Gibson Memphis Factory Tour | GRAMMY Pro All Access 

Back in the 70's I visited the original Gibson plant in Kalamazoo 3 times when i played gigs in that city. One of the luthiers told me that the arched top and back on a 330 series is more for looks and style as there is not much sonic resonance in the body with that center block. The hollow bodied jazz boxes are another story. Gibson made a jazz hollow body guitar called the Super 400 CES. The arched tops and backs were not pressed into shape like a 335 etc., but were hand carved from a single block of wood. I had the pleasure of meeting the artisan who did the carving. The top of the guitar was tuned so the bass and treble side were an octave apart in tone when tapped.

This tour was the best tour I've watched for this reason: Jason actually knows what all of these stations are and what they do. He said that he worked all of the stations while working his way up and it shows. He knows what they are doing and it looked like he could get in there and help out if they needed it. Bravo! Nice work.

R.I.P Memphis...

Easily the best factory tour video I've ever seen, informative and moves along nicely.

I loved that he really knew each process in the factory. Really interesting.

Best virtual visit ever ! Great, complete description of the process. Thanks

This has made me appreciate and love my Gibson 335 even more. The Stradivarius of the modern era.Thanks Orville and all the generations that kept this "Art" alive...and will keep it alive.

Thank you so much for sharing this video !! I can't wait to visit Gibson Factory in Memphis !

Seeing that natural ES-175 almost brought tears to my eyes-beautiful. The crew there look like they are dedicated to their work. I wish the upper management was able to capitalize on that history and dedication. Last time I was in Memphis, it made me sad to see that they were attempting to lease out part of the factory.

This is one of the best factory tour videos I have seen. I like how you got a good description of all the parts of the process, the camerawork is steady, and how distractions like loud machine noise and other people on the tour was edited out.

I wish to thank all those involved in the process of the making of this very informative video...truly amazing and informative. I have learned a lot and have come to realize just how many "hands" are involved in the manufacturing process. Mistakenly, I was under the impression that the manufacturing of the guitars was now done mostly by machines. To see that the precision work is done by hand gives me a greater appreciation for the Gibson product. Thank you very much.

He is super knowledgeable and really brought into focus how much labour and attention it takes to make one of these. Very cool to watch.

Very intersting video. I have learned a lot. Your host was awesome. He knows his product!

I could watch this all day drinking dr pepper and eating pizza, superb tour . . . magnificent craftmanship

Fantastic Journey my Son & Grandson had the Opportunity to Visit &have a Moment us journey Around the GIBSON FACTORY.... The Song Will Still Remain. The Same

I came over from the UK & had a factory visit last year,really enjoyed it but thought this video showed just as much. I own a 2014 Bourbon Burst Memphis ES 355 so it was great to see just where it had been crafted.

A really interesting tour thanks very much

Stunning! Thanks Jonny

This was so cool to watch. :)

I've just bought an es les Paul,love the way it feels & it plays amazing ♥️

Great video with excellent detail. I have played guitar for years and own a number of Fender, PRS , Gibson and G&L models. I also own a 2015 ES-Les Paul, which I bought about 18 months ago at a great price, primarily because I don't think people like that model, as its now discontinued. An excellent guitar, and glad I watched this video to see the detail in the build process. Thanks

Been on the Gibson factory tour when in Memphis 2017. Good learning experience

great video, thanks. Best one I have seen. I own a 1964 Gibson, Kalamazoo-made ES-125 TCD - I love to this very day, I have had it since I was a young player.

just simply beautiful craftsmanship...GIBSON

Took a tour at that factory last year. Great experience. Just always funny when you can't take photos or videos but then you find videos like this online.

I have a new appreciation for Gibson Guitars

I think they’re worth every penny, the ES 335 is my dream guitar that I plan to own one day. The closest thing I have to one is an Epiphone Lucille, which I’ve gone thru with new electrics and pickups. I thoroughly enjoyed the video which shows all the work that goes into building these great guitars.

Mr. Dawson I have watched many Gibson reviews as a matter of fact others manufacturers as well but being a Gibson fan prematurely your Company " I have never seen such a Excellent review like this before you explained every detail and then some " !!! Outstanding very informative !!! Thank you WOW !!!!!

A true labor of love!!!

That was great!

I miss working at the Nashville plant, although it was hard and rewarding work! I imagine, many of these fine employees, went to work at the Nashville plant when the Memphis plant closed! Great video! And Great team work!

5/9/2021.... I just ordered my ES VOS 335 1964 custom shop vintage burst... scheduled to be shipped at the end of July. I’m 58 years old and I feel like a kid waiting for Christmas ! 😄. 🇺🇸👊🏼

Managed to snag a Memphis built 2017 (?) "DEMO" 335 in ebony off of REVERB. Sounds & plays as beautiful as it looks! These luthiers are real artists! Always wondered how they matched up the internal wood block with the curved tops - now I know.

Hi from New Zealand, EXCELLENT tour, have played guitar since I was 6 yrs now 58. Always want a original Gibson both semi hollow and solid les paul. Already have fender strat and tele. When I tour America next? Memphis will be on the visit list!

Wow! Very interesting! My beloved ES-339 now seems to be a bargain. Great job all of you!

We came here in 2017 , great tour , shame it’s gone now

Great video by a knowledgeable guy. Always wonder why Gibson haters bother watching a video about the Gibson manufacturing process.

I love the Memphis factory tour and hosted by Kevin Costner!

I was there some years before this video was made, I wonder, do they still have the shop/showroom, I purchased a 335 there, I still have it. Anyway I enjoyed my tour and watching this brought it all back.

Great great video.

Very informative and great presentation by Jason. The annoying music was distracting.

I love his shirt. Looked online for one but couldn’t find one

Welcome to Nashville guys!!!

You can see why acoustic and semi acoustic guitars cost more than solid bodies, all the crazy amount of labor that goes into it.

Every single ES that all those greats played came off that press.... wow.

Greatest guitar on the world! Wonderful work!

Nice to see that😀 thanks a lot😀

Great video, Jason. Love all the details that you intensely explained. I do have a concern for the workers who do the same thing over and over and over...The day after Thanksgiving, I purchased the Gibson Custom Alex Lifeson Signature ES Les Paul and couldn't wait for FedEx to deliver. After inspection, I found smudges of dirt or something in the black/white striped trim around the body and the headstock. Luckily, with a little effort, they wiped off. Also, just below his signature, above the neck, there are streaks in the lacquer that are permanent. I discovered this flaw by letting the light reflect off the lacquer. The black paint that the worker applied in the F holes was sloppy so a black Sharpee did the trick and hid the few exposed white dots of bare wood. Some players have $4,000 sitting in their pocket, some players take over a year to save up $4,000 or they go into debt to make this kind of purchase like I did. So, finding flaws like this is painfully disappointing. I try to keep in mind that nobody's perfect but considering Gibson's reputation, either the skilled worker or the QC team need not let this become so mundane that these flaws slip through. I've seen so many RU-vid videos of excited Gibson lovers unboxing their long-awaited dream guitar only to be crushed by flaws and errors. To add more heartache, my ES Les Paul was supposed to include a user's manual and truss rod tool...Now, the good news...In spite of these issues, I wouldn't trade this axe for anything else (other than Jimmy Page's '59 LP). The quality of sound that's produced by the woods, MHS pups and CTS 550K pots make up for it, by far. It's comfortable, plays so dayam good and I'm proud of the antique white color, in which this is Gibson's 1st guitar to apply this color. By the way, the F holes do not take away the Les Paul sound...The best of luck to future buyers and the workers who do this every day...

music playing in the background is annoying

Awesome.

I am glad to see the place where my ES-335 Studio has been constructed... (wish I had the money to get an even higher spec version, but I have satisfied my urge already - for now :-) )

Great to see how my ES-339 came to life.

i got totally engrossed in that video it was really interesting. gibson guitars are superb I proudly own three. the 335 been my latest addition I'm still getting to know it but loving it so far.

In Memphis My Son. &Grandson Took this Moment

Factory is closed now. I have a 2016 ES 335 Cherry flamed... Will keep it for a family heirloom.

I have to say, being a guitar aficionado for 40 years, this video, and the excellent descriptions by the presenter, have given me a new respect for the instruments coming out of the Memphis factory. I understand why these semi-acoustic models demand the price that they do. I have assembled many bolt on guitars over the decades, and set them up to my specs, and at a fairly reasonable cost, but would never attempt a hollow body, or even a set neck. The comparison to Stradivarius violins is understandable, but possibly a stretch, maybe not too much of one though.

I have a beautiful 335 Figured Natural with the dark stained neck. The stain is leaching out into the binding which makes it pink, I guess that's how they did it back in the day because I remember as a kid in the 60's seeing that same effect on a cherry red 335. Mine has a badly cut nut though - the high E keeps slipping off the edge of the fingerboard. Other than that, it's a great guitar. The MHS pups sound fantastic.

Memphis Gibson guitar YOU GO BOYS

Wonderful video and Jason is a very articulate man. I am figuring out how to get my own ES-335, second hand or new. I love the feel of the few ES-335 necks that I have played upon, very much like a good acoustic guitar. I also think the 3-ply woods is a good thickness that provides good resonance. I too have studied Stradivarius and other violin makers and have built from kit's two violins.

Can you make a clip of building the L-5s and Tal Farlows.A nice custom shop film is what is needed.We want the promotion of the big hollow bodies.!

Believe my 1996 Gibson "Chet Atkins" Tennessean (ebony) was made at this factory on Beale. Great guitar!

I didn’t know that Gibson ‘Pleked’ all of their ES guitars now. That is impressive!

Just got my first 2016 LP ES model I had custom ordered. Went with the Goldtop,P90s with slim taper neck. I have 8 Les Pauls,all fairly heavy including a 78 pro that weights 12.5 pounds! This ES weights just over 6. Its time to get rid of my boat anchors and get the ones 8 pounds and less.

Watched this will changing strings on my 1962 ES335, cherry red. I wonder how it was made in those days !

I have a epiphone Les Paul Special that's similar to the es-345. I played it to sawdust. I'm hoping to get a Gibson es-345 someday.

Tahitian musicians were playing these guitars back in the 50s 60s and the Seventies, awesome. William Percival New Zealand Gardenia Band 🇨🇰 Kia Orana

I love Gibson, quality made guitars!

2016 ES335 Studio awesome wine red black binding.

This is making me want an ES

That was awesome. Thanks for the video and the look inside of a highly sought after (for me...) f-hole Gibson. I have only dreamed of owning one and the dream continues... LOL

fantastic ambassador for Gibson!

One interesting note, Gibson puts boiled linseed oil on the finger boards, not lemon oil or any other ridiculous things I have heard over the years.

Where the best contemporary Gibson guitars were born. Adieu !

Impressive Wow this is Gibson at its best

RIP Memphis plant... a wall of the legendary brand is being torn down :(

Every part of these guitars is one veneer on top of another

does anybody know the name of the company that makes inlays he has mentioned ?

History channel, here ... Life can be sad, sometime ...

I was there in June it was fascinating and worth every penny of the $15 don't forget to book or its unlikely you'll get a ticket

DAM I WANT TO WORK THERE, ALL THE STATIONS.

That was well made. Jason ought to be the one to be the new face of the brand and they should give Agnessi a broom.

Love that tiger striped 335

@24:22 that looks like orange paint at the back of the fretboard..nice!

he looks sharp and indeed he knows exactly what happened around him nice

The red one you are holding...gorgeous beast... Are they center block? Due to the pandemic are you manufacturing again? Like that ES... 🎸🎸🎸🎸🎸🤘🤘🤘🤘😎😎

I loved that Honeyburst, or was it a Lemonburst 335, with the open pickups, that the employee was detailing. Beautiful guitar, although size wise, I find the 339s more to my liking than the 335s. Both great guitars though.

Morning meeting "make sure you tell 'em we still make 'em the way we made 'em in 59"....

I have come across a 2nd hand 2015 Memphis 335 TDC for sale, it’s not a custom shop, has an “S” on the truss rod cover, block inlays with chrome grover tuners . Also I know of a local music shop that has ordered a Historic reissue (custom shop) ES-335 Nashville 1964 TDC. I’m after a 335 which one do I get… The Memphis guitar could sell any time and the custom shop that’s been ordered because of back order’s won’t be at the shop till January next year, there goes any chance to try them both and compare which one I like. Which one do I buy ?? HELP !

Are you using the same glue type now as was used in the late 50'/early 60's to glue the top & back layers of the Semi's?

i really loved this video !!! i wish the other gibson factory had quality control like here , is it me but a haven't heard of many complaints about the guitars built at this factory like the complaints of poor workmen ship on the les pauls these days ????

Still a beautiful guitar

I cant afford the ES series so I have an old Ibanez Roadstar and a Telecaster . The ES series is part of the American dream . I play my friends 335 and its old . he has it setup like greased lightening . its not heavy like some LesPauls and Telecasters . long live the ES Gibsons !!!

Is that music going in the factory? The one you're yelling over? The tour is super interesting, you don't have to foul it up with even more sound. It is what it is.

This guy definitely knows his stuff.

Walk Talk These. Memories....We Me ..My Son ...Grandson ...Moi

I can't believe there are so many manual steps to build the Gibson.

I want one...

awesome...I would never attempt to build one!

The guy knew his stuff.

Loyd Loar thought up the F holes Orvils all had the eliptical holes