Tour the Gibson Mandolin Factory? - this week - other cool sites?

[McIrish]

This is a bit time sensitive...


I'm going to be in Nashville this week and was wondering if anyone knows if it's possible to tour the factory where they make mandolins? I have a Harvey Fern that I like a lot and would love to see the shop. I can't find anything about the factory on line. I'm not interested in the Gibson Garage. I have far too many electric guitars and was never a big fan of Gibson.

Anything else cool to see while in Nashville?

[Bill McCall]

Station Inn or 3rd and Lindley would be on my list for music, along with Carter Vintage.

[Dan in NH]

The Mandolin Store is right up the road.

[rcc56]

If Gibson is giving any tours these days, I am not aware of it. But it wouldn't hurt to give them a call and check on it.
Stores: Gruhn's, Carter's, The Mandolin Store, The North American Guitar.
There's always the Country Music Hall of Fame.

[darylcrisp]

Johnny Cash museum is really neat. its a self guided tour so you get to spend all the time you want looking at everything.

https://www.johnnycashmuseum.com/

d

[Charlie Bernstein]

The poster shop across the hall from the Country Music Hall of Fame is also a lot of fun. It's the company that's been making hand-set show posters since the dawn of time.

And Gruhn's (rhymes with prunes) Guitars is a must-visit for any stringed-instrument lover. Lots of mandos. And if you ask, I hear they'll let you browse the rare stuff upstairs.

Nashville also has a full-scale replica of the Parthenon, for some reason. A cool thing about it: Go to a corner and sight down the edge of the porch. It's not straight. The whole thing Is curved to match Earth's shape. No straight lines anywhere. Smart Greeks!

Any whenever I travel south, I always stop in at a rib joint or two and go native.

[musicofanatic]

Isn't Dave Harvey a member here? Message him.

[Marcus CA]

Station Inn is a wonderful super-small bluegrass venue with a good sound system and no elbow room at the tables. You'll have to leave your concerns about disease at the door unless you can drink beer through a mask. I saw Blue Highway there in 2017 and crossed paths with David Grier and Sierra Hull in the audience. It's that kind of place. You can also find plenty of great restaurants nearby for a pre-show dinner.

Carter's and Gruhn's are both way beyond any other instrument store I've ever been to, except maybe for the late, great Mandolin Brothers. If you only have time to go to one, I'd suggest Carter's. There are plenty of mandos in the $5-25K range up on the walls downstairs. (I don't think there even is an upstairs there.)

If you're into US History, Andrew Jackson's plantation The Hermitage is about 20 minutes east of town. As you'd expect, it's pretty different from the estates in and near Chicago.

As Charlie suggested, go native with the food! If you're looking for vegan GF cuisine, you'll be living off of salad.

[McIrish]

Isn't Dave Harvey a member here? Message him.

I did send David a message on Facebook a couple weeks ago. Possibly he doesn't check often.

[McIrish]

Thanks guys for all the great ideas. I will see how many I can squeeze into this trip. Funny thing, I was here three weeks ago on tour with my band. We were so busy and were in and out so fast that I had no time to see anything. We played at The Bold Patriot. Some great beer but not a huge crowd for a Friday