Heritage History #2

[FredZepp]

Excerpt from " The Gibson Guitar Book"- Walter Carter

 

The heart and soul of Gibson was still at 225 Parsons St. in Kalamazoo, where the core group of guitar builders had stayed, and in 1983 Mary Locke told Jim Deurloo that he planned to close the Nashville plant. Apparently that was a riskier option than closing the Kalamazoo plant and , according to Deurloo, within three weeks one of Locke's strongest supporters at the Norlin corporate level left the company and Locke reversed himself. He announced that the Kalamazoo plant would close and all production would move to Nashville.

 

In June 1984, the last Gibson guitars left the loading dock of 225 Parsons St.

 

If there was still any magic or mystique about Gibson in Kalamazoo, it remained there, as many Kalamazoo employees refused to uproot their families for an insecure future in Nashville.

Among those were four key Gibson employees - Jim Deurloo, J.P. Moats, Bill Paige and Marv Lamb - who stayed not only in Kalamazoo but in the Parsons St. factory, where they formed the Heritage guitar company and found success as the company that, more than Gibson, continued the Gibson tradition.

 

 

>this is from a book about Gibson ...>

 

"The heart and soul of Gibson was still at 225 Parsons St. in Kalamazoo, where the core group of guitar builders had stayed"

 

"They formed the Heritage guitar company and found success as the company that, more than Gibson, continued the Gibson tradition."

[FredZepp]

from Gibson Guitars: 100 years of an American Icon. Walter Carter ) Edited to remain on-topic.

 

In 1978, Jim Deurloo was tapped for the job (plant manager) - A natural selection, considering that he had worked his way through almost every aspect of the company since coming to Gibson fresh out of high school in 1958. Except for 5 years at Guild , he had spent his adult life intimately acquainted with Gibson's processes.

As the recession of the early 80's wore on, Norlin decided in July 1983 to close the Kalamazoo plant. "There were feasibility studies going back and forth for years, you know." says Deurloo. "One week it was decided that Nashville would be closed, and then a couple of weeks later, it was decided that Kalamazoo would close."

Norlin didn't particularly care about Gibson's lifelong identification with Kalamazoo.

 

" I had said that Kalamazoo is Mecca," Deurloo says. "A lot of people tried to argue that, but it didn't matter. There's an assumption that if you can make widgets in one place, you can make them in another. But I say that only Rembrandt paints Rembrandts."

 

One longtime employee summarizes the situation in this way:"The spirit of the company was disappearing. There weren't enough people with soul, with sensitivity towards guitars."

The doors at 225 Parsons Street - Gibson's home since 1917- closed in the fall of 1984. Jim Deurloo, J.P.Moats, and Marv Lamb, all longtime Gibson employees, decided not to go to Nashville and instead formed the Heritage guitar company and rented out part of the Parsons Street factory.

(J.P. Moats started in final sanding in 1957, and was quality control manager when the Kalamazoo plant closed in 1984).

[smurph1]

Excerpt from " The Gibson Guitar Book"- Walter Carter

 

The heart and soul of Gibson was still at 225 Parsons St. in Kalamazoo, where the core group of guitar builders had stayed, and in 1983 Mary Locke told Jim Deurloo that he planned to close the Nashville plant. Apparently that was a riskier option than closing the Kalamazoo plant and , according to Deurloo, within three weeks one of Locke's strongest supporters at the Norlin corporate level left the company and Locke reversed himself. He announced that the Kalamazoo plant would close and all production would move to Nashville.

 

In June 1984, the last Gibson guitars left the loading dock of 225 Parsons St.

 

If there was still any magic or mystique about Gibson in Kalamazoo, it remained there, as many Kalamazoo employees refused to uproot their families for an insecure future in Nashville.

Among those were four key Gibson employees - Jim Deurloo, J.P. Moats, Bill Paige and Marv Lamb - who stayed not only in Kalamazoo but in the Parsons St. factory, where they formed the Heritage guitar company and found success as the company that, more than Gibson, continued the Gibson tradition.

 

 

>this is from a book about Gibson ...>

 

"The heart and soul of Gibson was still at 225 Parsons St. in Kalamazoo, where the core group of guitar builders had stayed"

 

"They formed the Heritage guitar company and found success as the company that, more than Gibson, continued the Gibson tradition."

That pretty much reinforces what we in the HOC have always said..

[koula901]

Amen, sistahs!

[Hfan]

Thanks for that Fred.

[kbp810]

"But I say that only Rembrandt paints Rembrandts"

 

[chico]

Jim actually went to Nashville to help set up the new plant, he was offered a chance to stay on down there but chose to stay in his lifelong home in SW Michigan. You know what they say about 'gut' feelings.

 

I love reading this stuff, and it seems spot on to what Jim has related to me over the years.

 

Back in '57, a guy with the getup and go to get to a job everyday on time could easily find one in the Kalamazoo area, rife with manufacturing. Mostly paper mills, but Checker Motor company (just north of Parsons and worth the visit past the old plant), and others awaited HS grads. But the woodworkers, many of them of Dutch extract, found their way to places like Gibson in Kalamazoo or the Chris Craft corportation in nearby Holland, MI.

 

My, how times have changed.

 

chico

[blueox]

"Back in '57, a guy with the getup and go to get to a job everyday on time could easily find one in the Kalamazoo area, rife with manufacturing. Mostly paper mills, but Checker Motor company (just north of Parsons and worth the visit past the old plant), and others awaited HS grads. . . . My, how times have changed."

 

Yes, like many cities, Kalamazoo was once home to a large manufacturing base. Most of the many area paper mills have been razed over the years with just three or four paper-oriented plants remaining. Checker Motors was bought out by a Canadian company. It too has been razed this past winter.

[bebove64]

thanks again Fred!

[Dasherdave]

As a new Heritage family member, this is great to learn. thank you.

[Tim]

Yes, like many cities, Kalamazoo was once home to a large manufacturing base. Most of the many area paper mills have been razed over the years with just three or four paper-oriented plants remaining. Checker Motors was bought out by a Canadian company. It too has been razed this past winter.

Yes, I was again downtown yesterday (at Ransom and Walbridge) and drove by Heritage again (one of these days, I'll get up the nerve and walk in...didn't have time yesterday).

[Guest HRB853370]

from Gibson Guitars: 100 years of an American Icon. Walter Carter ) Edited to remain on-topic.

 

In 1978, Jim Deurloo was tapped for the job (plant manager) - A natural selection, considering that he had worked his way through almost every aspect of the company since coming to Gibson fresh out of high school in 1958. Except for 5 years at Guild , he had spent his adult life intimately acquainted with Gibson's processes.

As the recession of the early 80's wore on, Norlin decided in July 1983 to close the Kalamazoo plant. "There were feasibility studies going back and forth for years, you know." says Deurloo. "One week it was decided that Nashville would be closed, and then a couple of weeks later, it was decided that Kalamazoo would close."

Norlin didn't particularly care about Gibson's lifelong identification with Kalamazoo.

 

" I had said that Kalamazoo is Mecca," Deurloo says. "A lot of people tried to argue that, but it didn't matter. There's an assumption that if you can make widgets in one place, you can make them in another. But I say that only Rembrandt paints Rembrandts."

 

One longtime employee summarizes the situation in this way:"The spirit of the company was disappearing. There weren't enough people with soul, with sensitivity towards guitars."

The doors at 225 Parsons Street - Gibson's home since 1917- closed in the fall of 1984. Jim Deurloo, J.P.Moats, and Marv Lamb, all longtime Gibson employees, decided not to go to Nashville and instead formed the Heritage guitar company and rented out part of the Parsons Street factory.

(J.P. Moats started in final sanding in 1957, and was quality control manager when the Kalamazoo plant closed in 1984).

 

And as they say, the rest is history and are we all glad for it!!! Just think if the three of them thought otherwise about starting another guitar company, or had moved to Nashville, they would have retired at G if they even lasted that long with their BCM (Big Corporate Mentality). And no Heritage.

[DetroitBlues]

And as they say, the rest is history and are we all glad for it!!! Just think if the three of them thought otherwise about starting another guitar company, or had moved to Nashville, they would have retired at G if they even lasted that long with their BCM (Big Corporate Mentality). And no Heritage.

 

Wouldn't be much of a Forum... How boring a Gibson forum would be...

[blueox]

"Yes, I was again downtown yesterday (at Ransom and Walbridge) and drove by Heritage again (one of these days, I'll get up the nerve and walk in...didn't have time yesterday)."

 

That close? If there's a parking spot right out front, you could at least pop in and ask for a catalog, if you don't have one.

[FredZepp]

Excerpt from " The Gibson Guitar Book"- Walter Carter

 

The heart and soul of Gibson was still at 225 Parsons St. in Kalamazoo, where the core group of guitar builders had stayed, and in 1983 Mary Locke told Jim Deurloo that he planned to close the Nashville plant. Apparently that was a riskier option than closing the Kalamazoo plant and , according to Deurloo, within three weeks one of Locke's strongest supporters at the Norlin corporate level left the company and Locke reversed himself. He announced that the Kalamazoo plant would close and all production would move to Nashville.

 

In June 1984, the last Gibson guitars left the loading dock of 225 Parsons St.

 

If there was still any magic or mystique about Gibson in Kalamazoo, it remained there, as many Kalamazoo employees refused to uproot their families for an insecure future in Nashville.

Among those were four key Gibson employees - Jim Deurloo, J.P. Moats, Bill Paige and Marv Lamb - who stayed not only in Kalamazoo but in the Parsons St. factory, where they formed the Heritage guitar company and found success as the company that, more than Gibson, continued the Gibson tradition.

 

 

>this is from a book about Gibson ...>

 

"The heart and soul of Gibson was still at 225 Parsons St. in Kalamazoo, where the core group of guitar builders had stayed"

 

"They formed the Heritage guitar company and found success as the company that, more than Gibson, continued the Gibson tradition."

 

 

 

 

 

 

from Gibson Guitars: 100 years of an American Icon. Walter Carter ) Edited to remain on-topic.

 

In 1978, Jim Deurloo was tapped for the job (plant manager) - A natural selection, considering that he had worked his way through almost every aspect of the company since coming to Gibson fresh out of high school in 1958. Except for 5 years at Guild , he had spent his adult life intimately acquainted with Gibson's processes.

As the recession of the early 80's wore on, Norlin decided in July 1983 to close the Kalamazoo plant. "There were feasibility studies going back and forth for years, you know." says Deurloo. "One week it was decided that Nashville would be closed, and then a couple of weeks later, it was decided that Kalamazoo would close."

Norlin didn't particularly care about Gibson's lifelong identification with Kalamazoo.

 

" I had said that Kalamazoo is Mecca," Deurloo says. "A lot of people tried to argue that, but it didn't matter. There's an assumption that if you can make widgets in one place, you can make them in another. But I say that only Rembrandt paints Rembrandts."

 

One longtime employee summarizes the situation in this way:"The spirit of the company was disappearing. There weren't enough people with soul, with sensitivity towards guitars."

The doors at 225 Parsons Street - Gibson's home since 1917- closed in the fall of 1984. Jim Deurloo, J.P.Moats, and Marv Lamb, all longtime Gibson employees, decided not to go to Nashville and instead formed the Heritage guitar company and rented out part of the Parsons Street factory.

(J.P. Moats started in final sanding in 1957, and was quality control manager when the Kalamazoo plant closed in 1984).

 

Excerpt from " The Gibson Guitar Book"- Walter Carter

 

 

The President of Gibson at the time remembered that no workers were offered positions in Nashville, only people in supervisory postitions.

 

( Jim Deurloo was the plant manager, Marvin Lamb was the plant superviser, and JP Moats was quality control manager. )

[FredZepp]

.... a necro post... just because it's cool stuff..

[brentrocks]

Thanks Fred!

[schundog]

VERY cool stuff. Legendary stuff.

 

I was talking to Marv out at the barn at PSP III, and, cautiously asked him about why G****n made the move to Nashville; I mentioned something about a labor dispute I thought I had heard about. He said Yes, there had been an issue concerning Labor, but that he, Marv, had worked it out and told the company president about it. Marv then leaned into me, got rather animated, and said, "The company president said to me, "If I move us back to Kalamazoo, my wife will KILL me," And THAT'S why they are in Nashville." Now THERE'S something you won't read in a book about Gibson history! I couldn't believe it. It was like somebody had just told me where Jimmy Hoffa's body was!

[Gitfiddler]

VERY cool stuff. Legendary stuff.

 

I was talking to Marv out at the barn at PSP III, and, cautiously asked him about why G****n made the move to Nashville; I mentioned something about a labor dispute I thought I had heard about. He said Yes, there had been an issue concerning Labor, but that he, Marv, had worked it out and told the company president about it. Marv then leaned into me, got rather animated, and said, "The company president said to me, "If I move us back to Kalamazoo, my wife will KILL me," And THAT'S why they are in Nashville." Now THERE'S something you won't read in a book about Gibson history! I couldn't believe it. It was like somebody had just told me where Jimmy Hoffa's body was!

 

Sooo...you're telling us that the real reason Gibson packed up and moved to Nashville because the President was P-Whipped??!!

 

Yet another reason I'm so glad the boys at Parsons Street remained and started Heritage Guitars!! Those are REAL men!

[tsp17]

Great thread. Captures the HOC ethos right there.

[schundog]

 

Sooo...you're telling us that the real reason Gibson packed up and moved to Nashville because the President was P-Whipped??!!

 

Yet another reason I'm so glad the boys at Parsons Street remained and started Heritage Guitars!! Those are REAL men!

That's what "I" got from the conversation.

[Guest HRB853370]

 

Sooo...you're telling us that the real reason Gibson packed up and moved to Nashville because the President was P-Whipped??!!

 

Yet another reason I'm so glad the boys at Parsons Street remained and started Heritage Guitars!! Those are REAL men!

 

So you are calling MH Berlin PW'd?

[DetroitBlues]

VERY cool stuff. Legendary stuff.

 

I was talking to Marv out at the barn at PSP III, and, cautiously asked him about why G****n made the move to Nashville; I mentioned something about a labor dispute I thought I had heard about. He said Yes, there had been an issue concerning Labor, but that he, Marv, had worked it out and told the company president about it. Marv then leaned into me, got rather animated, and said, "The company president said to me, "If I move us back to Kalamazoo, my wife will KILL me," And THAT'S why they are in Nashville." Now THERE'S something you won't read in a book about Gibson history! I couldn't believe it. It was like somebody had just told me where Jimmy Hoffa's body was!

 

How funny how a personal family issue by the a person in charge makes the difference. My office was placed here not because of its strategic operational location, but because the General Manager/Vice President wanted a short commute. Then he was fired less then a year later because he was hiring people he knew that weren't qualified and stealing from the company under his nose....