Metropoulos Forum

This is sad, I am suprised that they have lasted so long.The 4 owners put their money and livelyhoods where it counted and truly carried on the sprit that made Gibson great in the McCarthy era, all the original machinery that made all the vintage guitars we all worship is still there in the original Kalamazoo factory.
It is my pleasure to own and play the two Heritages that I own, equally made Les Pauls exist as well, yet they are $500,000.00 , so I feel lucky.
The quality of workmanship and materials, is second to none, always being in the shadow of Gibson, could not have been easy, and they were made to change the cutaways and pickguard shapes eventually.
These 4 guys need to write a book and tell us all the fascinating experiences and stories that they have.
They were directly involved in the golden era of guitar manufacturing, which Gibson is seemingly chasing to recreate, how successfully, the jury is out.
If you ask me, do I want a Historic, I would reply, sure, but I already own two, true I have EMG's, yet they sound incredible in these guitars and they were ahead of the time as far as the Zakk Wylde's, ect.
Every joint and piece of the guitar is flawlessly made, they are heavy as hell. 10 lbs each, yet have Grovers and active electronics, so that makes sense. All I can say if the Heritage workers made the Gibson Historics, they would be correct and better built, although not produced as quickly, a considerable difference.
Good luck to them, I am proud to have my certificates signed by them, I am proud to have met Ted McCarty before his death, I shook his hand and told him thank you for all the beauty he helped create in our world.
This is very sad to me, as there was an
alternative Gibson being built, and now it looks like no more.
We do need to hear from these men, as they are the last of an era we will never see in America again, other than at Metro of course, real craftsmen making an American product, and something that changed the world of music as we know it forever. God Bless them all.

http://blog.mlive.com/kzgazette/2007/08 ... orkin.html

Yngwie308

yngwie308 wrote:This is sad, I am suprised that they have lasted so long.The 4 owners put their money and livelyhoods where it counted and truly carried on the sprit that made Gibson great in the McCarthy era, all the original machinery that made all the vintage guitars we all worship is still there in the original Kalamazoo factory.
It is my pleasure to own and play the two Heritages that I own, equally made Les Pauls exist as well, yet they are $500,000.00 , so I feel lucky.
The quality of workmanship and materials, is second to none, always being in the shadow of Gibson, could not have been easy, and they were made to change the cutaways and pickguard shapes eventually.
These 4 guys need to write a book and tell us all the fascinating experiences and stories that they have.
They were directly involved in the golden era of guitar manufacturing, which Gibson is seemingly chasing to recreate, how successfully, the jury is out.
If you ask me, do I want a Historic, I would reply, sure, but I already own two, true I have EMG's, yet they sound incredible in these guitars and they were ahead of the time as far as the Zakk Wylde's, ect.
Every joint and piece of the guitar is flawlessly made, they are heavy as hell. 10 lbs each, yet have Grovers and active electronics, so that makes sense. All I can say if the Heritage workers made the Gibson Historics, they would be correct and better built, although not produced as quickly, a considerable difference.
Good luck to them, I am proud to have my certificates signed by them, I am proud to have met Ted McCarty before his death, I shook his hand and told him thank you for all the beauty he helped create in our world.
This is very sad to me, as there was an
alternative Gibson being built, and now it looks like no more.
We do need to hear from these men, as they are the last of an era we will never see in America again, other than at Metro of course, real craftsmen making an American product, and something that changed the world of music as we know it forever. God Bless them all.

http://blog.mlive.com/kzgazette/2007/08 ... orkin.html

Yngwie308

+1, Yngwie, but this seems to be the way of the world these days, for a LOT of reasons. I feel the same way about Godin guitars (though they are still in business). I dont really know why they have not caught on more in this country, maybe because you see so few celebrity players with them. (John McLaughlin is one of the few). Same for Hamer guitars. You see them around, but never aquiring the "buyers fever" that some Gibson, or Fender guitars have. Sucks, but on another level, it allows savvy players the opportunity to get a really high quality instrument at a reasonable price, and not worry about incurring "star status" inflation that some of the more popular pieces enjoy.

I agree fillmore nyc, I love my Hamer '80's Chapparal, it is incredibly well made and I briefly owned a Hamer Steve Stevens, which I rebuilt for a friend and they have great quality.There still is a wide variance from Gibson and Fender in quality, although much better than in the past.
I also admire Godin guitars, I first saw Steve Stevens playing one and they are excellent.
So life moves on, just I am some what sentimental when so much of guitars these days is trying to recreate the past, and the real past is slipping away. We may be the last generations to care about these things in this brave new world...
yngwie308

yngwie308 wrote: So life moves on, just I am some what sentimental when so much of guitars these days is trying to recreate the past, and the real past is slipping away. We may be the last generations to care about these things in this brave new world...
yngwie308

I totally agree that we may well be the last generation to really care about the significance of where we come from. I think there will ALWAYS be people that care, but they do seem to be a minority, at least lately. The idea of recreating the past DOES have its merits, and detriments, as Im sure you know, Yngwie. Without recreating the past, we would not have some of the fine guitars we have today, like the '59 reissue LP's, and relic'd Strats. The idea of a relic guitar seems strange, yet I guess its the subconcious mind that tells us that it just FEELS better. Yet, recreating the past has its downside, like a 25 grand copy of EVH's guitar, or escalating prices on even recent '59 LP reissues. Some of these instruments are less than 10 years old, and are selling for more than the original owner paid for them. I suppose its a real fine line we tread, wanting those great things produced by the originators of the art, and recreating them, only to put ourselves in a position of not only giving the original piece "lifestyles of the rich and famous" pricing, but also giving the recreation a similar (though less glossy) aura. I dont think anyone would downplay the significance or appeal of an actual 59 LP, and due to the phenomenon of supply and demand, they have skyrocketed to nearly unimaginable prices, and a reissue is the ONLY way some people will ever even get near one, and even THAT is not really affordable to everyone. Its a strange, scary (and simultaniously beautiful) world, man.

It is a shame. They made fine guitars. Maybe now they'll be a closet classic - just don't tell collectors...

Seems a shame that after all this time they never trained younger aspiring luthiers to their method of artwork, then offered the company to them to run after these gentlemen finally decided to retire.

Agree on Godin! Good stuff that's very reasonably priced.

Very sad indeed.

Unfortunately good manufacturing all over the US in every segment is being killed by cheap foreign labor and unfair tax laws.

DAMN, I live just 25 min. from their shop and wanted to take a tour w/ my 8 yr old girl.I even get the Kallamazoo Gazette and didn't even notice the article. That is a big disopointment to me.I have seen many of their guitars around west MI. and played a few and yes they are a beautifull and a very well made guitar by all means. Hopefully Mr.Moats and Mr.Lamb have a long and blessed life ahead for they have carried on a fine tradition for quite awhile after Gibson... Chad

JD wrote:Very sad indeed.

Unfortunately good manufacturing all over the US in every segment is being killed by cheap foreign labor and unfair tax laws.

Man, you're not kidding, JD. Its amazing just to go by a Home Depot and see all the illegals waiting for general contractor, or some roofing company to grab them for a days work. On one level, I can understand why someone would want to hire these people, but on another level, it easily puts a lot of highly qualified American workers out on their asses. I've seen a lot of independent hopefuls try to make a living for themselves, only to be put out of business because they could not find qualified help that they could afford to pay, not to mention the outrageous insurance needed just to run your own business. Factor in taxes, and you're done. Seems like it starts, stops, and dies by the almighty dollar.

Don't get me going ont that illegal immigrant shit...I live in the middle of it.

I'm for anybody trying to better for themselves and family BUT do it legally.

Anybody see this???? And it checks out on snopes. This PISSES me off

http://www.snopes.com/photos/politics/mexicoflag.asp

NY Chief wrote:Don't get me going ont that illegal immigrant shit...I live in the middle of it.

I'm for anybody trying to better for themselves and family BUT do it legally.

Anybody see this???? And it checks out on snopes. This PISSES me off

Well, Chief, when these El Rancho students are working for less than minimum wage, picking tomato's on "el rancho", because Munoz (who does not speak english) now has their job by way of the loopholes he found in "de seestem", THEN maybe they'll wake up and get some REAL reform going, like building an electric fence from Border Field State Park in San Diego, to the water in Cameron, Texas. Anyway, if you turn the computer monitor upside down, the whole world seems right again...

I live about 5 miled from the factory (for about two years now) and always intended to make it over but they only opened their doors to the public on Wednesday's from noon to 4pm... I should have taken the time !! good news is there is an old luthier that has a small shop minutes from my house, he used to work in the factory back in the Gibson days... he did some work on my Paul about a year ago and had some amazing stories... he teaches luthier training ...

http://www.aaronsmusicservice.com/

http://www.mlive.com/business/index.ssf ... _in_t.html
Great news!!! For once a lawyer does something good.!!
yngwie308

That is indeed great news. I just read that today in the Kalamazoo Gazette (Where I have my annual winter firewood for sale add )That is fantastic that they are going to produce more time honored luthiering!! Although they are up in age I believe the masters of fine guitar building will continue after they are gone if other dedicated builders are ready to take their place.. Again this is great news to guitar players as well as it is a great thing for the city of Kalamazoo Michigan!! Thanks again yngwie308 for the info for all to see. Chad