From the Gibson Editor: What do you want to read?

[milod]

.... I like the idea of employee profiles too...

 

Perhaps something more on the woods. I've never seen much of anything on the laminated tops on archtops - how they're done in a technical sense...

 

Changing bridges, especially on archtops, metal vs. wood...

 

But frankly the Gibson site is the best I can imagine for a guitar company. Heck, weeks of messing with it and there's always, it seems, something new.

 

I agree that some artist profiles of "why Gibson" sounds okay... Or even why a solid or hollow or semihollow. E.g., I've noticed that regardless of neck width or scale, there's a totally different fingerboard 'feel' to, say an SG neck vs a 175 neck. Is it entirely the way one holds the things? Anybody do any research on that?

 

m

[daveinspain]

Who does Arlen Roth's hair?

[EVH5445]

I really liked the how a custom shop guitar is made, and the others. Thanks for asking by the way!

[KSG_Standard]

My vote is to profile the employees. Just at random' date=' not in any pecking order, names drawn from a hat. Doesn't matter if they fit necks to bodies or install the tuners or glue the kerfing on. It would give everyone a little insight into the amount of work that goes into building a guitar. We don't need full names and all that, just a first name, what they do in an average day, what makes a good day, what makes a bad day, maybe even an anecdote of something that occurred in their workday.[/quote']

 

+1 Good idea....How about some stories and pictures of the models that didn't make it into production, or the one off axes built for employees, collectors and musicians.

 

Thanks for asking our opinion!:-

[zippy]

 

+1 Good idea....How about some stories and pictures of the models that didn't make it into production' date=' or the one off axes built for employees, collectors and musicians.

 

Thanks for asking our opinion! [/quote']

 

 

.....Now that definately peaks my interests.......

 

.....as well as employee profiles........

[niemepet]

Fan Gallery, where everybody can send the picture of their Gibson(s). And maybe some short description.

[kjr]

in the Gibson shop they could have a guitar shop!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Thundergod]

My vote is to profile the employees. Just at random' date=' not in any pecking order, names drawn from a hat. Doesn't matter if they fit necks to bodies or install the tuners or glue the kerfing on. It would give everyone a little insight into the amount of work that goes into building a guitar. We don't need full names and all that, just a first name, what they do in an average day, what makes a good day, what makes a bad day, maybe even an anecdote of something that occurred in their workday.[/quote']

 

 

Best request so far. I second that.

 

:-

[MikeRom]

No matter what you do' date=' make sure it's possible for Mac and iPhone users to read it.[/quote']

 

+1

[ChanMan]

I'd have to say that the lessons are likely my favorite feature. I also like the more in depth explanations of various effects and tones and how they are achieved.

 

I also like the idea of an "Employee of the Month" article... a little insight into what it's like to be part of the Gibson family .

 

In general... More multimedia! It's the interweb, and the technology to do AWESOME things exists. How about something like the Boss "virtual pedal board"? A different Gibson guitar through various amps/cabs perhaps? Make it a monthly feature.... ?

 

 

Otherwise... keep up the good work; it's mighty good as is!

[canon_mutant]

Hey Guys' date='

 

I'm the Editor for Gibson.com, in particular our Lifestyle site.

 

Would you mind taking a minute to tell me what you like about our Lifestyle site and what you'd like to change? What do you want to read more about, what do you want to read less about?

 

Be as general or specific as you like. Just don't be surprised if you see your ideas reflected on our site right away!

 

Thanks in advance for all your help!

 

Ellen Mallernee[/quote']

 

Would LOVE to hear about all the planned R9 remakes this year, how many of each, and their serial number ranges.

 

Thank you,

[canon_mutant]

Would also like to hear about the "Custom" versions of the Axcess that were originally planned and then scrapped in lieu of Iced Tea and Gun Metal?

 

I thought you were going to do a Silverburst and Ebony?

[GarpJarp]

Thanks guys for all of your feedback. Some good food for thought. Please feel free to return here to leave more suggestions as you think of them.

[hellion102792]

Thanks guys for all of your feedback. Some good food for thought. Please feel free to return here to leave more suggestions as you think of them.

 

I say definitely go for the guitar calender with the pictures from the forum (http://forums.gibson.com/Default.aspx?g=posts&t=12759). With the pictures in that thread, you could make a few different editions. It was a really good idea they had that was basically ignored when it was brought up to Gibson, and it would be great if it was finally made. It's good PR too, showing a company is willing to use fan-made ideas into a product. I'd by one, I just realized the only calender I have on my wall is still on December 2008

[recsec]

I really like the stories about the history of an instrument or a band. When you have stories like that' date=' I feel that I've learned something interesting. It makes for good conversation at supper with the other musicians in my family.

 

I also love the stories where the artists themselves are explaining their craft. I don't care about an artist's favorite color, etc. I am curious about how they carved out a career, a sound, a style for themselves.

 

More stories like these, I'm a keeper![/quote']

 

I agree with the above. I enjoy the stories about guitars and their history's, artists and their motivations, and the tone articles.

[Dez]

Hello and thank you very much for even posting the question!!!!

As a player of 0ver 30 years I love to hear all the behind the scenes stories, Technical and otherwise but as an advance novice Luthier and an admirer of the Gibson craftmanship and amazing history...I'd love to hear more about the detailed relationships Gibson has regarding our favorite guitarists and their instruments and why they play what they play and what their personal setup specs are for the instruments they play.

Given that we're all on this site because we are die hard Gibson fanatics and some of us eager historians ...We want to know it all!!! LOL

Kudos! Keep it coming!:)

[Sin]

Homz's idea about interviewing small bands (not rock stars) is a really good one. It could be done weekly or monthly or however often you want to do it. For that matter, maybe you could do sort of an online, band version of American Idol where you post an interview and sound and/or video clips of each contestant. Then, let web site visitors vote for their favorite every six months or whatever and award the winning band some guitars or some other prize. It'd be a lot of work up front to whittle down who you want to feature, but I'll bet it'd be a great promotional tool.

 

+1 great idea

[milod]

Well, this may sound silly in a sense, but has anyone ever considered how different brands and/or styles of guitar have ended up with the specific scale length and nut/bridge widths?

 

When and why did Gibson kinda standardize on that?

 

I've never seen anything specific along those lines.

 

Also, the 175 and variations seems quite well thought out as an electric guitar, but then came the 335 and variations. Why was the body built as it was in terms of size and shape? Was it for manufacturing purposes or what other sorts of thought went into it? Since it has the block having a stopbar tailpiece is an obvious solution for what? What of other thinbodies without the block and their tailpieces? Etc.

 

Finally, neck styles: We all know there are different neck shapes, even on various Gibsons. What makes the determination of neck styles available on a given model/body shape/ concept of guitar?

 

How much of those decisions, again, have arisen from consumer requests, how much fro technical determinations?

 

E.g., I've run across some very, very narrow nuts on older style acoustic steel strings. And some necks seem to me to be like an ax handle and yet remain popular on certain styles of guitar.

 

m

[lowb5str]

I would like to see a selection of everything in a solidbody Gibson has made, as examples showing off the natural woodgrain.

I'm not a fan of covering up exceptional grain or colorizing it. So, the unusual non-Goldtop, non-Burst, e.g. zebrawood GotW,

would fall in this category.

 

I'd also like an article series about books on luthiery, or Guitar Engineering, or whatever you want to call it.

 

An article series on the science of guitar tone, e.g. how different woods affect bass response,

how to drop a step and keep your neck in tune (showing gauge calculation), the difference in sustain between neck attachment types....

 

Hope this helps.

[bscott]

Thanks for asking.

I would like to see some profiles on average garage bands. After all we actually buy the guitars. The big stars get them free. The hobbyists' date=' bar bands, even just guys sitting in their living room using a loop recorder.

 

Perhaps you could ask for pics and MP3 files and ask us who do do the garage band stuff for their story. I've got a band in mind. :(

 

Have your target bands fill out some sort of interview like questions.

 

Something like this.

 

 

[b']What is your favorite color? [/b] I enjoy a wide spectrum of colors

 

What is your favorite movie? Anything by Mel Brooks or Monty Python

 

What is your favorite musician/ group? Singularities are so pensive, especially in music; but, if I must pick only one it would be The Pink Floyd

 

Are you in love? One becomes accustomed to the stimuli of one or more people and that is recognized on the emotional level as love. I love my family, that is to say I have become accustomed to the stimuli of them.

 

Shoe size? Glove size? Ahhh, finally a question with only one answer. But, to be precise I would be remiss not to point out that shoe sizes vary with manufacturers. Having that said and allowing for varying manufacturers the simple answer is 12. As for glove size; anyone who actually knows their glove size is a dweeb.

 

What is your favorite vacation spot? Room service. Anywhere, while watching a Mel Brooks film on Spectra vision with the stimulating inputs of my family and preparing for a concert outing to see The Pink Floyd.

 

If you could be anyone else, who would that be? My dog, the little bastard has it made.

 

What is your favorite prehistoric animal? Either the mood ring or the pet rock. Of coarse parachute pants were in the running but lost in the final due to their propensity for gathering moisture. You see unlike cotton, which can breathe, and release the sweat, parachute pants were made of polyester and really reeked after a short time. Unless you didn’t sweat.

 

What is your favorite food? Flan. Few Americans know the joy that is flan. A caramelized glaze covering quiche topped with strawberries. Best enjoyed as part of the answer for the above favorite vacation spot question.

 

What type of underwear do you wear? Underwear do you wear, seems a bit redundant. Maybe it should be underwhat or underwho. Second base.

 

What do you collect? Double entendres. Masterfully collected via answering single entandra questionnaires. (btw I know I spelled it wrong; perhaps it was no accident, or is it that the spell checker had no idea what the hell I was trying to write; you figure it out)

 

Have you ever shot anyone? No, never, no matter what they say. And I don’t want to talk about it. That’s right I don’t want to talk about something I never did. That’s my answer and I’m sticking with it.

 

Do you have any piercings? If so, where and what’s your favorite? My wit and use of sarcasm are quite piercing, or so many have said. Or did they say grading or annoying. Ahh, **** em if they can’t take a joke.

 

 

Do you have any tattoos? How many? For legal reasons my lawyer has advised me to not divulge any distinguishing body art that I may or may not have. Or for that matter to answer any questions directly. With exceptions to the shoe size question which I think you will agree was actually answered.

 

How old were you when you lost your virginity? The third trimester of my third leap year. You do the math.

 

How old was she? I was in a rut or must and it was a dark foggy night. The moon hung in hallows and shadow was the lay of the land. She was beautiful and full in the bosom like a ripe concord grape hanging from the vine for my picking. 20 something.

How old were you when you got your first French kiss? See above romance novel answer and add a few more tawdry lines.

 

Can you cook? What’s your favorite thing to make? “ I was cutting a rug in a place called The Jug with a girl named Linda Lu. “ How’s that for cooking; now I’m cooking with gas. Sorry, the cooking with gas reference ala 1922 speak-easy, may have been lost on many of you youngsters.

 

What breast size do you prefer? I have plagiarized a poem for just such a question.

 

Turning and turning in the widening gyre

The falcon cannot hear the falconer;

Things fall apart; the centre cannot hold;

Mere anarchy is loosed upon the world,

The blood-dimmed tide is loosed, and everywhere

The ceremony of innocence is drowned;

The best lack all convictions, while the worst

Are full of passionate intensity.

 

Surely some revelation is at hand;

Surely the Second Coming is at hand.

The Second Coming! Hardly are those words out

When a vast image out of Spiritus Mundi

Troubles my sight: somewhere in sands of the desert

A shape with lion body and the head of a man,

A gaze blank and pitiless as the sun,

Is moving its slow thighs, while all about it

Reel shadows of the indignant desert birds.

The darkness drops again; but now I know

That twenty centuries of stony sleep

Were vexed to nightmare by a rocking cradle,

And what rough beast, its hour come round at last,

Slouches towards Bethlehem to be born?

 

What hair color do you prefer? Will the questions ever end? I pray for the relief that only death can bring.

 

Leather? Lace? Silk? (panties) Do you have anything in a mesh? (Stripes)

 

What’s your favorite restaurant? Saporro Japanese Steak house, there that makes two I have answered. Or was it three? The shoe size and emmm….

 

What is your favorite brand of instrument? I prefer a single malt. Those poly malts somethings are just a bastardization of the time honored traditions of our for fathers and an insult to the bard in us all.

 

What instruments do you have? Scientific lab stuff, mostly used in my alchemy work. You see if you add just the right amount of protons to a lead atom you can make gold. Problem is it takes a supercollider and I am fresh out.

 

What is your favorite song to perform? Pachelbel’s Cannon in D, oh and anything by Hall and Oates. (don’t forget my piercing sarcasm)

If you could live anywhere where would that be? I hear Antarctica is beautiful in the spring. Which would actually be fall here in Indiana. Lots of sun and all the penguins you can eat.

 

Yeah man. Ummmmm ahhhhhhh let me see, Like, I think we were in Pittsburg and the roadie says to the stage manager - ummmmmmmm. Ahhhhhh what was the question again??? Oh yeah!!!! - like we were in Salt Lake City and this girl comes up to us and like ahhhhhhhhh, asks us to ummmmmmmm ???!!!

What are we doing here??

Answering questions??

About what??

Ummmmmmm - I don't know man!!

I'm thirsty - lets go for a beer.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[pauline]

 

[IMF]

Good link glad 'Joe Blogs' is being asked.

 

I would like to see profiles of some of your craftsmen what they have worked on how they get the finishes, tones etc. I would like to hear about the process of developing the signiture models how long it takes, how the artist input or doesn't etc. I like all the technical details.

 

Why not have a profile on some of the forum people as well what they play, what they own, what the like about their Gibsons and would improve or what they would like to see.

 

It seems like there has been quite of bit of response so thought I would throw my comments in the mix.

[milod]

Ellen...

 

I've been writing for a living and playing guitar/music sometimes for money for too damned close to half a century now, and frankly I think overall the Gibson web site(s) are the best overall one might expect for this sort of manufacturing firm.

 

One point about garage bands and such.

 

When I lived in one community of some 20,000, the artist "colony" of painters was incredible. These guys were making a living at it and were helping young artists not with technique, but rather with support on how to make a living at what they wanted to do.

 

Frankly I get the impression certain aspects of the music biz that used to be covered by musicians union no longer hold true. (Yeah, I carried a card for some years myself. Now there's not a local in under a day's drive.) Expectations of venue proprietors for "audition" or whatever are far more electronic, etc., etc., etc.

 

What are some suggestions for actually making enough money to get the Gibbie instead of the Epi in today's market for music performers? <grin> How does a solo, duo or band make it into the biz? What are some shrinkages in personnel by smaller groups in personnel that are made up with electronic augmentation? What works?

 

Using one regular on the forum, Notes Norton makes his living at music with a duo. How, both in technical and in general management terms? How far ahead should you try to book if you're starting to get good jobs? How much do you need to make in a year to do X on a professional basis? Etc. Even taxes and expensing stuff out?

 

As for the lifestyle stuff in general, I think you've heard a lot of good suggestions. But overall you've got one of the most interesting music/musician/gear sites available. So it's a matter of keeping up the basics of what you're doing. At least, so it seems from here.

 

m

[jjracer]

What I want to read is posted on the weekly e mail from Gibson. There were three topics listed, Pleckking, man vs machine, Customizing an Epi Les Paul Jr, and Favorite pickup combinations.

 

when I clicked on the topics it said I was not authorized to read.... I logged in the forums and searched for the topics and they could not be located.

 

If they are posted on the weekly e mail from Gibson, who are they for? And why can't I get access if they ask the question.... Want to read? Well I do, but I can't, because I was denied.

 

I just don't get it.

[lovatobarry]

got e-mail from gison, clicked on link to check it out on the forum, "Favorite Pickup Combinations"

said I was not authorized???????????