More History..

[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).

[Kuz]

Great stuff, Fred. I really appreciate both Heriage's and your passion for for their great product.

 

Everybody thinks that PRS guitars will be the next guitars to explode in vintage value, I'm not so sure Heritage guitars won't have a say in that!

[tyguy]

( 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).

Thank you,Ty M.

[MatZen]

This is great stuff. Thank you for the effort.

[Wolfi]

Thanks for sharing, Fred.

 

Great stuff!!

[pegleg32]

Thanks again Fred, very interesting stuff, and I think Kuz is right on with his comments.

[golferwave]

Jim Deurloo is right on the money! Thanks for sharing this one!

[Gitfiddler]

Spoken like a true lover of quality guitar making!

 

His comments should be part of Heritage ad campaigns.

[pro-fusion]

Wow, the Norlin bunch really was the Gang That Couldn't Shoot Straight, eh? They go to all the trouble and expense of setting up the Nashville plant in the early '70s without really considering whether it was a good idea--and then waffle on the decision after the money has been spent. Think about how all that money could have been spent on upgrading operations in Kalamazoo.

 

But then, Gibson was only one of their holdings, I believe. The guys in the suits probably had no idea that making guitars is not the same as making widgets. I wonder if some of them ended up running GM? Sounds like about the same level of executive competence.

[Gitfiddler]

Another rant...Why do guys over at the LP Forum try to associate the Norlin era failings with the master craftsmen that stayed behind and formed Heritage? They need to read Walter Carter's book...or at least this thread!!

[Kuz]

Heritage is, to best of my knowledge, the only major guitarmaker that makes ALL of it's guitars ONLY in the USA.

 

(Of course, I am not talking about small independent luthier like Kirn or McInturff)

[peteraltongreen]

I thought Britain was the only place to throw away it's heritage ( no pun intended) We have companies here that are owned by foreign companies that are not worthy of kissing their shoes ! ( Example : Rolls Royce owned by a German Tonka Toy maker ) I'm lucky.I've been playing Gibsons for over 50 years,and I witnessed first hand quality drops,then improvements.In 1967,I bought an ES 175.I had to return it.The body was mis-shaped on the top bout,and the neck had a twist to it.I was stunned.I replaced it by ordering a Gibson L5,which I still have,and it just gets better with age.In the 70's of course,everything went to the wall for a time.I cannot understand so called business people who don't understand the product they are trying to sell.Gibson recovered,and in 1982,I was in San Francisco,where I puchased a Gibson ES335 in blonde.I still have this guitar,and it's magnificent.My Heritages came after this,and equal,if not surpass any guitar I have ever bought in my 53 year playing career.

Don't ever let these guys give up making guitars.They are as good,and mostly better than anyone else in the world at what they do.Be proud of them,and keep them American.

[pro-fusion]

Another rant...Why do guys over at the LP Forum try to associate the Norlin era failings with the master craftsmen that stayed behind and formed Heritage? They need to read Walter Carter's book...or at least this thread!!

 

Sometimes you have to work hard to convince yourself to drink the Kool-Aid. Especially when the "Kool-Aid" involved is a $5,000+ custom-shop version.

 

BTW, I've owned four Norlin-era Gibbys over the years, and three of them would have absolutely smoked any recent production Gibson I've played. And the kicker is that all four were probably Nashville-made, except for maybe the early '80s EDS-1275. It was so long ago, that at the time I had no idea whether Gibsons were made in K'Zoo, Nashville, or Moon Base Alpha--and really didn't care, either.

[blueox]

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

. . . 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." . . .

 

I saw this firsthand after I took my 1964 Epiphone Crestwood Deluxe into Gibson for a refret in 1983. I played a lot of bluesy stuff and was wearing down the frets due to all the wire-bending. (At the time, young and green, I didn't have the dough for another axe in rotation, nor did I see the need.) They did a great job on the frets and even aged the new binding to match the rest of the guitar. However, there were several new dings in the guitar that were not there before the fret job. I was so upset that I took it back to complain. Hubie F. tried to soothe me with a new Epiphone strap along with trying to take the new dings out. They even put on a new old stock pickguard. I was so surprised that they still had one on the shelf from almost twenty years prior, but all I wanted was a refret and my guitar in the same or better condition than when I left it. Little did I know that in a year or so, Gibson would be history in Kalamazoo.

[FredZepp]

" 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."

I just love this attitude. This guy had fought to keep Kalamazoo open with Gibson............ He speaks of ... Mecca......... Rembrandt.

 

These are the guys making our Heritage guitars. They built guitars to a higher level. Because they've done it before....

[mark555]

Another rant...Why do guys over at the LP Forum try to associate the Norlin era failings with the master craftsmen that stayed behind and formed Heritage? They need to read Walter Carter's book...or at least this thread!!

 

Because the guys on the les paul forum are into a brand, not the truth. I know a guy who collects lep pauls and he would play a tennis racket it it said gibson on the top.

[hiro]

So true about the LP forumites.

 

They have justify spending 5K not just once, but several times on something that's not the quality that matches the price.

 

They have to justify their company doing weird things like making a guitar with lots of lowrider chrome and 80's toy robot neon blinking plastic lights and pricey enough to force them to decide between that and something they have several of. Some sort of betrayal they may feel but they can't say it out loud or else it destroys their justification.

 

They have to justify something has the name, but the quality doesn't match the originals since the place where the something was made was let go. And since originals sell at the price of a hundred somethings AND their company tries to make originals for the price of several somethings but don't get close, they feel it is some sort of betrayal but can't speak of it due to their justification.

 

They have to justify that their company did the military equivalent of letting go all its special forces where 1 special forces unit was equivalent to 30 regulars.

 

They have to justify that special force that knew how to do the original something is now putting out their version of something that is better than their something.

 

And they have to justify that the special something is cheaper than their something.

 

They have to justify that special force is smart enough to realize that 80's robot lights and excessive lowrider chrome is just laughable.

 

Then they have to justify the special forces guys and gals have special somethings where one can beat out them and 29 of their friends equipped with their somethings.

 

They must have to justify being around others justifying the above.

[Thundersteel]

That last post is, well, justified!

[FredZepp]

Another rant...Why do guys over at the LP Forum try to associate the Norlin era failings with the master craftsmen that stayed behind and formed Heritage? They need to read Walter Carter's book...or at least this thread!!

 

Keep in Mind...

Our guys, the Heritage owners, worked at Gibson in the 50's during the heyday of Gibson quality. Jim Duerloo started in 1958, JP Moats in 1957, Marv Lamb in 1956. They did not start as "white collar" managers, but each worked their way through the company as actual workers. They did a vast variety of jobs, hands on, including sanding, carving, finishing, neck sanding, repairs , custom shop, pattern making, tooling, wood inspection, etc. .. working largely out of the original 1917 Gibson building.

 

The Parsons Street building was opened with a housewarming party and dance on July 10, 1917. The land was in the middle of a strong, working class Dutch neighborhood, and the work ethic of Gibson emplyees became a vital part of the Gibson tradition.

 

In 1960, Gibson built an addition to the plant that doubled the size of it. But that was not enough and expansions also happened in 1962 and 1964.. .. nearly doubling it again. It is with these additions that they would eventually reach production numbers of 300 guitars per day.

In 1970 , Gibsons then parent company , CMI ..( since 1944) , sold to Norlin.

Norlin "figured that they could solve any problem with a calculator".

In 1974, the Nashville plant was started,a 100,000 square foot plant on 17 acres. Eventually Norlin started moving some of the offices to Nashville also.

 

When Gibson closed Kalamazoo, the truckloads of equipment that was sent to Nashville were not the old machines in the old building.

It was the newer equipment from the additional new factory sections that was more capable of higher quantities of production.

 

The old equipment and the old factory were left for the owners of Heritage Guitars to produce instruments in much smaller quantities.

[chico]

....

 

The old equipment and the old factory were left for the owners of Heritage Guitars to produce instruments in much smaller quantities. [/size]

 

 

....

 

 

that old equipment referred to was actually left for liquidation and the former employees and soon-to-be new owners of Heritage went to the sale and bought it, handpicking the stuff most important to them. Not sure if G knew or cared.

[Thundersteel]

The land was in the middle of a strong, working class Dutch neighborhood

 

Times sure have changed, as it surly isn't that way now!

[FredZepp]

 

Times sure have changed, as it shirley isn't that way now!

In 1936, the Kalamazoo chamber of commerce announced that the city's industrial production totaled $70 million ,

compared to New York City's total of $ 71 million.

 

 

Times have changed , ... and don't call me shirley...

[FredZepp]

Here's a BUMP to another old Heritage history thread , from March 2010.

 

 

[HANGAR18]

The old equipment and the old factory were left for the owners of Heritage Guitars to produce instruments in much smaller quantities.

 

JACKPOT!!!

[HANGAR18]

Here's a BUMP to another old Heritage history thread , from March 2010.

 

 

 

That's a historical landmark if I ever saw one!