Sir- my parents are both in the video. My father is cutting guitar necks and my mother working on a lap steel in the film. I remember my dad telling me he had been on television once while working at Fender, but I think that was a different film from this because he did not mention mom being filmed. They told me some interesting stories about Leo and their times there at the Fender factory.
Yeah? So what was interesting? You said "They told me some interesting stories about Leo and their times there at the Fender factory." If they were so interesting why didn't you share them?
You ought to buy the book by Forrest White who was probably your fathers supervisor. The Fender Inside Story by Forrest White. Page 98 discusses how a TV show came to Fender. That is probably what he referred to.
Wow! My mother in law, Linda Ohana, is in this video at 14:30, with the soldering iron, a decade before my husband was born. Thank you very much for posting this precious footage.
Awesome that you are able to see her here! I was thrilled to see may parents in this film when I discovered it online after looking for years for it to be posted. I am glad you have posted her name here and hope you can tell us more about her.
As a pro musician I have owned quite a few of the Fender Tweed covered amps made during this period of 1950 to 1960 and quite a few in the 1957 to 1959 years. When the ladies like your mother-in-law would finish wiring/soldering they would sign their name to a small piece of masking tape, with a pencil, and place there inside the back on the lower right side, on the bottom of the inside but facing up so you could see who wired it. The main names I have seen in my amplifiers and others from the period were "Lily" (my favorite/best amps have been by Lily), and Lupe....as the main two I have seen. I believe I have seen a "Rachel" also. Sometimes the little piece of tape is gone but it's been amazing how often that little tape has stayed intact even some 50 plus years later. I just sold an amp, 1959 Fender Bassman, dated April of 1959, just last year and it was a "Lily" amp.
@@gabrieln3613 That is very cool. To think of their names living on that way inside these amps. I wonder if Lily, like my MIL, is still with us. But we know her work is, and that it's much appreciated. :)
I always wanted to go back in time to this era. I’d give my eyeteeth to have a guitar from back then. They all probably raced home to watch Perry Mason. Man those must have been the days to live.
Wow! It's hard to believe that my 1958 Strat was probably built and painted by some of these same people! Thank you so much for sharing this incredible piece of music history.
The lady winding pickups was still at Fender customer shop a few years ago. From memory she was employee #3. She appeared to be in her 80's now and still working.
Incredible !!! no words can describe how much I enjoyed this video! I'm the proud owner of a 56 CS "Mary Kaye" Strat. Ill watch this over & over!!! Every guitar is slightly different and plays/sounds different which is a good thing. My Dad graduated in 57 from high school. Fender defined the sound of electric guitars!!!
I worked at the Fender Compound in the early 70s just after CBS bought it. Safety wasnt a high priority in those days . They paid 3+ $ and 4 + After a couple pay grades. Fullerton was rural and pleasant.
My great aunt worked winding pickups for the telephone company her whole life. It’s pretty much the same process as guitar pickups. It really took a toll on her hands. Winding hair thin wire all day everyday.
I think I remember reading where Leo said that the ladies had more patience for wiring amps and winding pickups. That's a '55 or '56 FORD station wagon ... perhaps a '54. Boy, simpler times.My very first guitar was a 1954 Stratocaster that I got for Christmas of 1963 -- it was well worn out. But I loved it!
This is great. The original Fender Factory is now a parking garage near The Fullerton Train Station. There is a plaque on the wall outside the parking garage.
The reason some vintage guitars sound different than others is the "mistakes" workers made when being built. A few extra puffs on a cigarette meant extra wire wraps on pickups ect. Have a 94, 66 and a pair of 55 Strats. None sound the same, although they all sound good. One 55 is slighter hotter than all of the others and I attribute it to construction i.e. wire windings.
NOW THIS, IS A GEM. For any of us Fender FREAKS, (Especially Strat Freaks) this basic home video is So Cool to get into, we could watch this 100 times easy. Sweet.🥇👊 👏👏👏👏👏 😎 🎸
Thanks so much for this video - its so interesting to me as Fender has been such a huge part of my life and lets face it - what they were doing in this little factory back then would change the world. It was so cool to watch how quickly old man Fullerton could whip out a guitar body on the band saw....wow...well thanks again :-)
So primitive!!!! I luv this!!!! This is the definition of True American Craftsmanship!!!!! Virgin timber makes all the difference. That along with the copper that was being quarried from the mines for the pickups in conjunction with the windings (Abigail). It is the difference between a reissue and a $200,000 vintage. Find a virgin alder & maple tree in the back 40 and build one! Long live Fender. American Pride!!!! 🤘🎸
This is a great video and also incredibly insightful. It contains almost everything I would hope to see from that era. The machines and templates used and a bonus of the People of Fender. I just wish there was one from '74 so I could see how my #1 Axe was made.
Trying to see if I recognize my grandmother in there somewhere. She lived in Fullerton and worked at the factory. Her job was dropping the dot inlays into the neck.
That was when Fenders were made the best. Today they are mass produced with no care. Back then fewer were made because markets were smaller and Fender was new and striving for success. This is what gives vintage Fenders so much charm!
I have several vintage Fender amps from the late 40's and 50's. Most of the electronics were installed by women, mostly hispanic. They would write their names on freezer tape and stick it to the inside the chassis. I always thought was so cool. I still have them and will not remove the tape. Part of history.
Yes! I have owned about 9 original Fender Bassmans from 1957 to 1960, as well as several Pro's, Deluxe's, etc. The most common ones I have seen on the little masking tape they signed was "Lily" (my best amps have been by Lily) and "Lupe" and I believe I have see a few "Rachel" too.
@@anthonyrichard461 Unfortunately due to economics I had to sell my original Fender tweed Amps. Right now I use a replica, built with new & vintage parts, of the 5F6-A Tweed Bassman and done in 2 days will be a replica (new & vintage parts) of the 5E& 3 x 10" Tweed Bandmaster....it has 1959 Triad Choke and 3 1959 original blue Jensen P10R & Q speakers along with NOS PIO caps, etc. and hoping it will sound as good as the replica Bassman.
@@gabrieln3613 I have no original Tweed Bassmans but I have a hand built 59 Bassman 5F6? circuit from probably the best local amp tech. It's amazing. Has the eminence alnico speakers. I also have a custom built 5E3 Deluxe and an original 59/60 5E3 Tweed. Not so sure the new doesn't sound better? Have a 57/58 Harvard, 59/60 Tremolux, 53 Pro with Original Jensen 15" a 59 Super 2/10 and the four deluxes, 2 each 49/50 TV fronts, 53 wide panel and the 5E3. I'm a lucky man.
I'm not Richard, This DVD comes with the Fender The Sound Heard Around the World book that Richard put together, There's much more info in the book, I highly recommend every Fender fan get it, The book was originally only sent to Fender Dealers as a reference for them, but was released to the public a few years ago
Real hand made for sure....note shaping body of that strat....3 pc body...so even then they used everything...Leo was frugal...used all his available parts...the reason a lot of the old strats sound so good...seasoned wood dried out..pickups degaussing over years....you can’t fake time.....like the relic stuff attempts to do
there's so much truth to this statement. I agree 100%. however I must add that I kinda enjoy some of the reliced creations as long as it's up front that they are indeed recreations, and that is in relation to those guitars being a visual artistic thing moreso than an absolute attempt to make them seem like you wouldn't be able to tell the difference, because that's impossible
Fantastic video, so much of how things were done then not known to most of us still around today. It was great to see Alvino Rey in this vid, I was good friends with him in the 80's when he was in our amateur radio club which is how I knew him, not through music although I am a bassist of another generation. Thank you so much for this piece of amazing history. Cheers
When men and women worked in their speed dedicated making great tools and tools for making the tools. I like it a lot. None complaining what they not got. Making the best of what they had. Not complaining about safety. Just taking care for themselves and work responsible. Sure there was reason to improve. And so they did. But where we’ve gone since is beyond any sense.
Two days out of the week, I do security at Fenders factory in Corona. That clock that read 5;15 on it was pribably 5;15 AM. Hundreds of people start showing up for work around 4;30 AM there
Last time i was there the buildings were still there. I still kick myself for not getting up early on Saturday when they had their scratch n dent sales. My buddy has every model they made at that time. A Coronado and jaguar included.
If you're wondering where most of these amps are (the survivors),... there at Joe's house in his Nerdsville museum of guitars and amps! (Joe Bonamasa for the uninitiated),.... He's an avid collector and respectful custodian of these musical works of art! I grew up in Fullerton, my Dad's business was on Commonwealth and Harbor, very close to the factory. I got my first guitar through a neighbor who was in a semi-famous Surf band... he sold me his Strat and Blonde 60w tremolux amp with the external reverb tank! Wish I hadn't traded these away for more modern versions - but what can you say,... I was a rocker and needed more distortion! (this was 1970)
I have a Fender lap steel. Underneath the knob cover is a small piece of paper that reads..."Inspected by Gloria, November 13, 1954". I can't help but wonder if "Gloria" is in the video?
The G&L factory is still right down the street on Fender Ave, they still make them the old fashioned way but with modern machines. I went by there and told them I have two G&L guitars and the plant manager gave me a tour and showed me Leo's old workshop.
You can look at thousands of hours of old footage from the 1940's through the 1960's and you will see very few people who a are obese or in poor physical condition. It's due to all the crappy fast food and sugar loaded processed foods we eat today.
I just finished reading Richard's excellent coffee-table book "Fender--The Sound Heard 'Round the World." This rare video by Forrest White (no audio) just adds to the book. Great job Richard!
Thanks for sharing this very important and fascinating document of what I consider the greatest and most Iconic instrument of all decades I have one I acquired in Gainesville FL is a store that is in front of a school it has problems with the potentiometers but it was nothing I couldn't fix myself is the model strat z1***** believe 2001 with roller ege on side of fret board and I very proud of my fender strat very jealous I don't let no one to put their hands on it , well sorry I just got carried on. Thanks again
PS. The guitar was in the Mexican fender rack inside of the store and it was mark for $600 us dollars so I ask the man in charge if that guitar is for $600 and he told me;yes so I told him I want to try it and when I start to play he came and told me let me run the serial number throu the computer and quick came running to me and said; that guitar is not for $600, is for $1,299 and I told him; that's why I ask you so he talk to the manager and he told ok but I will bill you the taxes and I said ok so I paid $676.56 cents I paid for it and I told him that the guitar need some potentiometers replacement so I purchased the Emerson CTS from eBay store and .033 mf filters and this guitar sounds so professional when it's play throu a great amplified very loud or low volume and it's very chimering notes I'm so pleased,thanks
If i could time travel and go anywhere it would be here to this place and i would chain smoke and test old fenders and amps all day with my shirt off lol. DREAM
Or that Yngwie J. Dbag bought up '57 Strats everywhere then scalloped the fretboards while disconnecting the middle pickup "because I don't like sound." Yeah, he couldn't play without hitting it
Does anybody else just feel like this has a sense of purity to it. Watching them work you realize it's just a guitar but they were all pretty much handmade instead of on an assembly line. Everything you see in the video is over $10,000 to try to get one today and back then it wasn't enough to keep everyone on staff for the year
@@TempleGuitars you look on reverb no one is really asking that's kind of price. Some high five digits for a 54 Stratocaster. To get over a hundred thousand you need a famous signature
I've never heard a valid reason why Bill Schultz and the company now known as FMIC didn't buy the Fullerton factory from CBS when the sale went down. Saying it was a "financial decision" makes no sense because the cost of building the Corona factory vs the cost buying the Fullerton factory couldn't have been that different could it? Great footage & narration. These "factory workers" were bonafide artists.
I loved how the people worked shirtless and looked very proud of their craftsmanship. It must have been difficult breathing in the toxic paint fumes and sawdust all of the time..
It's a spray booth with a DeVillbiss explosion-proof motor, too much air volume passing at 3000+ cfm and impossible to be ignited, or giving to a "standing-cloud" condition. They still had it in 1988 but fitted with a 20X20 grid of replacement filters, unlike the old style using fabric roll strips filter pinned over the screens. That whole row of industrial units on Fender Ave. become ovens from May to October often clearing 100* degrees. So it made some sense then to initially have buffing and assembly close to the spray booth. Until you find bugs and junk in the clear topcoats.
I work at Fenders in Corona wed and thurs nights in security. I have to go check the paint rooms every half hour. Meaning I gotta put on a dust free bunny suit to do it.
@@siggyretburns7523 do you have to put on and takeoff the suit every half an hour?! What a drag! Then again, I guess everything depends on the attitude you bring to it.
The world in general might've been less toxic overall at that time, though, because my mother-in-law (shown in this video) is in her 90s and in absolutely splendid & active perfect health. I feel like she's healthier than me, and I'm in my 50s. Our food has changed so much, chemicals are persistent everywhere, and plastic is ubiquitous. And the actual complexity of life, thanks to globalization and digital media, seems to result in much higher stress levels, in turn affecting physical health. Makes me think of certain elderly people who've smoked their whole lives and lived to their 90s, maybe because of the absence of other bad habits and toxins.
Interesting. I wonder if the original film still exists. It would be nice to get it digitized at a higher resolution than it is here. Also, it would great to see the original full 4:3 aspect ratio. Here it’s been cropped to 16:9 so a lot of heads are being chopped off. Still, great to see!
It just amazes me how these people just painted, sanded and sawed without protecting themselves. I hope (though with difficulty) this did not affected them in the long run.
@@granvillefriel1877 , there's a word for people who took basic precautions to protect themselves against needless exposure to toxic substances: *healthy*.
The building is still there in fact, if you go to the corner where it used to say shipping and receiving if you look in the video, there’s a pipe coming out of the building going into the ground at the very bottom that’s still there.
