Gibson has unearthed and shared an archive video showcasing its 1950s guitar-building process.
The footage, uploaded to Gibson TV’, is believed to be the only known recording from its Kalamazoo factory during this time. It shows that the factory was equipped with “the latest woodworking machines” and offers insight into how its processes have evolved over the intervening decades.
It’s a fascinating time capsule of the ‘Golden Era’ of guitar building. We see a “shaper” machine being operated by a man in overalls, before a piece of “properly aged and dried” wood is locked in place with vice-like clamps, ready for a whirling blade to hollow it out, and a roller to give it its shape…