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Are the bodies of nashville-built Historic 335's...

C-4

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built in Memphis and then shipped to Nashville for full assembly with the necks, or is the entire Historic Es-335 guitar built in Nashville?
Thank you.
 

Gold Tone

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No Historic 335's built in Nashville in any way or any part of or any assembly or anything since 2006(?) or so...someone could correct the exact year that the transition was.

All 335's are built in Memphis now.
 

roadhog96

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No Historic 335's built in Nashville in any way or any part of or any assembly or anything since 2006(?) or so...someone could correct the exact year that the transition was.

All 335's are built in Memphis now.

This is Right from Gibson on Saturday, February 09, 2008 8:30:58 AM
Gibson Administration
Location: Nashville, TN
Memphis IS considered part of the Custom Shop. the 2 divisions were joined under the same umbrella several years ago. so, technically every instrument produced in Memphis is a Custom Shop guitar. at this time, the only ES guitars done in Nashville are the Historic '59 and '63 335, and the very occasional ES-355.
 

rythmpyg

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gibson customer service told me recently that only historic 335's were made in nashville.
 

J.D.

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No Historic 335's built in Nashville in any way or any part of or any assembly or anything since 2006(?) or so...someone could correct the exact year that the transition was.

All 335's are built in Memphis now.


That is actually not true. Gibson USA ES guitars are all made in Memphis, although some have the Gibson Custom logo. They (still) make the Historics in the Nashville Custom Shop.
 

Gold Tone

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My bad...sorry folks, I hate spreading WRONG info. I could have sworn ALL 335 Hsitorics moved from Nashville.
 
T

Troels

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My bad...sorry folks, I hate spreading WRONG info. I could have sworn ALL 335 Hsitorics moved from Nashville.


They did tell so once - even if they ended up not doing it... that's absolutely correct.

Back to the original question: Gibson always denied that Memphis and Custom Shop Historic PARTS were identical (which means made the same place)... but I still believe they were (are...) as ALL ES-335 no matter type, year or place of manufacturing shared the WRONG body shape to the smallest details, the WRONG body thickness and the maple/poplar/maple laminations in top, back and sides. Also, guitars from the same years from boths world suffered delaminations in top and back (around the turn of the century). Only the center block, neck thickness and some cosmetic things differed as did the finish which was thinner on the Historic even still nitro on the Memphis' guitars.
 

C-4

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Thank you all for the input for this question.
The newest info on the Gibson custom shop site show differences in body dimensions on various 335's/355's.
I am thinking about a block neck '63 Es335 and don't want to spend that much money if they are made in Memphis.
I'm just not that crazy about the lutheirs in Memphis.

I really don't expect that Gibson would ever get the body dimensions correct, but close is o.k., so long as the neck is close to what I remember from '63's and the tone is good.
 
T

Troels

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I'm just not that crazy about the lutheirs in Memphis.


Luthiers in Memphis??? There are no luthiers in Memphis - they used to sign up with unemployeed furniture workers from the memphis area... but generally, btw, Memphis guitars are of a fairly good quality and you can easily use most Memphis ES-335s professionally.
 

C-4

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"Luthiers in Memphis??? There are no luthiers in Memphis " :applaude :lol

You are correct, Sir! My bad.
 
T

Troels

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"Luthiers in Memphis??? There are no luthiers in Memphis " :applaude :lol

You are correct, Sir! My bad.

It's a bit of a tough joke of course - but they actually did sign up with furniture makers ... :)
 

C-4

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It's a bit of a tough joke of course - but they actually did sign up with furniture makers ... :)

No wonder that I cannot find a decently made Gibson coming out of Memphis.
They might be getting better as time goes on, but if a furniture maker moves into Memphis, Gibson will see a lot of their "custom shop" Memphis people leaving for their real vocation.
 
T

Troels

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No wonder that I cannot find a decently made Gibson coming out of Memphis.
They might be getting better as time goes on, but if a furniture maker moves into Memphis, Gibson will see a lot of their "custom shop" Memphis people leaving for their real vocation.

Unfortunately many CS ES-335s suffer the same quality level as the Memphis guitars do. I don't know exactly what they do to the finger boards when dressing frets - but it looks as they remove both fret material AND wood with their fret files or whatever tool they use for that opeartion (electric angle cutter??? ) :)
 

Uncle Gary

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Unfortunately many CS ES-335s suffer the same quality level as the Memphis guitars do. I don't know exactly what they do to the finger boards when dressing frets - but it looks as they remove both fret material AND wood with their fret files or whatever tool they use for that opeartion (electric angle cutter??? ) :)

This little video from Gibson Memphis should explain how the boards get scratched. Watch the part on "fingerboard prep" just over halfway through.

http://www.gibson.com/_microsite/electricspanish/memphisVids14.html
 

GotTheSilver

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There have been a few threads here about how much people like their Memphis-made 335s. I have a 2006 Memphis 335 that is a great guitar. I was lucky in that the store I bought it from had about 13 in stock that day. I played them all and picked the best of the bunch. I've only gotten to play a couple of Historic 335s, but I would honestly say my Memphis 335 holds its own against them.

I think it is like any other guitar Gibson builds. There will be a few great ones, many ok ones, and a few dogs. If you take your time, I believe you can find a great Memphis 335 for much less money than a Nashville one.

Rock on,
John
 

rythmpyg

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hey, i'm with you, my memphis is #1 and will never go...and i play it hard and often....she gigs 50-60 times a year....flawlessly
 

MRTONEMAN

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I recalled seeing some VINTAGE 335's that said "Union-Made" on their labels.

These Vintage Union guys were NOT 'real' luthiers either.:rofl
Gibson was a Union shop, even in their glory years.

Here is a Vintage circa 1964 Label, and it even says ... "Union-Made".
unionmad.jpg
 
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