Another History Thread

[FredZepp]

( from The Gibson Les Paul Book: Tony Bacon & Paul Day) Edited to remain on topic.

 

In 1974. Gibson employed around 600 people at the Kalamazoo factory and produced some 300 guitars a day.

 

Recent strikes at Gibson had cost Norlin (Gibsons parent company) dearly, and so their new plant of 100,000 square feet at Nashville was constructed not only with increased productivity in mind, but also with a view to decreasing costs through advantageous labor deals.

 

Work began in 1974 on the new 17 acre facility, five miles to the east of Nashville, and the factory eventually opened in June 1975. Training a new workforce took some time. Stan Rendall, then still Gibson president says" A limited number of people were transfered from Kalamazoo to Nashville in supervisory positions, but no workers were transferred. So everybody there had to be hired and trained and that takes time."

 

Norlin relocated some of its sales, marketing, administration and finance personnel from Chicago to Nashville around 1980. All the main Gibson production was now handled at the Nashville plant, while Kalamazoo had become a specialist factory making custom orders , banjos, and mandolins.

 

Plant manager Jim Deurloo told Andre Duchossoir for DI magazine in 1982 : " The plant is now mainly manufacturing specific models that we call 'custom shop editions' built in small runs of 25 to 100, sometimes more. Kalamazoo is more of a giant custom job shop, and we are proud of our heritage and workmanship."

 

The Gibson Kalamazoo plant stopped production in June 1984 and closed three months later.

 

Heritage Guitar company was incorporated in April 1985, and continued producing guitars at the original 225 Parsons Street factory built by Gibson in 1917.

In 1992, Heritage had 15 workers, a line of 35 models, and produced some 1500 guitars that year.

[zookroo1]

Wow, 300 guitars a day. That's a lot of guitars!

[chico]

Wow, 300 guitars a day. That's a lot of guitars!

 

 

just think about the quality of those Norlin G's made by those first untrained or newly trained workers..

 

That G wanted to lose the Union was no secret either, and TN was a "right to work" state, Mich not.

 

And so it goes..

 

I like these history threads BTW..

[hiro]

I like these threads. It just adds value to my Heritage guitar. It makes your Heritage a part of something that was important, that Gibson lost because of their greed.

 

Greed does weird things that seem like good sense but harmful overall, like a man dying of thirst trying to grab water to keep a good hold on it by closing his hands into a fist. All you have to do is cup it.

 

 

I can look at my guitar and there's a history behind it. Like some soul by people who care about making guitars, and not by a company just pumping out guitars like Gibson. You get a modern Gibson, and its "came out of factory X Y Z, maybe the Nashville one."

[brentrocks]

Heritage Guitar company was incorporated in April 1985, and continued producing guitars at the original 225 Parsons Street factory built by Gibson in 1917.

In 1992, Heritage had 15 workers, a line of 35 models, and produced some 1500 guitars that year. [/size]

that pretty much tells the story for me, small family-like operation, hand made, built the old fashioned way.

[tulk1]

Well, I really like this history thread. I like all of them, really, but .... this means my '74 LPC (Norlin era that it is) is a Kalamazoo Custom. Yeah, baby!!! Pancake body, 5 piece top and maple neck that it is!! BTW, it's a monster guitar. AND!! it can be used to stop boats from drifting away.

 

Got to wonder if Jim's "heritage" comment might have led to the name choice, eh?

[ronalr]

Great history lessons Fred....really interesting read.......sorry I sold my 1964 SG standard.....I had owned it since 1968.....but it went to pay for my Daughters wedding....and now I have 3 Heritages that I love any way...and those 3 did not even come up to half what I sold the SG for!!

[fxdx99]

( from The Gibson Les Paul Book: Tony Bacon & Paul Day) Edited to remain on topic.

 

Plant manager Jim Deurloo told Andre Duchossoir for DI magazine in 1982 : " The plant is now mainly manufacturing specific models that we call 'custom shop editions' built in small runs of 25 to 100, sometimes more. Kalamazoo is more of a giant custom job shop, and we are proud of our heritage and workmanship."

 

The Gibson Kalamazoo plant stopped production in June 1984 and closed three months later.

 

 

 

1983 LP from the Kzoo 'giant custom shop' (NAMM show guitar that year). Very percussive sound, great player.