Fender Guitar Factory, 1959

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  • LarryG
    The Full Monte
    • May 2004
    • 6693
    • Off The Back
    • Powermatic PM2000, BT3100-1

    #1

    Fender Guitar Factory, 1959

    This is a pretty cool transfer of some 8mm film shot in the Fender guitar factory in 1959.

    There's quite a bit of woodworking going on throughout the clip, and a lot of finishing too. They were obviously pretty lax about workplace safety in those days.

    Amazing what a cottage-industry feel the operation had to it. At this point the Fender company was only about 10 years old, and the CBS buyout was still some six years in the future.
    Larry
  • Tom Slick
    Veteran Member
    • May 2005
    • 2913
    • Paso Robles, Calif, USA.
    • sears BT3 clone

    #2
    That is great.
    You'd still see a lot of the same processes in a modern American guitar factory.

    Side Note:
    Leo Fender must have copied the workbench design to his next venture, Music Man, because the Ernie Ball / Music Man factory has identical benches. The entire Music Man factory was purchased from G&L by Ernie Ball in the 1980's. To this day Music Man guitars are assembled on Leo's original bench at Music Man.
    Opportunity is missed by most people because it is dressed in overalls and looks like work. - Thomas Edison

    Comment

    • sangus
      Forum Newbie
      • Jan 2011
      • 7
      • So. Fl. USA
      • Ridgid 3650

      #3
      That was real cool, or 'way cool' as they say. I enjoyed it. Thanks for the link.
      My Mex Strats and the Tele have gone up quite a bit since I got 'em.
      GO FENDER.

      Art.

      Comment

      • sparkeyjames
        Veteran Member
        • Jan 2007
        • 1087
        • Redford MI.
        • Craftsman 21829

        #4
        I loved that film. Do you realize that just one of the strats those guys were working on if still around today in mint condition would fetch many 10's of thousands of dollars. 57-59 are some of the most valuable player guitars.

        Jim

        Comment

        • Alex Franke
          Veteran Member
          • Feb 2007
          • 2641
          • Chapel Hill, NC
          • Ryobi BT3100

          #5
          Loved it! Thanks!
          online at http://www.theFrankes.com
          while ( !( succeed = try() ) ) ;
          "Life is short, Art long, Occasion sudden and dangerous, Experience deceitful, and Judgment difficult." -Hippocrates

          Comment

          • LCHIEN
            Super Moderator
            • Dec 2002
            • 22011
            • Katy, TX, USA.
            • BT3000 vintage 1999

            #6
            After you watch that one, Look at the current NC router built Srat manufacturing lines.
            Music change matches the pace change.

            http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lj9a6...eature=related
            Last edited by LCHIEN; 01-17-2011, 07:02 PM.
            Loring in Katy, TX USA
            If your only tool is a hammer, you tend to treat all problems as if they were nails.
            BT3 FAQ - https://www.sawdustzone.org/forum/di...sked-questions

            Comment

            • dbhost
              Slow and steady
              • Apr 2008
              • 9523
              • League City, Texas
              • Ryobi BT3100

              #7
              Stunning. I never would have thought so many things in an American business could possibly be so lax... Dress code? What dress code? Who needs shirts, or even silly things like respirators when spraying lacquers? Makes my skin itch and my lungs hurt just watching that...
              Please like and subscribe to my YouTube channel. Please check out and subscribe to my Workshop Blog.

              Comment

              • LCHIEN
                Super Moderator
                • Dec 2002
                • 22011
                • Katy, TX, USA.
                • BT3000 vintage 1999

                #8
                Originally posted by dbhost
                Stunning. I never would have thought so many things in an American business could possibly be so lax... Dress code? What dress code? Who needs shirts, or even silly things like respirators when spraying lacquers? Makes my skin itch and my lungs hurt just watching that...
                talk about dress code, did you see the swiss bank that has a 44-page dress code for employees? Down to the color of their underwear (who's inspecting?)
                http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/...e/7385317.html

                Dave, I think the sprays were under a exhaust hood - excess sprays are sucked up into the hood and filtered (often a water spray) so a respirator is not needed.
                Last edited by LCHIEN; 01-17-2011, 10:20 PM.
                Loring in Katy, TX USA
                If your only tool is a hammer, you tend to treat all problems as if they were nails.
                BT3 FAQ - https://www.sawdustzone.org/forum/di...sked-questions

                Comment

                • Pappy
                  The Full Monte
                  • Dec 2002
                  • 10481
                  • San Marcos, TX, USA.
                  • BT3000 (x2)

                  #9
                  Click on "The Story Of The Guitar - 'First Fender Sratocaster In The UK". Some absolutely amazing footage culminating with Hendrix and the guitar he set ablaze.
                  Don, aka Pappy,

                  Wise men talk because they have something to say,
                  Fools because they have to say something.
                  Plato

                  Comment

                  • LarryG
                    The Full Monte
                    • May 2004
                    • 6693
                    • Off The Back
                    • Powermatic PM2000, BT3100-1

                    #10
                    Tom, do you know whether it is the buildings in this film that currently house the G&L factory? I think they may be the ones.

                    Side-Side Note: I have an old Music Man amp on which the first two digits of the serial number are zeroes. A number of times I've been asked if I'd sell it but I always say I plan to be buried with it.

                    Art, nine or 10 years ago I bought, for $195, a used Mexican-made Standard Stratocaster as a back-up to my American Standard. I foolishly let it go and have always regretted it ... it played and sounded better than my AmStd. And Jim, in the early 1970s I briefly owned a 1959 hardtail Strat. I sold it around 1972 to help finance the purchase of a Gibson 335. At the time the Strat was just a beat-up, 13-year-old guitar -- who knew???
                    Larry

                    Comment

                    • Tom Slick
                      Veteran Member
                      • May 2005
                      • 2913
                      • Paso Robles, Calif, USA.
                      • sears BT3 clone

                      #11
                      I don't know what the CBS buyout and G&L starting history is. I know Ernie Ball bought everything from the Music Man factory. Some of it is still used but most is not.

                      Here's a 2010 guitar factory tour. Part of Leo Fender and Ernie Ball's Legacy.

                      http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q_oXBvr8AhU

                      I know most of the people in the video. I used to maintain all of the machinery you see and it's fun to see stuff in the background that I built for storage.
                      Opportunity is missed by most people because it is dressed in overalls and looks like work. - Thomas Edison

                      Comment

                      • sweensdv
                        Veteran Member
                        • Dec 2002
                        • 2872
                        • WI
                        • Baileigh TS-1040P-50

                        #12
                        That was pretty cool. The part I liked best though was the very first comment listed about the video. Not many of us will ever be able to experience what that person did.
                        _________________________
                        "Have a Great Day, unless you've made other plans"

                        Comment

                        • Tom Slick
                          Veteran Member
                          • May 2005
                          • 2913
                          • Paso Robles, Calif, USA.
                          • sears BT3 clone

                          #13
                          These G&L videos seem to answer some questions. It contradicts what I was told but the info I had was not form a credible source.
                          http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EU7_y...eature=related
                          http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zo-CgvSZx3Y&NR=1
                          Opportunity is missed by most people because it is dressed in overalls and looks like work. - Thomas Edison

                          Comment

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