Fender Factory Tour pictures.

[Mark Wein]

I have a ton of pics and I'm going to post them here and there over the weekend but I have to say that the tour this time was WAY better than the tour I took in the late 1990's. I can also see why Fender is making instruments better than when I was actively selling them for a Fender dealer in the 1990's and early 2000's.

Modern Saint, Speedracer and Grover from the forum also went so I'm hoping that they share some pictures, too!

In front of the new visitors center:

a few pics from inside:

This is the "metal shop" where they use presses to punch out pickguards as well as neck plates and other metal parts like amp chassis (which is a row over). Anything that needs to be chromed is sent to an outside vendor:

Many of the machines in this area are 40-50 years old

bins of parts:

pickup bobbins

Deluxe reverbs

passing by the wood shop

neck blanks

our guide telling how they come with a little bit of milling done

an old style machine that cuts four necks at a time using a physical pattern to copy the cuts for the router. My first tour most of the machines were still like this.

Jacksons

necks getting truss rods and skunk stripes

shop fixtures for Jackson guitars

I think these are neck sanders...

installing a skunk stripe

a newer CNC machine cutting necks...this was one of the green pattern following machines the last time I was there IIRC.

 

[Mark Wein]

They have one of each type of neck Fender makes hanging on this wall with a number that corresponds to the program in the CNC computer that makes the correct carve

putting in frets. this is where the CNC process ends and everything is done by hand. the guy to the left is placing the frets in each slot and the lady is seating them with an arbor press

before the fret ends are cut off

wood!

strat body blank. this is a two piece body for a trans or sunburst finish. If you notice the difference in lengths between the two boards that is for the upper horn on a strat.

explaining how the CNC machine cuts the bodies (I forgot that there is the CNC process for the bodies, too)

the system in the ceiling that mists to keep the humidity at the right amount for the wood

bodies being cut

bodies, some with the shielding paint already in the cavity. This goes in anything that is not a reissue...the reissues don't get shield paint because that's not how they were originally made.

inlays and stuff on the necks

 

[Mark Wein]

buffing after paint. We didn't get to go in there because of potential contamination but the guide showed us a movie about the process....

more parts..finished pickguard assemblies I think

yep

assembly

After paint

finished necks in bins waiting for bodies

the guitars cure in the air above the factory floor

 

[Mark Wein]

electronics. this is where they are wiring up pickguards and making pickups

pickup wire

winding pickups

in the Jackson corner

A Roswell

 

[Mark Wein]

I didn't get too many pictures of the amp section...cabinets are made in Ensenada and then shipped here covered with hardware on them to be mated with the amp chassis and speakers

An Eric Clapton tweed model chassis

These are fr Tom Harkenrider

 

[mosiddiqi]

Cool!..what do you think they are doing better nowadays exactly?

 

[Mark Wein]

Cool!..what do you think they are doing better nowadays exactly?

More modern CNC machines for wood shaping, for one thing. The older "pattern following" (I think they might also be what they call a "pin router") machines were pretty inconsistent as the tool heads would wear out I guess. IIRC they used to split the wood into grades and the nicer stuff went into MIA guitars (especially ones that you could see through a transparent finish) and the not so nice stuff went to solid colors and Mexico for the MIM instruments. They make all of the necks for Mexico there and the finishing is done in mexico so it's the same materials but much less time is spent on the MIM necks before they are considered "done".

 

[SpeedRacer]

Mark I think you covered the pictures just fine! I was surprised at how much manual labor goes into each guitar. I assumed machines did more if it than they do.

Working on the factory floor looks like no fun at all. However in the teambuild Custom Shop area they seemed to have a great time. The master builders are sequestered away each in their own area. My favorite guitar of the tour was a Telecaster made up like a White Falcon by one of the master builders. He called it the "White Chicken". Said the price would be $5k - $6k. Unfortunately to rich for me.

The coolest sight was the drying racks in the ceiling that can hold 7,000 guitar bodies.

Thanks to Grover for driving the bus, I had a great time!

 

[Mark Wein]

Mark I think you covered the pictures just fine! I was surprised at how much manual labor goes into each guitar. I assumed machines did more if it than they do.

Working on the factory floor looks like no fun at all. However in the teambuild Custom Shop area they seemed to have a great time. The master builders are sequestered away each in their own area. My favorite guitar of the tour was a Telecaster made up like a White Falcon by one of the master builders. He called it the "White Chicken". Said the price would be $5k - $6k. Unfortunately to rich for me.

The coolest sight was the drying racks in the ceiling that can hold 7,000 guitar bodies.

Thanks to Grover for driving the bus, I had a great time!

I dug the White CHicken too. SO ugly but so cool

Also cool was seeing Abigail Ybarra in her cubicle winding pickups when we got there.

 

[reverend1]

 

[Kerouac]

Not a single LPB body to be found?


Seriously though, that place looks awesome. I especially dug seeing the Jackson stuff. Plenty of guitars for Peeker to poke his eyes out with.

 

[Kerouac]

Not a single LPB body to be found?


Seriously though, that place looks awesome. I especially dug seeing the Jackson stuff. Plenty of guitars for Peeker to poke his eyes out with.

 

[Mark Wein]

The custom shop would have been fun but we couldn't take pictures. Lots of whacky shit there.

 

[mosiddiqi]

More modern CNC machines for wood shaping, for one thing. The older "pattern following" (I think they might also be what they call a "pin router") machines were pretty inconsistent as the tool heads would wear out I guess. IIRC they used to split the wood into grades and the nicer stuff went into MIA guitars (especially ones that you could see through a transparent finish) and the not so nice stuff went to solid colors and Mexico for the MIM instruments. They make all of the necks for Mexico there and the finishing is done in mexico so it's the same materials but much less time is spent on the MIM necks before they are considered "done".

Good to know, thanks!

 

[micwalt]

That is so cool.

 

[Punchy]

Very cool, Mark

 

[SpeedRacer]

Not a single LPB body to be found?

Actually there was a LPB P-bass hanging in the visitor center. It was one of the MIM Standards with a maple board. Totally awesome looking, sorry didn't get a pic. It was one of these:
http://www.fender.com/products/search.php?partno=0146100502

Our guide told me that soon you will be able to specify ANY finish on the American made series for a $200 - $300 extra charge. !!!

 

[Elias Graves]

A little different than the 59 video.

EG

 

[Mark Wein]

A little different than the 59 video.

EG

seriously.

 

[cuffdc]

Very cool tour. One of these days I'm going to get to the Martin factory; it's only an hour and a half from me.