Posts Tagged factory tour

We’ve followed along the path various pieces of wood take to become a Gibson acoustic guitar. We’re finally ready to leave the woodshop floor and cross the hall to the finishing areas. At this point, the guitar body and neck are fitted and glued, the assembly has been sanded, and if it’s a mahogany or rosewood guitar, filler has been applied (and sanded).

And now we’re back with the rest of the tour of the wood shop floor. At this point, the basic guitar body has been assembled – the tops and backs are joined and strutted, the sides are bent and glued up with the neck and tail blocks, and these parts have been put together. As well, the neck has been carved and inlaid, and the fingerboard – bound as appropriate – has been fretted and glued to the neck blank.

In the morning we made our way over to the Gibson shop. It’s located in an unassuming building in Bozeman, Montana, at 1894 Orville Way. By an odd coincidence, 1894 is also the year Orville Gibson went into business.

Every once in a while, an opportunity arises to tour a guitar maker’s shop, and see up close how things are done and what they’re working on – things which may never be seen anywhere else. This week we’re taking a tour of the Gibson Acoustic shop in Bozeman, Montana.