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I'm going to Bozeman!!!!!!


modoc_333

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I sell guitars at a dealer who is just getting upgraded to the status of being a 5 Star Gibson Acoustic Dealer. This means I get to go out to the plant in Bozeman for a tour, training, and tons of fun! I'm absolutely stoked about it! What would you guys want to see there? What would you ask Ren if you had a few days with him?

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If I were going to talk to Ren, I would ask:

 

"Why do you guys apply the pickuard over the rosette???"

 

This has been asked, answered, and the answer posted in the forum. (So I can tell you that you're not going to be happy with the answer. :) ) It was on the list of questions that guitarstrmr collected from forumites for one of the early Homecomings. Looks like the thread is no longer around -- it probably got lost in the Great Rehosting.

 

If anybody kept a copy of those questions and the answers, it might be worth reposting them and making them part of the historical record again.

 

-- Bob R

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"Why do you guys apply the pickuard over the rosette???"

 

 

 

As a younger man I mind-gamed a little about what I would ask Paul McCartney if I should meet him with just 1 Q. allowed.

 

Had it been 2, the first would be how and if he warmed up his voice before recording or playing live. But with only 1 available, the question - after serious considerations - had to be this. I'd ask whether he ever – in all privacy – had created alternative bass-lines, vocal harmonies or even middle-eights for any solo Lennon songs.

 

Goin' to Montana soon (as Zappa would say) with the possibility to talk to Ferguson right ahead, you actually are in a somewhat similar situation. I can see why you think this over, and feel like airing the theme on The Board.

 

The rosette Q. is a good shot. Remember somebody here asked a Gibson representative last year and found out the guy hadn't even noticed !?! . . .

 

Well my Q. for Ren would be to which degree the hand scalloped bracing is identical – talking one model at a time here. Where on the scale between strict micrometer wood surgery and intuitive, but qualified laissez faire, do they lay the cut. Are the braces carved over the exact same template or do things vary to conjure a certain range of nuances and mystique from ex. to ex.

 

 

Well, if he'd reply that this was classified information from the violet fog of the deepest G-laboratory - and send eyes telling me to behave - my spare Q. would be about the inner differences between the Hummingbird, the Sheryl Crow C&W and the Firebird Custom (and if he could make me one of those F-birds with a vintage toned top and no flames on the guard)

When are you goin ?

 

 

 

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great questions guys!

 

i will be there the week of March 6th. I can hardly wait..... the cold will be tough though. here in Alabama it turned warm unseasonably early (and i'm glad!) it has been sunny and in the 70s..... Bozeman is still freezing and snow. :(

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I'd ask you to go down to the J45(standard) production area and take a few pictures of the actual people that made my guitar (production date Nov 2010). Then email to me.

 

I would keep with the guitar and as the guitar gets passed on when I eventually leave this planet, it can have a complete record of who made it, who played it etc.... and people can keep adding pictures as the guitar moves on to new owners over time.

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Good luck finding the place...

 

Seriously. Use your GPS and go right to the front door.

 

Bozeman, and the rest of beautiful Montana was on my route and as any Gibson fan would do I decided to stop by. There's no sign out front and its just an plain looking square building around alot of other alike buildings in an industrial-type complex. The only tell-tale sign is the Gibson graphics sticker on the front door which is still hard to see. LOL

 

Sitting right in front I asked the UPS guy if "thats the place?". It's not real obvious.

 

Hey, I wouldn't advertise in bright lights either considering whats made inside.

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Good luck finding the place...

 

Seriously. Use your GPS and go right to the front door.

 

Bozeman, and the rest of beautiful Montana was on my route and as any Gibson fan would do I decided to stop by. There's no sign out front and its just an plain looking square building around alot of other alike buildings in an industrial-type complex. The only tell-tale sign is the Gibson graphics sticker on the front door which is still hard to see. LOL

 

Sitting right in front I asked the UPS guy if "thats the place?". It's not real obvious.

 

Hey, I wouldn't advertise in bright lights either considering whats made inside.

 

 

this shouldn't be a problem. Gibson is covering the trip so THEY will be taking to me to the factory. :)

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Well honestly, i would aks him why Gibson acoustics are so hit and miss when they get to the showroom, compared to other major brands.

 

 

this actually inspires me to add a 2nd question! what are your CONCERNS, as players and customers? what do you not like? the chance to give them some feedback in Bozeman!

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i would want to know about they poeple there, the workers building them. how is thier quality of life? how long does the average worker stay there? how happy are they in thier job? i don't know if that would be overstepping your bounds, but i would be interested in that. thats where the money goes, you know.

 

i would also like to know, concerning the workers, who taught them? how does the factory go about passing down skill from one to another? i would also like to know, what is different about how they build them now, as opposed to in the past?

 

also, am curious about the wood they use, where they get it. such as the mahogony. we all know that the sussplies of brazilian rosewood are dried up, i get it, but what i don't accept so easily is that there can not be another wood that does not sound as good, and why not better? so, how do they determine what is a good sounding wood or not? what is the difference between mahogony and sapele? i don't mean just where it is from, i mean how is it different and how do THEY determine the quality and choose what to use?

 

another good question, is how do they qualify what is a good guitar from an average one, as far as tone goes?

 

another: what materiel do they use for the bridge and the nut? i have played some pretty bum gibsons in the stores, but have played some pretty nice used ones, so i suspect they use crap for these. as a dealer, i might be curious if you could specify a little thing like that.

 

and finally, if i was in bozeman, i think the important question would be where do you get some good blues around here?

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March 6th is just around the corner, time to get your list ready.

 

Wonder if we could see what you end up with before goin' (let us hear your own Q.´s too), and hope we'll receive a report from the summit once you land on the other side.

 

This is more than interesting – wish I was a parrot on your shoulder.

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Some folks may already know the answer to this, but I'd be curious about the role of the acoustic Custom Shop. Do they hand-build, build on a separate assembly line, just put bling on guitars built on the standard line, merely exist as a "state of mind" within the normal production facility, or what? There's a lot of buzz out there about custom electrics coming from Nashville but much less, it seems, about the acoustic Custom Shop.

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Some folks may already know the answer to this, but I'd be curious about the role of the acoustic Custom Shop. Do they hand-build, build on a separate assembly line, just put bling on guitars built on the standard line, merely exist as a "state of mind" within the normal production facility, or what? There's a lot of buzz out there about custom electrics coming from Nashville but much less, it seems, about the acoustic Custom Shop.

 

 

as i understand it, there is only one production line.... the custom thing is a state of mind, and options. i will find out for sure though!

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I ordered a custom made J-185 last week and I would like to know how many acoustic guitars ( custom, special order and the same old same old models) are produced annually by the good people at Gibson Guitars, Bozeman, Montana?

 

I would be surprised to learn if they make more than one thousand a year. Am I close?

 

Thanks,

 

JPF

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