FredZepp Posted October 23, 2009 Share Posted October 23, 2009 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 prodution 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." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tulk1 Posted October 23, 2009 Share Posted October 23, 2009 Truth is Truth. And Mr. Carter is telling the Truth! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FredZepp Posted October 23, 2009 Author Share Posted October 23, 2009 Excerpt from " The Gibson Guitar Book"- Walter Carter After the Nashville plant opened, neither plant operated at full capacity, and the Kalamazoo plant began building wooden clock cases in an effort to stay afloat. OK , Brent .. do you have one of the clock cases yet...? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pro-fusion Posted October 23, 2009 Share Posted October 23, 2009 Facts is facts, as they say. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kuz Posted October 23, 2009 Share Posted October 23, 2009 Now someone anonymously go over to the Les Paul forum, post this from their history book, and tell them to kiss the ring of the REAL AUTHENTIC GUITAR COMPANY! I LOVE IT!!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FredZepp Posted October 23, 2009 Author Share Posted October 23, 2009 Now someone anonymously go over to the Les Paul forum, post this from their history book, and tell them to kiss the ring of the REAL AUTHENTIC GUITAR COMPANY! I LOVE IT!!!! It was interesting that a really nice Gibson book would go so far as to make these statements.... ...abeit true, as we know... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
brentrocks Posted October 24, 2009 Share Posted October 24, 2009 Excerpt from " The Gibson Guitar Book"- Walter Carter After the Nashville plant opened, neither plant operated at full capacity, and the Kalamazoo plant began building wooden clock cases in an effort to stay afloat. OK , Brent .. do you have one of the clock cases yet...? no, but i sure would like to have one....lol Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
golferwave Posted October 24, 2009 Share Posted October 24, 2009 Walter Carter is a respected Gibson historian who in partnership with George Gruhn has researched the company from it's beginnings. If he says Heritage is more Gibson than Gibson you can take it to the bank. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SofaPlayer Posted October 24, 2009 Share Posted October 24, 2009 I'm sure the Gibson CEO didn't read it before it was published. Plain mistake, but a very very nice one. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DCA Posted October 24, 2009 Share Posted October 24, 2009 Ouch, If any one was keeping score... Heritage earned that ball on an ace. But that's why we buy Heritage guitars, right? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JohnCovach Posted October 24, 2009 Share Posted October 24, 2009 I've also read that Gibson made some wooden toys to keep the K'zoo factory busy. Back in the 80s, Gibson had some real reputation issues and Heritage was the custom shop that kept the quality high. Despite all the weird "innovations" and designs Gibson has produced in recent years (robot guitar, etc.), my view is that they have very successfully reclaimed the integrity of the brand. The Gibson Custom Shop guitars are fine instruments, though very expensive. As we all know, Heritage guitars are superb instruments at a reasonable price--a true bargain in most cases, especially used. But the Gibson heritage is shared by a few companies today: Gibson, Heritage, Wechter, PRS, and probably a few more I haven't thought of. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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