First stop: Gibson guitar factory tour. This tour takes you behind the scenes to see the whole process of making a Gibson guitar. It was very informative! Their main headquarters is in Nashville. They also have a factory in Montana for making acoustic guitars. At the Memphis location, they only make electric guitars. And each one is made to order. The factory doesn't even start working on an instrument until an order comes in! Production takes about 3 weeks.
The instruments really are hand made, and it's a pretty low-tech system. They write on the guitars with a grease pencil in the early stages. Then once the instrument starts coming together, they switch over to a piece of paper taped or rubber-banded to the neck. The process involves a humid environment so the wood is bendable, lots of glue and clamps, a high-tech paint department, and a bunch of ladies using razor blades to scrape out details. At the end, each guitar is played by a professional guitar tester to make sure it sounds right.
No photos were allowed during the tour, but I did manage to snap one in the lobby :)
Next stop was lunch/brunch at Local (Gastropub). I had the french toast croque monsieur. It was pretty good, except the potato hash it came with was like half onions. Also, we were sitting outside and while we ate, a swarm of mosquitos feasted on my ankles. Boo for mosquitos and their itchy bites!
Final stop: Belz Museum of Asian and Judaic Art. Yes, the name is quite a mouthful! It has an interesting and diverse collection, as the name would lead you to believe. There are pieces from modern Jewish artists in one room with really old carved mammoth tusks in the next. I learned about the importance of jade and ivory in ancient China. And the museum is really big - the rooms just kept going and going!
This is Proverbs 31, about a woman of valor
Darn, I forget what this one is. I think it has something to do with David or Daniel. It is a cool chair :)
And here's one from the Asian side - look at that intricate jade work!
It was a good museum day! And I was happy because all of these attractions are located fairly close together, so we could just park in one place and walk. Hooray for urban density!
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