# Gibson - Garrison Factory



## GuitarsCanada (Dec 30, 2005)

While shopping around for an acoustic for my buddies son, I stumbled across a used Gibson cutaway with Fishman electronics and it was made in Canada. I did some searching and apparently Gibson purchased the Garrison guitar works in NL. I guess I must have missed this as it was back in 2008. Someone may have mentioned it here but it was news to me.


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## Destropiate (Jan 17, 2007)

News to me too. I wish that had something more to contribute....so does it say Gibson USA on it or Gibson Canada? lol


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## rollingdam (May 11, 2006)

Gibson built some bolt on neck acoustics and then shut the place down.


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## GuitarsCanada (Dec 30, 2005)

rollingdam said:


> Gibson built some bolt on neck acoustics and then shut the place down.


Not the one I was holding. It looked to be very well made. Below is a link to the Gibson page with these models

Gibson Acoustic


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## bagpipe (Sep 19, 2006)

They have a bunch of Garrisons hanging up at a local guitar store. I've tried a few, but they've never struck me as anything special:

Fleet Pro Sound & Lighting


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## Robert1950 (Jan 21, 2006)

Apparently Gibson was interested only in the patented bracing technology.


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## Morkolo (Dec 9, 2010)

Garrison made some really nice guitars, just never the sound I wanted. I could only imagine the Gibson models being nothing less than top notch quality.


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## Ship of fools (Nov 17, 2007)

They did buy it and shortly after I am pretty sure they closed the factory up and now it sit empty. The Gibsons they made there did not get the support from the Canadain market like they were hoping and the few they sent state side were not well recieved either, they had complaints of the sloppy workmanship ( glue showing and such ). So as I mentioned I am ( not completely ) pretty sure that they closed up and went back home. Oh and also with that came the tax cuts they recieved from the province and federal government ( left over from the Garrison days ) and as mentioned they also had an agreement that the previous owners not set up shop else were or use the old patent they had for the Garrisons.Ship


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## pattste (Dec 30, 2007)

I have played a couple of Canadian-made Gibsons at Steve's in Montreal last year. I assume they were made at the Garrison plant. They were absolutely nothing like the Montana-made Gibsons. I would say they were similar in quality to an Epiphone and twice the price. I can easily see why the market did not receive them well. I have to say that I was quite disappointed as I usually like Gibson acoustics (I own a Custom Shop model that is easily the best acoustic guitar that I have ever played). I have never played a Garrison-branded guitar that I remember so I cannot compare.


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## Morkolo (Dec 9, 2010)

I'm surprised to say the least, the high end Garrison's I tried out were top notch, mind you they were Garrison and not Gibson. The fit and finish was equal to that of a Taylor they just never had the sound I wanted.


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## D Clarke (Feb 21, 2011)

i remember when it happened, i applied for a job there (when it was garrison), but got no reply.


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## Furtz (Nov 27, 2010)

Garrison was making some pretty decent guitars at fair prices. They were starting to take off, and Gibson didn't like that.
Solution: Buy them, and shut them down.


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## mhammer (Nov 30, 2007)

These things always remind me of that Simpsons episode when Homer starts up a small dot-com that Microsoft takes an interest in. Homer is all giddy at the thought that Microsoft wants to make him a luscious offer. Bill Gates arrives with his henchmen and declares "Buy him out, boys!", whereupon they begin to just trash the place, mob-style. While Homer is standing there wondering what in tarnation is going on, Gates turns to him and says something like "Well you didn't think I got this rich making big payouts, did you?".


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## Traivs (Aug 13, 2010)

A buddy of mine had a Garrison 12-string. I rather liked it. comfy to play, and it had a really nice sound. Not sure what to compare it to...


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## Bevo (Nov 24, 2006)

Kinda makes you wonder what else is happening in big guitar land eh!
End of the day the suites have to make money no matter what cost....to bad


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## Lance Romance (Jun 4, 2009)

These were not Gibsons best work. We got a bunch of them at the store I used to work at, and the quality was all over the place. We sent lots of them back.
I think you can do a lot better.


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## b-nads (Apr 9, 2010)

I tried both the Garrison Gibsons and many of the Garrison line. In all honesty, I found nothing inspiring about either.


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## Ti-Ron (Mar 21, 2007)

I have one I bought from libtech and the craftmanship and finish are really great. Couldn't complain!
Nice guitar with a really nice sound.
Like verything else, you have to search to find the one!


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