Cesar have really hammered home quality control and now Gibson is back on top. Bravo, Bravo!
Steve Jobs rescued Apple after it was crippled without his leadership. The greedy mindless suits sold off the IP for the operating system which allowed any Tom, Dick or Harry to build a Mac (hardware) and sell it. What happened? The Starmax came out and undercut the Apple Mac G3 by 40% - killed sales. The idiots also didn't know how to run production - every Mac was using its own bespoke build and parts making production vulnerable (to a shortage) and expensive. Steve Jobs did two things immediately on his return... and before the iPhone / iPad. He took ownership of the OS again so the only way to get a Mac was through Apple - in doing so he regained quality control and market price. He then consolidated the production to essentially three channels - the G4 tower (professional), the iMac (domestic) and the Macbook (laptop) and critically they shared relatively common parts including the GPUs.
Steve Jobs saved Apple by owning the company in his heart, not in his wallet and he had a vision and an objective for the product line and legacy. The commercial and production changes were logical, not rocket science, so why did the company get so messed up? Because many CEOs and CFOs are short term thinkers, gold diggers who will pillage the company accounts, supply line and pension, then move on to another company.
@@Spartanm333 damn buddy you're on a mission aren't you talkin about Steve Jobs LOL
Until they got agnesi’s goofy ass involved lol
Are you phuckin kidding me?!?!? The quality control sucks!!!! You are obviously a plant.
Really?
I have been playing guitar for 53 years, owned 14 guitars, currently down to 5. I still own the
1979 Les Paul Deluxe I purchased new. It is the constant in my evolving humble collection and has always been flawless.
Well done Gibson!
Thanks John.🎸👍
"Machines make good guitar parts, but people make good guitars." That really says it all!
Im happy to see the good people who built my amazing guitar. Gibson is a gift America has given to the world. All you guys in that factory are true rock stars. I got one Trad and five other friends.
Loved this! Though I live in Nashville, I've never been to the factory. And, I think I'm safe, my wife doesn't watch Rig Rundowns. I currently have 47 guitars. But, I need just one more!
@@lsearchw Just tell the wife "come on man, don't count guitars, that's not cool"
I was gonna say, 47 is about 1 guitar short of the proper amount. I call it a "guitarist's dozen".
"Stacks of bodies everywhere" - that was pretty death metal
My new band name 😂is
Honestly the guy doing the tour knows his stuff. Great video!
These guys deserve an Oscar, best act ever. 🤣
With basses included, I think I have 21 guitars. I’m know that’s a lot.
I’ve been playing for over 25 years though, so it’s basically what I spend my tax return on each year.
I keep guitars in different places. The basement, the living room, my work, the bed room. I cycle them around every few weeks, so they all get played.
I like to be able to just pick up a guitar and play whenever I have a few spare minutes. It makes me happy.
A man after my own heart
I used to work there before they turned finally assembly into an assembly line. We used to have our own benches and would install all the hardware on each guitar we handled. Now it's like a Chinese widget factory where one guy puts on one part all day long. That place is incredibly loud and dusty too, and we regularly worked 11-12 hour days to hit our number. When I was there we would pump out 400-600 guitars a day. That number is much higher now. Can you imagine flooding the market with 12,000+ guitars a month? It makes me wonder where they all go.
I used to dream of working there but the novelty wore off quick. That was a grueling factory job with no sort of glamor attached to it at all. I burned out after 4 years. It was draining.
Sounds like ALL manufacturing in the US.
I feel ya I some times wonder if Carter Dukarm and Kareem Haddad are still chained up in the Custom Shop somewheres.......
I was wondering how true PR guy's (you could tell immediately he was just there to do as much marketing as he could and has never done any real work in his life) "we love our people" bullshit was. In my experience if you hear someone at a business say that, or anything like it, you can be almost positive their employees are treated like shit. I do my best to stay away from any job that jerks it's employees off by saying "we're family" "we're a team" or, and this one is just the laziest and most awful, "our people are great." Oh really? Is that why they all look like they'd rather be literally anywhere else?
All this extra production, and they still charge an absurd price. They do nothing better than any other company. If I want to spend $3k on a guitar, I'll get a Paul Reed Smith, which is actually handcrafted.
I know a few guys who worked there too.....alot of smuggling out guitars also among a few lmao
Blondie really knocked that burst out in a matter of seconds, impressive. I've watched many youtube luthiers struggle for hours w/ paint, she was - spray/change color. DONE.
I was gasping wondering why she wasn’t wearing a mask though😬
@@MrDoomcrust Those big perfs in the wall are suction ventilation. Don't need the masks, it's all getting sucked into the wall.
Finally, I've been solicited to brag! I have 33 guitars...and 0 wives. ;)
You can't stop buying on a odd number... or a even number. You can't stop!
You have gas (gear acquisition syndrome). You have given me permission to buy more guitars : )
nothing sadder than guitars that sit around not being played.
You did it right. I missed class that decade.
@@websurfer5150 Agreed...it's 37 now, can't stop on odd numbers. :)
Why the hell did they go ‘authentic’ when this is all the PR they ever needed? Great video!
dont move -- illuminati
Agreed! 'play authentic' was sickeningly corporate and totally off tone, but what actually happens in the factory - and the changes and reinvestment - are awesome
As a guitar and manufacturing nerd, I LOVE this!!!!
This is fun! So cool to see how much human hands are still involved in the process! The first time I visited the old Parsons Street plant (Kalamazoo) the process was very similar - the machining is far more advanced and accurate, the new place is cleaner, but the people look to be just as skilled - the binding scrapers, the gal running the spray guns - not for the novice or faint of heart! And that great old 335 side bender was in daily use then too! Thanks for filming this!!
That lady that sprays the sunburst is a true artist.
Yeah and she is so professional that she doesn't need any mask while spraying
LAST LEAF OFFICIAL She doesn’t need a mask because there is a huge air filter right in front of her that sucked every molecule of spray in the air into it.
My 1980 335s deluxe Professional is by far the most versatile guitar that any player can appreciate. I'm dead serious too. It was the guitar to end all guitars for me. Every tone, every genre, tremendous durability. Thank you, Gibson.
Your Gibson guitar is so far away from the 2019 era Gibson is basically a different company.
When he said the average guitar player has 8 I was like pffft no way then I went to check what I have ....... 4 electric 2 acoustic 1 electro acoustic 1 bass yup that’s 8 😅
that crazy I just counted and I have 2 fender Strats, 1 fender Tele, 1 Epiphone SG, 2 Gibson Les Pauls, 1 Mini Squire Strat, and 1 Acoustic Guitar lmao total of 8. holy crap
Yep. 5 electrics, 2 acoustics and 1 bass for me haha
Epi Custom Les Paul, Fender Strat Ultra, Fender Sixty-Six, 1990 Cort, 1991 Epi\Gibson acoustic and a Gibson SG expected Tuesday. So six for a guy who only plays for himself.
yep i have 8 too XD
Great video! Thanks to John and PG Gibson for the tour! I just bought a new Les Paul Standard 50’s and now I can see why it plays and looks and sounds so awesome! It’s the best regular production guitar I’ve seen in many years from Gibson. I’ve played for 40 yrs and have also done the pro guitar repair thing for 25 so I’m very familiar with guitars. It’s great to see Gibson finally listen to players and pay respect to their history but look to the future and use the best methods they can to build a guitar that players have asked for.
Your final inspection guy has been there for over 24 years and YOU HAVEN'T FIRED HIM for all of the screwed up guitars he passed???
ah, but he always meets his quota...
Maybe he wasn't always in final inspection. Normally if you have a factory putting out bad product, it's because management is pushing for quantity over quality. I wouldn't put the bad quality on final inspection. He's only doing the job he's paid to do.
@@TexanUSMC8089 You nailed it. I worked quality in an off wing aviation facility and ended up leaving because of being forced to sacrifice quality to push work orders out the door.
hE SAID nc IS neumaticall controlled at 16 minutes 0 sekonmds. nc STANDS NUMEBRICAL CONTROPLE, it is controlles by A COM0PUTER., NOT NEUMATIC AIR OR OIL, LIKE TH ENEUMATICS IN A BLOODOZER OR FRONT END LODER. thanes you and thyumbes ups!
Lmfao he's doesn't get to decide on which guitars to make
I am living for the extremely awkward moments in this video.
Yess!! It all starts with Hi! Welcome to Gibson..lololol soo cringe
It's always weird to talk about what craftsmen are doing two feet away from them instead of asking them.
@@sluggo562 they've gotten less awkward. Check out Play and Trade Guitars channel. They just did a tour last week.
No OSHA rules here? No body protection
In the Netherlands we say: "hij beweegt als een houten Klaas" (he moves like a wooden doll). That seems to be very applicable here 😄
I love this, I have 7 Gibson Guitars, always been a loyal fan. Seeing the craftsmanship that goes into making them is special.
You can see a big difference in shop from the last Factory tour videos posted years ago...Improvements in Organization, Cleanliness, Lighting, Production and Employee Safety...Go Gibson!
Yes really big difference. I had friends that worked at the old plant. Most quit with in 6 months. The management was insane.
REX NAVARRO now if we can just get them to make good affordable guitars
Kirk Hammett What do you consider affordable ? Gibson has several price ranges for their instruments depending on your budget and or needs.
@@AntonP99 buy a Glarry if ya want affordable!
My 2019 61 Reissue SG is amazing. Perfect setup and playability. Welcome Back, Gibson!
~70; Gibson, Fender, Epiphone, Squier, Gretsch, etc...I just love guitars :-)
@@tarunkumaar625 I've accumulated the guitars over thirty years, twenty of which as a gigging musician; I've had a good paying carrier, not as a musician, over that span which has afforded me with the means to obtain and maintain my musical equipment. In addition, not marrying or having kids until I was older allowed me the freedom of deposible income. Playing guitar is my primary passion, as a hobby primarily. In summary; guitars are what I like :-)
@@tarunkumaar625 I can almost guarantee that your Epiphone is better than the first electric guitar I owned (Univox Baddazz), so you're probably good to go with that guitar (I have an Epiphone Les Paul SL, which is a very simple guitar, and does have sharp frets, but is still a really nice playing/sounding guitar). If you don't have any luthiers in your area that can perform a basic setup, maybe try searching for TH-cam videos on addressing fret issues; it might provide insight on how to remedy fret related issues.
Pickups are always a preference sort of thing, and really depends on the style of music you want to play; I used to go for high output pickups, but ultimately found that lower output pickups could sound pretty good, and just required adjustments at the amplifier.
The amp you own is a million times better than what I owned as my first amp; with the different settings you'll be able to produce everything from clean tones to super saturated metal...nothing at all wrong with that amp as a beginner, or even practice as a practice amplifier as you get more experienced playing guitar.
@@tarunkumaar625 try to get the action (e.g. height of the strings off the frets) to a point that feels comfortable, yet doesn't produce much/any fret "buzz"; that makes a huge difference in playing. Also make sure your neck has appropriate "relief" by adjusting the truss rod (definitely find videos on TH-cam related to adjusting the truss rod, as it can be a bit tricky for the uninitiated).
Saving for new gear is always fun, but just keep playing with what you have currently to build up your "chops", then when you have money to upgrade it will be all the more fulfilling :-)
@@tarunkumaar625 sounds like you've got a pretty good handle on what you need. I've found that some blue loctite works good for keep rattling saddles from chattering, but still allows for intonation adjustments.
@@tarunkumaar625 anytime :-)
I am one of those average guitar players that you talked about, and I only have around 70 guitars. The tour was great. Thank you Philthy
Have a 2019 Gibson USA Les Paul. so well made you can feel the quality. sounds amazing plays amazing. very satisfied.
Same here 2019 Standard 50's in Heritage Cherry Sunburst, and it's absolutely flawless............sorry Gibson haters but the quality is top notch these days.
Really mine came in shit condition from the factory sharp frets scuffed paint and scratches on the back of the neck
I bought a 2019 60’s standard and can’t find a single complaint. IMHO it’s a way better product from the last 10 years.
@@danrao3707 I just bought a 2019 Les Paul 60's and I love it I cant find anything wrong with it .It is worth more than I paid in my opinion.
I have a ‘19 Classic Gold Top and love it. Just added a String Butler to her today. Tuning stability wasn’t that bad, but now I can do full vibrato bends on the B string w/o fear of her slipping out of perfect tune
I tell ya what, this new plant is a HUGE improvement over the older one and I notice their employee base is much better. They still have a few QC issues to work on, such as the binding on the neck along the fret board. I have seen plenty of reviews of various 2019 models and the edges looked very bad! But overall I would say Gibson is indeed working to make their products better.
Some hard working folks in the video. Thanks John and PG.
Thanks for the tour John, that was great!
With respect to the number of guitars I have, I have 9:
4 Gibson Les Pauls ('72/'54 Custom LE, '76 Deluxe, '11 Frampton, '13 R9)
1 Gibson Alex Lifeson "Inspired By" ES-355 ('08)
1 Gibson Wes Montgomery L-5 ('14)
1 Fender Stratocaster (MIA '01)
1 Martin D-35 ('11)
1 Washburn D10S-N ('06)
Cheers,
MB
Подари одну
I like how Gibson puts so much effort into making the guitar feel so comfortable. The rolled edges on the neck, the perfectly level frets, and the binding over the edges of the frets so you don't even feel them. It's all those little touches that make Gibson guitars a step above even the best Epiphone. You might be able to get an Epiphone that sounds as good as or better than a Gibson but it will never have that feel. I guess thats part of what you pay for. I still think the prices are ridiculous but oh well.
I guess the I'm one of the very few that watched this to the very end where they are asking how many guitars you own: I think it adds up to more than 20 in my case and the list is still growing!
22! my Les Paul and Flying V Gibsons are my workhorses!.... for sure.
Crazy...
still trying to find the part of the video, where they show, how they fucked up binding on my 50s standard :D
Lol!
Would've been beard guy interupting at some stage.
😂
At least you know for certsin it’s made in America lol
Nothing quiet like a life-long quest, I always say.
My parents and I stopped by the factory in Nashville on a Saturday back in the 90's, and my dad went in and asked if by chance they gave tours. They weren't in full production that day, and somebody offered to give us a tour right then and there! I hadn't gotten my first Les Paul yet, and this made a tremendous impression on me. I wish I could remember that guy's name! 😂 Aerosmith was supposed to be stopping by that day, but we didn't get to see them.
I worked there from 1977-1980. Looks a lot different now.
I would of work there longer if I was ever in that position
I don’t agree with what Jim Decola says at 20:37 about today’s prices set using an inflation factor. In 2012 the Les Paul Jr was $699; today it’s $1499. Based on inflation it should be $971. I own 2 Gibson’s, 1 Epiphone, 1 PRS, 3 Fenders, 1 Taylor acoustic, and 2 self built Warmoths.
They set today's prices on a 'greed' factor. KKR has really made a mess of Gibson - even bigger than it was before.
Steven, I agree with you that Gibson is absurdly expensive. However American made products are all the same. And when he says that he means the inflation affecting the commodities to build the guitars, not the final price. The final price is firstly affected by the costs and then the production expenses. I think America is the only country where people gets paid "fairly" for their time. The rest of the world makes money in detriment of their own labor force. But yet you're right. They don't optimize costs. Gibson management has terrible cost optimization rate. For example Fender still offers great quality products from the most low-end to the Custom Shop ones and the prices haven't grown up as much as Gibson's.
@Memo Herdez - Gibson and Fender hires a lot of green-card workers and the american workers that DO work at their factories aren't paid as well as believed. Even PRS does the same thing. They jack up the price and claim 'labor costs'. The woman in the booth in THIS video with NO protective gear AT ALL while spraying toxic paint in a booth shows me how much they care about their workers. It's not like this was some hidden camera situation, either! This video was AUTHORIZED by Gibson themselves!
Axess2084 I didn’t know this you’re telling me about hiring a lot of green-card employees at Gibson (I knew about Fender) and the bad payment. Well I guess they’re victim of their own bad management and unfortunately the ones that pay the broken dishes are their own employees: by working extra hours, with no full protection and as you said being payed bad. Certainly they don’t care much about their employees. They are very very focused on the business.
@Memo Herdez - I can't tell you how many times I've been accused of hating Gibson or that I never owned one or couldn't afford one. None of that is true at all. I started playing guitar in 1978 BECAUSE of Gibson and how cool a Les Paul looked when Tom Scholz (Boston) and Ace Frehley (KISS) were playing theirs! But, Gibson isn't Gibson anymore. They got taken over by greedy corporate people who don't care about quality anymore. To them, it's about using Gibson's name recognition to make tons of money by inflating prices to ridiculous levels. Like I said, PRS and Fender do the same thing.
It's pretty sad. I've been working on guitars as long as I've been playing them. I've owned/played many Gibsons and Fenders. They're no better than a decently set-up average electric guitar that costs WAY less! And the pickups/electronics can be upgraded to the same level as a $3000+ Gibson/Fender/PRS for a $100-$300. I recently bought an Epiphone G400 Plus SG and upgraded the pickups to nearly the best Seymour Duncan humbuckers you can buy. It sounds even BETTER than a Gibson 'Custom Shop' SG now! And I did it all, guitar included, for just under $700. I could have easily taken that money and bought a regular, entry level, Gibson SG. But I would be getting less quality for a higher cost. In my opinion, for just a name on a headstock, that's not a smart move at all.
When showing us how the guitars are made please leave the salesman in his office. Apart from that this was a really nice tour. Would love to see the Custom Shop
Whatever happened to Mark Agnesi? He seems to have made it to the top very quickly and then disappeared after the 'play authentic' saga.
he is in hiding
he was front and center at NAMM, very accessible to anyone
@@marsman8627 he seems a little off there.. probably misses Norms but signed a big contract with Gibson and is making money so he has to stay there. its kinda sad really seeing as how cool he was at norms vs his new gibson videos..
Agnesi will be back working for the Joo again in no-time.
Just wait and see.
Antonio Olivari witness protection 😂😂😂
6 guitars - 2019 LP Standard, 2003 50th Anniversary American Deluxe Strat, Taylor T5Z Pro, Martin D28 (and a 15/16 Martin as a travel acoustic guitar), 1995 Gibson ES-335 Dot Reissue, and a Spector Bass (and a mandolin).
I own 13 guitars, 3-Gibson (Les Paul, Firebird, Explorer), 1-Epiphone (SG), 2 Fender (Strat & Tele), 1-Squire (PJ Bass), 1-Jackson (HH Dinky), 1-Fernandez (24 Fret Super Strat), 1-Washburn Acou/Elec), 1-Ovation (Cust Balladeer), 1-Taylor (Baby), 1-Lyle (Classical 1966). I use them all in my studio and gig with most of them.
Where do they drive a truck over the old guitars?
They somehow left that part out of the factory tour.
Bollinger the milk toast would not dare ask.
ALEX ON LIFE he's milk toast AND milquetoast
Thats what i thought too.. After all the hard work of creating this in a factory, the nightmare of the truck crash scene is at the back of our heads smh lol. Donating those instead could have been a great PR.
Not one Bulldozer in sight
th-cam.com/video/HjCKtUdBhEE/w-d-xo.html
Can't help trying to spot the heavy machinery ;-)
Really ugly firebirds...
Fun fact: gruelling sets of push ups on the factory floor were edited out of original footage. I swear his chest grows throughout...
11 electric and 1 Dean Flying V / acoustic , electric . I just bought my first Epiphone electric guitar and am happy with it .
Love that they stated they limit production on limited runs purely to drive up value.
Also love the lack of PPE when spraying lacquer.
John Bohlinger is the superman of the guitar world.
you can feel the pressure on my dude when he's gluing and clamping that neck on.
I own 5 guitars and I’m not even a decent musician.
Not 5 Gibsons though?
At least you have an interest, stay away from nonmusical downloads like RAP and you'll learn
Better than an indecent musician?
I own 3, no Gibson's though, an Epiphone Les Paul Custom Pro is as close as I can afford plus a Takamine Jasmine acoustic and an off brand strat type.
The correct number of guitars to own is:
X + 1
Where X = the current number of guitars owned.
Gibson rules!
I have 6 Les Pauls, 1 Sg, 1 Midtown, 1 J100 Xtra, and........
The 2020 Les Paul Standard I have is by far the best by far as build quality
and the frets are the smoothest of any of them. The finish is perfect and the setup
out of the case was spot on.....Good Job Gibson and JC
I started building guitars as a hobby about a year ago. i have 12 store bought guitars, 3 heavily modified store bought guitars, 3 kits, and 7 parts casters. its a "one of each" collection that includes 7 and 8 string fan frets, a 20 string harp guitar, 12 strings, hollow and semi-hollow bodies, a yet to be built classic style Flying V kit, and a Modern clone due in next month. The collection also includes steel string acoustics, classical acoustics, a fender jazz bass, a 5 string banjo, and two Guqins - almost everything except a LP. I've been playing for 42 years.
I’m a professional (gig for a living) player now and I have 2 guitars. Opening up for Marshall Tucker Band next week 🤘
"You just got stacks of bodies everywhere!"
Jesus that needs context to not be creepy, lol
"We don't steam many necks off. Doesn't happen very often." Yeah. We know. You just ship em out with bad neck pitch and leave it for the dealer and customer to fight over.
Everyone I buy sucks just have to keep working it until it works
I have 8 guitars. AND I REALLY CANT PLAY BUT A FEW CORDS. I love how beautiful pieces of art they are. I have a Les Paul Custom, a Firebird and a Flying V. Also a Squire that was autographed by a band my wife got me at an auction. And from the other side, a Strat and a Tele-Esq
also have 2 acoustics. Loved the tour. Thanks
I know how you feel :) Same like me, an intermediate player, but love the beautiful pieces of art. So I own a Fender American Professional Strat, Schecter C-6 PRO and Schecter C-1 Hellraiser
Ive been playing 18 months and have 3 guitars. Fender strat, Gretsch G2420T and an ESP KH202. Gibson Les Paul is definitely on my list.
the DIP switch guy is almost smiling now that Henry is long gone! 😂
Bollinger does a good interview
John, in great shape dude! Respect!
I was thinking that.. I'm 51, wish my body looked like that. John looks 25 even with the grey hair
Naturally, I took a look at the QC checklist that came with my 2019 LP. Indeed, Stacy signed off on it. Thanks, man!
This was interesting. I toured the Epiphone factory in Qingdao, China a while back and was impressed with the workmanship I saw there during the tour, and after speaking with a craftsman, with my Chinese colleague to help with the language barrier, I was impressed with him as well. Comparing my memory of that tour to this video, I remember the Epiphone factory having at least as many specialist craftsmen (more employees at Epi for sure from what I can tell) and I distinctly noticed that the machines/equipment were more state-of-the-art at the Epi plant as well. The 2 Americans that were managing the plant at the time spoke to us during the tour and were previously Gibson employees from Nashville. They oversaw every level of craftsmanship and were comfortable with how the Epi's were being produced. I will tell you that after my tour I had no qualms at all buying from Epiphone and was impressed with the plant and people in China. I do own 2 USA made Gibson's (LP & SG), but after watching this video, I'm struggling to see the $2000-$3000 price difference in the final products versus Epiphone. I know there are differences, but are they large enough differences to warrant the extra money? From what I've seen and heard, I personally would say no. I guess this is a personal question for players and Gibson's are obviously better in terms of resale, but after watching this video, I guess I was surprised to see how this Gibson plant looks in comparison to the Epi plant. Not in a bad way, just different. I guess it's a good thing to have as many choices for guitars these days. Funny how one company can have 2 entirely different divisions making almost identical products at completely different price points. It's for sure one way to see the differences in labor costs between the two countries. I wonder how I'm going to determine the differences between USA made Stratocasters and the one's made in Mexico, Japan and Indonesia (I'm leaving out the Squires, which I know are made in China and other places). People have been saying good things about the Squire's quality improvement. I think, over time, these satellite factories are only getting better at what they do...
Pro Tip: Have a shot of Tequila/Vodka/Single Malt (or your poison of choice) every time John says "WOW!"
Have fun Kiddies!
Don't you think he looks like Duke Nukem elder brother ?
Doubles for "Totally!"
Enjoyed that, I visited Memphis, Beale St and Nashville, Opry Mills in 2007 and it was a great experience. I'm a pro guitarist and currently own and use 61 instruments by Gibson, Gretsch, Fender, Martin, Burns, G&L, PRS, Vintage, Squier, Washburn, Takamine, Yamaha, Brian May and many more - I love them all ! Keep ip the good work.
Great tour...nice work guys! I currently have 17.
I'm sure I may have responded to this once. But the update is that as of March of 2021 I have 9 guitars. 1 home grown Telecaster, 1 ES335, 2 Les Paul's, 1 Ibanez, 1 Stratocaster, 1 Martin Acoustic, 1 Fender Acoustic, 1 Acoustic I'm not really sure of what it is. It was inherited along with the strat. I'm allowed one more according to my wife. Then we run out of wall space. Of course I could always retire one or two into their cases and then free up more wall space...Lol. that being said, honestly I have my eyes on one more and I think I will be done. I may move into making some for family members. That might be fun. I made a Telecaster for myself so why not. It was fun and it's a good hobby. Especially now that I'm getting close to retirement. This will keep me busy.
Hey Jon I have 24 guitars including five Les Pauls one SG one a ES 339 and I love my custom collection 1959 Les Paul named Sandy. My very first electric guitar was a Gibson SG Junior that I got back in 1967. Anybody that says the Gibson Guitars nowadays aren’t any good are probably just jealous. I also have 1 Epiphone custom that is excellent. Great job Jon as always. Thanks Premier Guitar.
Five for me. Guess I'd better start shopping.
7 guitars..........
~~ Two Things ~~ Did they say there is an RF chip under the fretboards ??? And... no ear protection ??? even in the wood working sections..
@John Smith uhh what?
@John Smith *'MURICA*
27:34 No mask, no gloves, no suit...
That looks safe!
Noticed that .. Crazy.
I forget where I saw it but "if you need a face mask your extraction isn't good enough". Behind the guitar is a huge extractor that will be pulling all over spray away from the painter. I am sure this is all closely monitored and measured, if they needed masks they'd be wearing them. No gloves will be a feel and control thing. There's a Fender Custom shop painter on Instagram who even with a suit and air fed mask doesn't wear gloves as he says it ruins the feel.
Lol, you’re such a millennial
@@themaninthesuitcase I can see that there is ventilation. I get the no gloves thing, but even if the air current is strong enough, you still breathe the evaporating fumes. It's up to the person to take precautionary measures, but I wouldn't want to breathe this every day...
@@nedryerson988 Hopefully this means we will live longer :)
I started playing guitar about 8 months ago, at 29 years old. I started out with an old Oscar Schmidt acoustic that belonged to my grandpa. I found it in the closet when I was moving some stuff from my grandmas to my new house in January of 2020. I took that guitar home, TH-cam’d my way through string changing and started trying to figure it out. I’m now 8 months or so in, and I have 12 guitars. My most recent of which is a tv yellow Gibson les paul special I purchased new and is defiantly my holy grail
Those Tv special look awesome. Congrats!!
Im playing my 2019 Les Paul Studio as I watch this video. Its one out of nine guitars I own and the only Gibson. I really love the piture that came with it.
Interesting tour. 7 guitars. 3 Les Pauls (2 Gibson, 1 Epiphone), 1 acoustic Gibson and 3 Fender strats.
20:30 the guy starts talking about how inexpensive Gibson’s are. Gibson’s are expensive. Wtf is he talking about? His employee discount? Or did he just admit they are very cheap to make?
You can hear him slightly hesitate with his words that tells he knows they are overpriced lol
@@perryholcombe everything manufactured anywhere is priced according to what the market will stand. While ever there are customers buying $3000 Gibsons the price will not come down. The customers are to blame for the high prices.
I once worked in management in a factory which sold to Europe at inflated prices while selling to the USA at cost or less because the US market would not support the high price and they wanted the turnover and prestige that high US sales would give the company.
@@tokairic3925 I would take a guess and say the Europe prices were inflated more because the product is being shipped over seas.
@@perryholcombe More to do with controlling the European pricing I think. Prices are pretty similar in all the dealers, all rising together at roughly the same rate, regardless of whether they are old stock or new orders. It goes along the way of " if you want to continue to stock Gibsons you will not sell at silly prices". Taylor did exactly the same thing - 20% increase in all the dealers overnight, no exceptions, and including current stockholding.
Gibson's prices are higher because they are going broke. They jack up the prices to try to stave off the inevitable. How many more guitar makers are there today than 60 yrs ago? Gibson is losing market share.
"The average guitar player has 8 guitars."
bruh I have 3 with no more physical or financial space for any more.
Its an average, so my 13 evens us out! ;)
I have 3 acoustics, 70' Guild d25,
90's Gibson J45 And a yamaha f 401.
I mostly play the $300 yamaha.
1 electric... a 80's American standard tele.
I got 6 and i said no more😂
Bought my Les Paul Studio in Tobbaco Burst in 2013 and still love it.
This is great! Glad I own PRS! The fact he had a businessman following him waving his JAZZ hands really shows where this company is. I'm not even going to go to the other place everyone else is thinking....
King Fisher, good, keep your POS 28 and shred with your Boss Katana. Meantime, us grown-ups will enjoy our Gibby's
@@captainamerica9353 lol people like you make me hate Gibson. When you said “grown up”, I think you meant delusional blind man who throws money away
27:07
Value by scarcity is a bad way to do it. It should be valuable because it's a quality instrument.
It's a limited edition model. The whole draw of such a thing is value by scarcity.
Collectors are nuts. This planned scarcity feeds the nuts.
I still love my 61 les paul junior
Sweet!
I worked in final assembly and it was a joke, all they cared about was numbers the hell with quality, workers were not treated very well. It was a sweat shop.
j man I worked for Fender and it was a similar experience. Numbers were the most important factor. We built the best Guilds Fender had ever seen, in the Tacoma guitar factory, but ultimately the cost of fine luthiery was too high, so they moved operations to a state where labor costs were lower, and quality took a dive.
I’ve got to say that I was a strictly Gibson USA fan but some of the shit that’s coming out of Mexico from fender is ridiculously good. I bought EVH Franken Strat and let me tell you that’s my favorite guitar ever. Kudos to that Mexico factory that’s just pumping out some killer shit
a cool tour, for sure. I have 3 guitars, a Gibson Les Paul jnr, an imitation Les Paul, and an other brand Explorer. The old Les Paul jnr tops the other two even with one pickup. Gotta get Gibson!!!
Thanks for making this video. I’m glad that I could show my wife and kids a glimpse of me at work. I am the QC in Final Assembly on the other side of Stacy Stewert ☺️ and yes I too have 8 guitars but they are not all Gibsons although my son’s name is Gibson Les Paul 😁
Hey Perry, thanks to u and all the team there for making us such great guitars. If u guys are interested, id like to invite you to our facebook gibson guitar owners groups. Im sure everyone would appreciate your knowledge and expertise in our neverending discourse of all things Gibson. 🙂✌
So, you just go to the factory, direct buy ?
@@edcolins5498 no they don’t sell them at the plant unfortunately.
I've got 2, my baby which is a 98 SG Standard, and an 06 ES-335
2 guitars-es355/les paul all i need
"she can give you what you need, but I can give you what you want..." - your next guitar
I'm sure they were just so excited to build the 335 there.. fishing all those pots and jacks through F-holes.. What a joy.
Been playing 8 months. Still only one beginner guitar..... but after this amazing tour, I have my sights on a few more. Excellent vid!
I'll take on of those damaged finished guitars that hit the ground!
You look at both PRS factory tours and it makes you really not want to get a Gibson in comparison
That's true! Been there!
34 guitars!! My wife left me because of it!!
lol...
You don't need her mate, 34 guitars paired with a couple of cranked tube amps will keep you warm
So... no more bitching when you play?
Well! she ain't a keeper like a guitar.
@SonicChronos lol. Indeed.
Glad to hear I'm not the only one with a few instruments. After the kids left, I got back into playing with a 2008 LP, Strat and Tele. Added more colours later with a 2012 ES-339, 2016 SG, 2010 Godin Icon, 2012 Godin Montreal Premiere, Taylor 310CE, 2012 Fender Select P bass and a 2001 Jazz 5. Ten real guitars plus a few oddballs that don't count.
Crazy to think my 2019 Les Paul Standard was somewhere in the building when they filmed this. I understand the Gibson hate, because there are still (minor) flaws that should not exist at this pricepoint... but at the same time - nothing plays like a Gibson Les Paul.
found it amusing that on the opening sequence there was a sign on the door saying no camera,s.
Yeah, like its a secret that they are making the same designs that they started in the 1950's.
It’s crazy how much of the process is basically just an assembly line yet they still charge thousands and thousands of dollars for each of these instruments. Maybe you’re paying a premium since they seem to destroy so many of them with bulldozers to avoid paying tax
It's an assembly line, but it's not a rushed, mass assembly line. That would decrease the value of gibson guitars. It's basic supply and demand. Demand + limited supply = high price. Demand + high supply = low price. If you think that's expensive, try $15 million for a shitty looking piece of art that took the creator minutes to make. People pay for it because there's only 1 in the world. If that same art piece was mass produced, hypothetically lets say 15 million units for easy math. The $15,000,000 purchase price of the single piece of art could be divided the the amount of units produced. 15,000,000 / $15,000,000 making the value of the piece of art $1 per unit. Of course the single piece can appreciate in value vs the mass produced rarely ever does, but i won't get into that now. Bottom line is, the market sets the value. It's what anyone is willing to pay for a product or service.
You pay for the name not the quality with Gibson. Fans and Collectors are keeping the resale value high because they tend to be blind to the issues they have had. They destroyed those guitars when they fell under new ownership - and they were defective products not fit for use. It is a very common practice for factories to do this and it has nothing to do with tax avoidance. They actually do give away lots of usable b-stock guitars to schools and foundations and such.
This was an interesting well informative video thankyou Premier Guitar and Gibson !
I own 4 Guitars 1. Gibson Les Paul Classic 1997,Gibson Les Paul 2019 60's,Gibson SJ-200 2008 acoustic,And an Alvarez acoustic I use as a beater/loaner .
If I was an es355 craftsman, I wouldn’t be a big fan of moving my life every decade. After looking him up, the Argentinian guy’s name is Cesar Gueikian and had some business experience, which helped him get his job, but more importantly is a guitar player, collector and does have a well established passion for Gibson guitars through his own collection. Gibson has actually come a long way from its stumbling and bumbling of years past with his help. Its great to see Gibson making a come back here in the USA and not just making a quick buck off the name and outsourcing everything where labor rates are cheaper and environmental concerns remain unaddressed (D’Angelico comes to mind). Its too great of a national treasure to see fall by the wayside. It is also great to see Gibson doing their best to be competitive with other American made guitar treasures like Rickenbacker. Gibsons are beautiful guitars for sure, especially the American made models. It sure would be an awesome place to work and have a hand in. The ability to adjust their collector models pricing based of of 1960 pricing with inflation added is very cool. I didn’t know what to expect going into this video, but it was fun to see the operations of such a cool company making such an awesome comeback. Thanks for the video tour!