Gibson factory tour 1967

[Basvarken]

New found footage

"In the fall of 2020, Gibson unearthed an unmarked reel while digging through vault archives.  Intrigued by the discovery, Gibson TV producers took that reel and had it digitally remastered.  The footage you are about to see was shot at Gibson's Factory in 1967.  It has never been seen until now."





Bass content at 14:22 ;-)

[gearHed289]

Super cool! I only watched a couple of minutes here at work. Will watch the whole thing tomorrow.

[uwe]

Reminds me of Disney's The Living Desert! 

[Grog]

That was great historical footage! Not much bass content, testing it out in a guitar amp……. The amp production was interesting also. I acquired a few of these amps through the years, they were the last amps produced in Kalamazoo. The GSS-100 with the larger HC cabinets in the film are rare. I’ve only seen one empty cabinet. The smaller cabs are more common.

[Alanko]

An interesting film. It is especially interesting to see the production line aspect of the work; why it was easy for them to make ES-335s versus why it would be difficult for me!

It isn't just a random cine reel though; it's a mini documentary with sound, a narrative and some sort of educational purpose. Crazy that Gibson dominated the guitar headcount at Monterey that summer yet this documentary pushes the narrative that Gibsons are for cocktail jazz, finger-picking country etc. Dudes sitting down to play genteel music while wearing a tuxedo. It's like a love letter to 1957, musically. Proof to me that Gibson have always aspired for their instruments to get into the hands of one set of musicians when they were being commonly used by a totally different set.

[uwe]

Thunder- and Firebird were aimed at refined, conservative players wearing waistcoats and fraternity signet rings. Pete Way and Johnny Winter weren't in the picture.





The very shape of Jazz - yeah, right ... 





But unlike Ted McCarty's modernistic guitar line a few years before, I don't find the TBird/FBird design modern at all given it came out in 63/64. It was actually a throwback to an era which had at that point been left behind: Art Deco. If you look at Ray(mond) Dietrich's car designs from the early 30ies to early 40ies,





you know where the elegance of the Fire- and Thunderbird shape came from. Ray Dietrich was retired and almost 70 when he designed the TBird/FBird shape - he wasn't a young cutting edge designer of the 60ies, but harkening back to the design language of the era that had shaped him and vice versa.



So in fact Gibson's then marketing pitch of presenting a slightly nostalgic design for more "serious players" wasn't such an ill-founded idea at the time.

I still think that as guitar and bass designs go, it's a timeless masterpiece. If the TBird/FBird look doesn't speak to you, you should really take your guide dog for a walk and then play your Fender! 

[Dave W]

That was well worth watching.

An interesting film. It is especially interesting to see the production line aspect of the work; why it was easy for them to make ES-335s versus why it would be difficult for me!

It isn't just a random cine reel though; it's a mini documentary with sound, a narrative and some sort of educational purpose. Crazy that Gibson dominated the guitar headcount at Monterey that summer yet this documentary pushes the narrative that Gibsons are for cocktail jazz, finger-picking country etc. Dudes sitting down to play genteel music while wearing a tuxedo. It's like a love letter to 1957, musically. Proof to me that Gibson have always aspired for their instruments to get into the hands of one set of musicians when they were being commonly used by a totally different set.

You have to be around my age to understand that the guitar was just becoming dominant in rock at that time. Sure, it was around and prominent since Buddy Holly and Chuck Berry became famous, but there was more piano and horn driven rock then. Then the Beatles came along. But in 1967, guitar based folk had been very popular and guitar music was as prominent in jazz as in rock. So this video was a little behind the times, but not by that much.

[Grog]

In the beginning of the film, right around 31 seconds, there is a one frame shot of a random woman…….. Subliminal suggestion? Doesn’t seem to have anything to do with the documentary. 1967 Mystery Date?

[lowend1]

In the beginning of the film, right around 31 seconds, there is a one frame shot of a random woman…….. Subliminal suggestion? Doesn’t seem to have anything to do with the documentary. 1967 Mystery Date?

It's called a "China Girl". It was used as a color test by film processing technicians, and was typically either a made up mannequin (or live model). The name comes from the fact that the mannequins were initially made of china (porcelain).

[uwe]

Oh, like TV yellow then. 




So were Iggy Pop/David Bowie actually referring to that and not an Asian woman per se?





I always wondered about the lyrics:

My little China girl
You shouldn't mess with me
I'll ruin everything you are
You know
I'll give you television
I'll give you eyes of blue
I'll give you a man who wants to rule the world

You can't determine it on the basis of Bowie's video - he made a point of filming videos that told a different story from the song lyric.

[Grog]

It's called a "China Girl". It was used as a color test by film processing technicians, and was typically either a made up mannequin (or live model). The name comes from the fact that the mannequins were initially made of china (porcelain).

Mystery solved!! Thanks!

[Dave W]

You learn something new every day.

[amptech]

Nice find!

[lowend1]

So were Iggy Pop/David Bowie actually referring to that and not an Asian woman per se?

Far be it from me to try and figure out what those two were ever trying to say, but:
https://societyofrock.com/song-lyrics-clearing-out-what-china-girl-by-david-bowie-really-means-in-a-politically-correct-world/

Following the PC line of thought, the Doobies could be in some hot water (slothead content)...