Gibson Factory Tour [video]

I live in Nashville, but I still haven’t been on a Gibson Factory Tour. Thankfully, there’s a video available to see how guitars are made. I have to tell you, when I was younger, I played a lot of guitar – I had a nice Ibanez with a Crate half stack amp. So fun. Well, I still play a little – I have a nice Yamaha acoustic and I enjoy it. But, after seeing this video, it made me want a Gibson Les Paul, for sure.

The video highlights are below:

1. Wood is cut for body blanks
2. Wood is sanded for imperfections and pneumatically clamped
3. The tops are cut – book matched maple
4. The top is then cut into the shape of the guitar
5. They demonstrate the routers used to cut the Gibson SG body
6. They discuss what they do to reduce setup times (single minute exchange of dies – SMED)
7. Gibson uses RFID and places one on each guitar. This helps them determine which factory the guitar was made, for warranty reasons and also for inventory control
8. Gibson Guitars is known for their “binding” process, which is the process of bonding the top and back to the body with the use of glue and leather straps
9. Gibson emphasizes that they use “old world” methods, which is what Gibson is known for. It’s more work, but each guitar is handmade.
10. They describe the scraping and finishing process. Guitars are hung on carousels where it’s warmer and allows it to cure. Guitars are on carousels for around 4-6 days in order to dry
11. In Quality Control, Gibson shows how finish thickness is checked – too thin, the guitar isn’t durable; too thick, then the guitar won’t have the right acoustics.
12. After finishing, they show how each guitar is handscraped. It’s a very delicate process and their associates are trained and have long tenures
13. Then on to buffing.
14. Then final inspection – scratches are checked as well as other issues on buffing or finishing
15. Then polish, cleaning, and oil before pickups are installed. Here, they describe standardization on how many turns coils are wound on the humbucker.
16. Then on to final installation, then out the door.