This video does not help me to repress my urge to own a cherry 335. Love me some Gibsons, especially my '97 LP special. Love these factory tours as well.
Does anyone know if the epiphone EQ quindong factory in china has a plek? I bought a trad 3 pro plus and I swear I saw something saying it was factory plek
Incredible how they build these magnificent ES semi-hollow guitars. One ongoing headscratcher for me is why Gibson doesn't do offer a rear access panel for the electronics cavity on their instruments. I understand the tradition and all that, but IMHO it just seems so impractical.
after watching both fender n gibson factory tour videos...i've gotta say a gibson es 335 is a lot harder to built than any fender guitars. it takes more efforts n time to build one. they actually worth the price.
The Plek machine is capable of far more precision than what Gibson uses it for! Gibson uses a computer simulated string tension program that sets up every guitar exactly the same cuts every nut exactly the same. Really they use it to speed up the manufacturing process it is much more efficient than Humans cutting nuts and leveling frets! I have had to send all of My Gibson's to Master Luthier Steve Weber he installs a bone nut and properly cut's it with his Plek machine and levels the frets with strings on the guitar... neck under tension and with incredible precision set's up my guitars action until it's playability is unmatched!!!!!
To much has become automated in the making process. Which is why "some" China and Korea guitar copies are nearly as good as the USA guitars. To get a GREAT guitar, you pretty much have to go custom made which is really expensive.
IDK my 1960 ES330 and 1961 ES 335 etc seem to play better than this PLEK stuff. Gibson used slack belts for years, and gang saws to do the Les Pauls, and forms to bend the "plywood" Es 335s. I still think my 330 is the best playing guitar ever, bar none. My 1960 Hummingbird Johnny Smith custom ordered long scale slim taper is the best playing acoustic. Why they cannot copy from those defies logic. Foo Fighters suck. A click track live? If real players used Gibsons they might suck less. .
@Satchmoeddie The real issue is Gibson moved from a trained union staff of employees in Kalamazoo to Nashville which is famous for having an abundance of unemployed wannabe musicians. Guess who works for Gibson? Guess why the contour of a 1961 ES 335 is more pronounced than a 1999, or 2009? Yep untrained rats. Did Gibson guitars get any cheaper when they got rid of the union? If they did I missed it. I am feeding the mono Varitone "DIY" into an Epi Elitist 335 today. I should post that>!
Gibson needs to unplug their slack belt sanders, push them outside, and toss them in the dumpster. All a slack belt sander does is ensure that you flatten out what was a nicely carved piece before that. When Gibson started using that piece of crap, the contours on their guitars became flatter and less artistic. Gibson really needs to learn from Paul Reed Smith.
.Why do their employee's act so proud of their Gibson guitars, Iv,e heard more QC issues from Gibson than ALL the other companies COMBINED!!! I own a Gibson M-III and the Trem posts are set in the wrong position so the strings run off to the treble end, the scratch plate has been cut the wrong shape so doesn't hug the Trem cavity or neck correctly, the locking nut clicked when you depressed the trem bar because the underside of the nut was radiused and couldn't sit flush to the (FLAT) nut slot, the neck inlays are not centred, the claw screws were put in at an obscure angle and so adjustment is difficult and the bridge PU (500T) isn't spaced correctly so the pole pieces don't sit under the strings correctly and loss of volume/dynamics is quite evident.. BTFW I have searched the internet for Gibson M-III pics and found many others with the same ailments so I didn't just get unlucky with mine. I have contacted a Local Luthier and he can put all the Gibson F***k ups to right except the Shoddy cut scratch plate, his opinion was that Gibson were outrageous for letting this guitar reach the stores and NO WAY could have been simply overlooked as there are too many OBVIOUS flaws here which means they don't give a rats ass about their customers or their products period. I have contacted Gibson many times about a replacement Schaller (Gibson stamped) trem as mine is looking very tired and they REFUSE to reply to my Emails and written letters EVERY TIME. So to sum up Gibson they have just LOST a customer for LIFE who would have bought many products from them in the future. I was going to buy a couple of the re-issue M-III but I will now have them made by a British luthier who will build them to a FLAWLESS standard!!!
