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 Beginning in March of 2000, when the Gibson Factory began full operation, entertainment life in Memphis extended one block south of Beale. Memphis proved a prime location for Gibson expansion. In the words of Jimmy Ogle, the Director of Operations, "They were looking for a place, and the right deal was here. They were able to put together a good piece of property in a prime location in downtown Memphis, which is a music city with a great musical reputation." This expansion proved an upward movement for Gibson, and for Memphis. Nothing has been built on that land for thirty years, and now the Beale Street Merchant Association has pushed their safety zone further south to accommodate the Gibson as well as the future arena for the NBA’s Memphis Grizzlies. The Gibson gives back to the community, nationally and locally, raising $100,000 for St. Patrick’s Church in the last few years with the Gibson 5K race. Downtown Memphis is looking better each day.
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| The Gibson Showcase Lounge |
I recently visited the Gibson to find out what really goes on behind that great facade, which claims to hold a working guitar factory, a Smithsonian museum, and the increasingly popular Lounge. It seemed to me that one day that strip of land was a vacant, littered lot, and the next, a Mecca to Blues music.
I can’t claim to have extensive knowledge about guitars or about the history of the blues, I actually have never played a guitar, let alone held one. But even with the lack of soul running through my veins I was able to appreciate what I saw during my visit to the Gibson—it was more a learning experience for me than anything. I knew I was actually going into a real factory when I was handed oversized plastic goggles and the noise volume rapidly increased.
Of the 200 people that Gibson employs here, 140 are factory workers. I only saw about a dozen on my tour, because they were all on their lunch break. But with no fancy machinery, it was immediately obvious that real hands build these guitars. I expressed my surprise to Jimmy Ogle who replied, "Yes, it’s all people, that’s what’s different about Gibson Guitar."
This factory mainly produces ES guitars (‘Electric Spanish’ for the uneducated). Orville Gibson got the patent in 1898 for this guitar, unique in the sense that if you look at it from the side it has an arched, rather than flat, top.
The idea originated from the mandolins and violins of the 1800’s. Chuck Porter, the Director of Tours, taught me Guitarmaking 101. It takes about two weeks to build a guitar from scratch. They are all made out of quality wood: the body is maple, the neck mahogany and the fingerboard rosewood. Porter claims that they don’t turn out a guitar that’s not perfect, which eliminated my immediate thought of walking one street south to a half-price Gibson warehouse—it’s not going to happen. The factory aims at producing 100-150 guitars each day, although now they are only at 45. There are about sixteen plus stations that the guitars each pass through with an inspection between each stop. The ES 335 model, "Beale Street Blue", recently popular, started here in Memphis. This factory also produces "Lucilles", named and styled without ‘F’ holes by B.B. King in 1949 (have Chuck tell you the story of how this model got its name).
After factory the tour I headed upstairs to the Rock ‘n’ Soul Museum. There are 39 audio stations, beginning with a look at the sharecroppers in the 1930’s and spanning the musical history of the Memphis area, focusing on how music helped tear down some of the boundaries of racial segregation.
The museum contains antique jukeboxes and memorabilia. Even though seeing an original Seeburg Selectophone Jukebox didn’t excite me, I had the option of listening to a variety of blues songs on the personal headset instead of the tour. I did get a kick out of the costumes on display, like Jerry Lee Lewis’s brown pinstriped suit with embroidered sparkling magenta roses, and of course, Elvis’s jumpsuits.
I thought it was important that the museum also touched on the Civil Rights movement. On display is the saxophone that Martin Luther King asked Ben Branch to play at a sanitation strike rally on the night of April 4 while standing on the balcony at the Lorraine Hotel moments before Dr. King was shot and killed.
After my two tours, impressed with the plethora of knowledge flowing through the Gibson, I asked Ogle what his ideal itinerary would be if he were planning a visit to Memphis.
As though he was prepped for my question, he said, "There are actually three things in Memphis, that no one in the world has—worldwide—impacting things.
"Number One is the home of the King of Rock ‘n’ Roll — Graceland. Number Two is the home of the birthplace of Rock ‘n’ Roll—Sun Studio. Number Three is the site of the most watershed moment of the Civil Rights Movement — the Lorraine Hotel National Civil Rights Museum.
"Saying all that, I’d come to the Rock ‘n’ Soul Museum first because that is the primer of everything you’ll see—the major cultural things. I would also go through the unique factory tour where they make guitars, then get on the free Sun Studio Shuttle."
Ogle also gave a quick promo for The Lounge saying that it is apart from Beale in that it is a newer, classier mix of music with both regional and national touring acts (reviewed in more detail on Memphis Mojo, under ‘See the City’).
The Gibson is a multi-use facility full of "attractions that complement the area" Ogle said in closing, and I agree, the Gibson is a string that helps tie this diverse city together.
-Christina Randall
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