Fender Factory Tour 1959 (or earlier) 

Hey Joe thanks for sharing. A bunch of us with vintage Strats ('60s-'66) and have an S black S inside the body or a pencil S. Any idea what it stands for? Someone's name for inspection or Sunburst color to be sprayed? Thanks

Wonderful ... I hope things have been .. staying in tune . for you ;)

You are a lucky man Joe!!!

I wish I knew what the S stands for, but I don't.

​@@spiritof76forever81 This great history Man!🤗👍💪

Sorry to hear that.

How old was our mother?Was she born in California?It's so interesting to know her story...

Hey Joe, Sorry about the loss of your mother. I own a mid 50's lap steel. One day I removed the tone and volume plate and found a small piece of paper that said "Inspected by Gloria, Fullerton CA, November 1954". Just wondering what your mother's first name was.

Never mind Joe, I went back to the clip (duh) and see that her name was Carrie.

Scott Berkobien I do recall mom mentioning a Gloria. It was possibly the same woman. My mom started working at Fender around 1956 (I wish I could be certain). My dad was working there at least as early as '54 as there is a photo of him in a group of employees with Leo Fender from '54 at the Fender factory in Corona on the wall.

Can you give specifics. Is he the guy sitting next to Leo at 0:24 ?. Im trying to build a family tree of workers. May i know his name please?

That's cool, dude!

Thanks, Man!

That's some serious pride in workmanship. The end product speaks for itself!!!! Btw, what are your feelings on these instruments fetching the prices they do today? Thanks for your comment.

Thanks for sharing.

very cool

Hi Ben!

The working conditions look pretty horrendous by today's standards.

They wouldn’t believe or understand it.

@@motoguy3574 where do you work, the candy ass factory?

All right… except for the mind control bit. This is at the top of the Cold War and American propaganda machine was at its best brainwashing their citizens.

​@@motoguy3574 They don't seem to mind.

yeah, its so sad that guitars made nowadays are made with so much less risk of injury or illness to the builder.

No one is wearing protective masks while spraying polycoat

That appears to be John McClain actually

That is really funny! Ah, those summers in SoCal.

@@richardernest1612 Its Nitrocellulose.. Nasty stuff

,😂😂😂😂😂😂😂👍

@@wolfgangwylde5889 If you could tell one of these workers that, you would be a time traveler, and you should bring as many of those guitars back with you as you can. I believe a new 59 Strat sold for about $75

@@timhallas4275 They were actually really expensive for the era. In today's money, in 1959, a Strat sold for around $2400 (Somewhere around $275 plus 39.95 for a case in '59)

@@timhallas4275 That's about right for the Tele, but the Strat was a bit more expensive. Even in '54 I think that price was about the same.

Same with me , serial # 0761

Mr White gave my father and me a personal tour of the big Fullerton factory, during the CBS years, while he was still at Fender.

And all in about what... 25 seconds? Unbelievable

Thank you for your words and sentiment. Much appreciated, even now.

I thought there would be jigs and guides. Nope. Here is a piece of lumber and a file, get rid of everything that is not a Strat body. :)

You are so right! That’s why I think guitars made in that era sound and play so much better.

That's an assembly line. Its not like one person built each guitar by themselves. There was a whole team of people -each doing one thing in building guitars.

Everything was made using jigs and templates. A CNC machine does exactly the same thing, only digitally. This myth that things must sound better when done the "old way" needs to die.

doubtful, they were just earning a living to support their families.

Leo wasn't thinking about making history, he was making millions

My pickups are signed by Abby.

@@guppybill that's awesome!

Abigail Ybarra used to wind the Custom Shop pickups by hand until she retired in '03. I'm not sure what they do today. The woodwork is all done by hand. No CNC machining.

Woods used to be better as well.

50 broadcaster has to be worth a pretty penny indeed

Well, they would bandsaw the rough neck and body blanks, then screw on a template and route them the rest of the way. Pretty sure the contours were done by eye on a belt sander, though. Still WAY more hands-on then any production guitars made now, though

If you time travelled back to '59, and brought a strat with you to the present day, would that strat not be just a few weeks/months old when you are back here? It would be like new off the cutting board, it would be called a fake everywhere lol

@@Whydoyoureadme You would have to stash it somewhere safe in 1959 and go collect it today. You would be better off buying them 2nd hand when prices were at there lowest, then stash them.

+bobbysbackingtracks indeed!

+bobbysbackingtracks That was how they did it back in the day...you can pretty much assume everyone in this video is long dead...

+Alan Jankowski Yep long dead (no dust masks a bad way to go) and gone, but the guitars live on.

+bobbysbackingtracks theres not alot of overspray with lacquer

+BAJARACER43X Wood Dust kills too.

Nope. 5:56 that is Abigail Ybarra

About 3 years ago I ran into Bud Morgan, Vern's son in Goodyear AZ. He still has his dad's strat from the last day of production at the CBS plant. (2-knob) I talked to him about his Fender years for an hour or more. Really nice man with lots to say about the early days of Fender. He still has the banjo that Little Jimmy Dickins gave him. Bud said he was in charge of shipping and receiving, as well as parts procurement for lots of Leo's sudden design changes.

@@guibensotar3 Ha! Just read an interview with Forrest White where he talks about having to put his foot down regarding Leo's mid-production run changes

Eugene "Gene" Gallien..

Awesome to hear and know. I fantasize (with good reason) that when I hear Eric Clapton's classic works (playing "Brownie") that he was using a guitar they both had a direct hand in making. Same goes for many other songs by many other artists. Thank goodness for gift of great music.

Q. What is the difference between a Fender Usa and Fender Mexico ? A. About 300 kms.

About 20 miles, depending on what route you take.

Si es verdad gabacho. De nada( means you welcome in English sir). Señor.

@anticala u have no way of knowing these things...like air conditioning. jeez.

Assuming that you can reliably tell americans and mexicans apart by appearance alone.

Yeah. I think John 5 would be ecstatic. He remains a real pioneer and we're so lucky to have him still around.

Check out this film posted by Fenderampfreak and he provides a lot of commentary on it and he mentions 1957 as the year of its filming.

Same observation I made on the Tobacco Burst Strats, Krook. Plus, no rosewood fretboards, which came online in 1959. It's 1957 in this film.

Women have a long tradition in factory assembly work particularly electronics.

It's a working mans style of blues that shows off the pure single coil sound of those awesome tone machines... it's something you woulda heard in the 50s no doubt....its sonic gold....

+Snake Plissken Agreed. and It would have been very interesting to go back there and check out how differently each "same" model came out when completed. As Grover Jackson stated, "people have good and bad days. Machines don't"

+Jeff L I'm replying here as the replies are disabled on the other thread. I want to comment on two points you raised. Firstly, you misunderstood my point about illegals in the US. My point was that it was a shit job, so bad that often the only people who would do it were those at the bottom rung of society, among those were people who were in the US illegally. And generally speaking, if someone is in a country illegally they usually don't have the same protections as those that do, e.g. being able to secure a minimum wage role. Secondly regarding sweatshops, I knew someone who ran one in the garment district in downtown LA back in the '90s. He paid people 10c per garment sown so they do exist even if your naivety won't entertain that. Finally, I never "bashed" entrepreneurism. My point was to counteract the romanticism that some people here have about the working conditions at the original Fender factory. It was certainly not a "great job" as the original poster stated.

So firstly let’s talk about the person you "know" from your example from 20 years ago. Well, shame on him/her and a call to the department of labor should have been made which is much easier in recent times then many years ago, which was my point that YOU missed. However, if the workers were willing to accept such low pay/conditions and NO call to the D.O.L. is ever made especially from any of the workers, then perhaps there’s more to the story?? Perhaps a call to the I.N.S. is more appropriate. Remember YOU were the one that stated they were illegals. If so, THAT is the reason they are NOT entitled to the same rights as legal citizens, including minimum wages etc. Further, are these illegals, that you think should have the RIGHT to earn more, also paying taxes, insurances, licensees and all the other fees that come out of the rest of our paychecks?? Incidentally, that’s a large portion of our paychecks. Hence the more people that don’t pay those other fees, the more WE have to. So if you are going to hurl words like “naivety” you should have mirror in hand. And again, the key word is they “accepted” that pay scale freely, NOT by force or coercion. And my original point still stands about Leo Fender and Co. It was a well-known fact that Leo himself, his wife, friends and others all worked long hours in the factory because they believed in cultivating the new company, regardless of the conditions in the very early days. The OP was commending their hard work and dedication once upon a time right here in the US. I Think anyone with eyes and a computer can see that factory conditions were not good hence changed since then. The viewers were simply fascinated to watch how the original Fender instruments were made. "counteracting the romanticism" is plain unnecessary and biter.

+Jeff L Again, you've misunderstood my entire argument. My sole argument is that it was a bad job, no more. I have never once said that illegal immigrants should have the same rights as legal residents nor have I advocated an anti-Fender stance. You are creating a straw man argument. Where in either of my comments have I stated this... "...are these illegals, that you think should have the RIGHT to earn more..." Where have I stated or implied this? You're twisting my words to create arguments that I never advocated. I brought up the example of illegals not because I support their rights but to illustrate that these were the only people who were prepared to take on such a job because it was so bad. Please re-read my comments again. It gets tiresome writing the same thing over and over for someone determined to have an argument about something other that what I wrote.

You don't have a clue what you're talking about. Back in the day cavities were tightly routed, pickups were wound on time (not nr of windings), different woods were used, thinner laquer; nitrocellulose instead of polyurethane and as you can see it was a tightly nit workshop with about 15 people set out to make the best guitar in the world. Now Fender has a board of 40+ directors, looking to get the cheapest wood, the cheapest hardwear and the cheapest pair of asian hands to put it al together. Also you can't replicate time. As moisture in the wood crystalizes and magnets loose a bit of there strength after 50+ years. So yeah vintage guitars ARE often a lot better than the driftwood that comes out factories these days. The reason vintage prices are high is because they are good, survived 50 years and are regarded highly collectable. Leo indeed did things like a screw on neck, so you could replace it if the frets wore out. I think he never meant the price to go up as much as it did. And dude to proove quality has gone down. The same cheap pickups are used in the Mexicans aswell as the Asian models. Under $700,- neck aren't even lacquered anymore ''because it's more comfortable to play, satin finish etc.'' my ass! it's saves time and laquer and therefor money.

He probably just was applying a grain-filler or grain-sealing coat of lacquer with the brush. The finish and clear coats certainly would have been sprayed.

I'm not certain but it kind of looks like he might be spraying under an exhaust hood, similar to what you find in a commercial kitchen. At least I hope so.

I guess that's where Private Ryan worked after the war, then...

Lol. I thought that too.

BAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHHAHHahhaahahhHaahahhahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahah

Forrest gump is real

No shit... he finds his way into everything! haha

+stearman Gloria Fuentes was no pickup winder (like Abby Ybarra). She was a Final Assembly employee.

Strato Dude Thanks for that, never knew her last name.

MIM Fenders have nothing on the originals. Hell, MIJ Fenders have always been superior to MIM.

Abby was Mexican! Worked there 50 yrs & her pickups are legendary.

I worked there in final assembly in the 70s .. and by chance ran into Abby shortly after she retired up in Rialto in the late 90s

Doesn't matter the colour of the skin does it, it's the person not the skin colour.

The difference is that these "mexicans" were Mexican Americans bleeding red, white, and Fender blue. Shit was made with love and pride back in those days.

Pinche Pendejo That was the 1920’s and did not include land or labor. I was born in a house my grandfather paid $5000 for in 1947 and in 1966 when I was five we moved and it sold for $16K. It sold last year for $870K. And was promptly torn down.

Adjusted for inflation, $250 in 1959 dollars is equal to $2,164.85 in 2018 dollars.

Correct. All things musical--amps, instruments, and decent home hi-fi equipment, were pretty expensive by today's standards. This was also in a brief era when many working people in the US earned living wages.

Strat, not a Tele. And depending on the available stock, they could be anywhere from 1 to 4 pieces.

@@LeftyPem I think less pieces for sunburst bodies, more for solid colour bodies

You just know it all don't ya'?

G-dubya prick

@@FlyWhistle yeah, I honestly don't know why I said that. I'm guessing I got another RU-vid conversation nixed up. I wouldn't say something of that nature about what the individual was speaking of. Sorry 'bout that folks.

Really? Because I see Americans in this video. Your comment is proof that diversity is a failed experiment. It appears all non white non Christian people are too ethno centric for this whole melting pot thing to work out. I'm not saying that's a good or bad thing it's just a fact . Tonight you will hear on TV how even though our current country is racist, masogonist and xenophobic it's NOTHING compared to the 50's in America. It was practically Nazi Germany they will tell you. Blacks hanging from trees every other block. However, this video of 1950s America shows Males, Woman, Whites, Latinos and Blacks all working the same job with each other. I'm sure they where listening to Chuck Berry while working as well. Oh what a racist and xenophobic country it was. White Christian America bought into diversity because they are the only group of people that actually think all men are created equal. Now that they realize there country was stolen from them right before there eyes, now that the collages teach that white people are inherently evil, now that all corrupt politicians who are selling our country out to NGOs, and China have to do to get elected is race bait to minorities about imaginary oppression and promise to give them free stuff, now that we are being called white supremesits and Nazi's by political leaders, celebrities and collage professors when it was our Grandfathers (literally our blood) who came back from WW2 after defeating actual Nazis with faces blown off and 98% bodily burns, they are waking up. There birth right has been stolen. You've awoken and poked the bear. And this time after it reconquers the world, it's not gona feel like sharing the land or the spoils. And it definently isn't gona give a fuck about your feelings. This is not from hate. Again, this is because of the ethno centric qualitys of "the people of the world". We don't blame the minorities. They are useful idiots and can't help it. We know who the real perpetrators are. Be damn sure the plan is in motion and in our life time the just deserts will be had. Minorities just and WILL be going back to where they came from.

Really? Because I see Americans in this video. Your comment is proof that diversity is a failed experiment. It appears all non white non Christian people are too ethno centric for this whole melting pot thing to work out. I'm not saying that's a good or bad thing it's just a fact . Tonight you will hear on TV how even though our current country is racist, masogonist and xenophobic it's NOTHING compared to the 50's in America. It was practically Nazi Germany they will tell you. Blacks hanging from trees every other block. However, this video of 1950s America shows Males, Woman, Whites, Latinos and Blacks all working the same job with each other. I'm sure they where listening to Chuck Berry while working as well. Oh what a racist and xenophobic country it was. White Christian America bought into diversity because they are the only group of people that actually think all men are created equal. Now that they realize there country was stolen from them right before there eyes, now that the collages teach that white people are inherently evil, now that all corrupt politicians who are selling our country out to NGOs, and China have to do to get elected is race bait to minorities about imaginary oppression and promise to give them free stuff, now that we are being called white supremesits and Nazi's by political leaders, celebrities and collage professors when it was our Grandfathers (literally our blood) who came back from WW2 after defeating actual Nazis with faces blown off and 98% bodily burns, they are waking up. There birth right has been stolen. You've awoken and poked the bear. And this time after it reconquers the world, it's not gona feel like sharing the land or the spoils. And it definently isn't gona give a fuck about your feelings. This is not from hate. Again, this is because of the ethno centric qualitys of "the people of the world". We don't blame the minorities. They are useful idiots and can't help it. We know who the real perpetrators are. Be damn sure the plan is in motion and in our life time the just deserts will be had. Minorities just and WILL be going back to where they came from.

plejaren giants. I was wondering that myself. I couldn’t tell if it was 3 pieces or if that was just the different colored grain of the wood. If it is 3 pieces, then it definitely dispels the 1 piece holy vintage myth. A 1959 strat with a 3 piece body seems like blasphemy.

Yeah you had to be tough as there was no air conditioning .

Bruce Scott That's some avatar you got..lol

nonameinfl Thanks . It's a mutated Kiwifruit .

Lol really dude?

Javier Lafuente Eso sí, tan fluido

JL! jj

but think about it, that´s what made these guitars so great, like it or not

That probably woulda tripled the cost ....