Editor's note: This is one in a series of stories about Kalamazoo's guitar-making heritage. Go here to read the full series.

KALAMAZOO, MI -- Anyone strumming a Gibson guitar made before 1975 is playing one made at 225 Parsons St. on Kalamazoo's north side.

And anyone who still owns one is a person serious guitarists call "lucky."

"It was rather prestigious for players to say they were playing a Gibson," longtime Kalamazoo guitar maker Jack French said of the full-sounding, hand-crafted instruments that have become a mainstay for musicians, most notably since the 1960s. "And they were all made here."

That is why guitar enthusiasts and historical preservationists have rallied around the old factory's aging, 70-foot brick smokestack with its white, vertical letters spelling, "GIBSON." It is the most visible, last vestige of Gibson's Kalamazoo roots.

Jeff Mitchell, founder of the Kalamazoo Academy of Rock, which uses the former Gibson factory for its students to practice, helped start the "Save the Stack" campaign two years ago. The campaign will have a presence at the Kalamazoo Fretboard Festival, being held Friday and Saturday at the Kalamazoo Valley Museum.

"There's just a great affection for and passion for and pride around here in the Gibson brand," said Mitchell, whose program helps young people hone their musical skills to become performers. "That Gibson was made here in Kalamazoo -- they're kind of our hometown team that has gone on to be one of the most dominant guitar makers in rock 'n' roll history."

The "Save the Stack" effort was re-envigorated in January when the owner of the building, now part of a 134,592-square-foot business incubator called the Kalamazoo Enterprise Center, seemed poised to demolish the deteriorated brick smokestack. It has been damaged by years of use and there are fears it may become an untenable safety hazard.

Talks between the property's owners and managers as well as community members and city officials have been ongoing in efforts to preserve the smokestack. It is, enthusiasts say, an important symbol of Kalamazoo's guitar-making history.

Some of the custom-made Gibson guitars built at the plant sold for $300 in the 1950s and '60s have become collectibles now worth tens of thousands of dollars. The 1954 Gibson Les Paul known as "Black Beauty," for instance, sold at auction last month for $335,500.

"225 Parsons is known worldwide," said Rendal Wall, who has worked for Heritage Guitars for the past 30 years after helping to build guitars for Gibson Guitar Co. for more than two decades before that. "Some of the most famous people in the entire (music) industry have walked through here."

Johnny Cash, B.B. King, Charlie Daniels, Elvis Presley and a host of other famous musicians are mentioned as past visitors by the seasoned guitar makers at Heritage Guitars, a company started in 1985 by a cluster of former Gibson guitar makers who decided to stay in Kalamazoo rather than relocate to Nashville, Tenn., with Gibson.

Sharon Ferraro, historic preservation coordinator for the city of Kalamazoo, said Orville Gibson was very important to the city "because he was a real innovator" who started small and made reasonably priced guitars that were popular all over the United States. His company grew to become a huge business that is still going, even though it is no longer in Kalamazoo.

The 98-year-old building that once housed up to 1,600 workers is important "because it was built for that company," Ferraro said, "and because it is still sound and substantially unaltered from the time when Gibson was very involved in making the guitars."

"To me, and other guitar players, that's hallowed ground," guitar player Rex Bell said of the former Gibson plant.

Bell, who is also chief executive officer of Miller Davis Co., a general contracting and construction company in Kalamazoo, said the plant originally gave Gibson guitars and now Heritage guitars their tonal mojo.

"It's like a national monument," he said.

Mitchell said he is encouraged that something good will happen to preserve the history of the old factory. The property is owned by 225 Parsons LLC and is managed by PlazaCorp Realty Advisors Inc.

Mitchell said he is encouraged by the efforts PlazaCorp has made over the years to restore historically significant buildings in downtown Kalamazoo such as the Shakespeare Building and the Globe Building.

"I hope they save the stack," said Marvin Lamb, one of the longtime guitar makers who is a partner in Heritage Guitars. "But to me it should mean more to Kalamazoo, more for what it was and what it has done for Kalamazoo."

Kalamazoo Gazette reporter Al Jones may be contacted at ajones5@mlive.com. Follow him on Twitter at ajones5_al