How To Build A Fender Guitar

the Fender Stratocaster is a true American Icon a hitmaker extraordinaire and arguably the most influential and recognizable guitar of all time ask anyone on the street to draw an electric guitar and chances are they'll draw a Stratocaster the Strat remains an engineering Marvel it's a highly versatile instrument that changed the face of popular music and features on everything from surf pop Jazz country rock reggae and of course the blues to quot wrote Jimmy vaugh it'll do everything plus it looks cool Leo Fender and his team sought to build on the pioneering work they'd done with the Telecaster incorporating musician feedback to just make improvements to the body shape headstock and the bridge Don Randall Fender's head of sales felt threatened by the competing Elegance of Gibson's gold top lespol he described the Telly as a plain Jane instrument and challenged Leo Fender to up his design game and boy did he deliver this remarkable instrument celebrates its 70th Anniversary this year in January 2024 I traveled to Corona California to visit the fender Factory and see how strats are made I was lucky enough to be shown around by the master builder David Brown whose knowledge of the building process is Second To None So if you've ever wondered what goes on in the the buff and polish room or just who's had their hands around your neck then this is the video for you this is the fender factory [Music] [Music] tour [Music] [Music] we're getting ready to go into the mill which is one of the largest areas where our process takes place in um this is where the necks and the bodies are going to be processed and we'll go through the entire process uh without saying the word process again our journey begins in the mill a wood blank for the body is selected and cut out using a CNC machine to the correct shape and pickup routing for that particular model this will then be further shaped and finished by hand before it's made ready for prepaint some of the lengths that we go through in sorting wood and now mind you we're talking about Alder with this with this machine or this process this is an automated wood grain sorting machine if you look at these three pieces of wood they're clearly different in shade this is the darkest this one's a little bit lighter and this is the lightest piece when you put these two pieces together um especially when you're doing three-tone sombers you're going to notice the gradiation of the different shades of of wood so to combat that and make it more of a process that's automated this machine here counts and sorts the pieces and each one has its own number so this is piece number one this is piece number two this is piece number three and so on to number 25 I think they go through this process here where there's a camera it takes a picture of the grain then the computer matches them so it'll go piece number one number eight number 10 are exact matches so it puts those down and sends them down the line so that they're glued up in that order so that the person at the end of the uh of the line there is getting three match pieces that they are then going to glue together to make one of our body spreads for [Music] Alder [Music] so here we are in the body cutting section of the mill we're going to be using the same type of CNC machine to make the bodies we start off with a body spread and uh the output from this machine in particular is going to be this this is going to be obviously our American Vintage Mark I Stout ofter body so we still need to do the arm contour and what we call the belly cut on this body here still quite a lot of work the neck production is a little more complicated with over 31 individual steps before completion so the necks arrived in the way of these neck blanks that you see here this is going to be for a base and this is going to be a Rosewood fingerboard base neck because of the thickness we're going to add the thickness of the Rosewood fingerboard in order to make the proper thickness for a base neck the thicker ones are going to have they're going to be about an inch thick an inch 100,000 and that will be a all Maple neck first the neck blanks are selected these are routed for a trust rod and the fretboard wood is glued into place if different to the neck material it's then perimeter cut into the shape of a neck for a guitar or Bass next the radius is cut as is the back shape it might be a modern C large C soft v youu or one of the many other neck shapes Fender offer the radius and shape will be finished by by hand later on in the process to make sure it's perfect inlays and side dots are glued in and the fret wire is selected and cut before being hammered in by hand so you see this neck has already been Fred the side dots need to be installed and that's going to be all done in this area behind me um this is obviously going to be one of our large Peg head models it's got the American standard or the American professional style trust Rod biflex trust Rod 20 Frets and sorry 22 Frets and we're going to be doing a uh Notch here so that you have a shelf because our neck Pockets only go up to the 21st fret anything with 22 Frets will have a little shelf on it next let's take a look inside the metal shop where all the guitars Hardware is made it's here that Fender makes its bridges Saddles tremolo arms neck plates string trees and other parts like plastic back plates a good deal of the hard we pressed here will also be used in the Mexican Factory for Fender's Mexican range of guitars and bases many of these machines come from the original Fender Factory certain tools like these punch presses were used on the very first telecasters and strats in the 1950s and they're still being used today let me explain what a Dye is a Dye is a tooling that goes between the jaws of a punch press so this part back here down here gets attached to to the bottom of the punch press and then this piece here will be attached to the moving part when it comes down it presses shapes forms or Cuts whatever part we're happen to be making with dyes are used in the presses to create the shapes of Hardware pieces although some have worn out over time and needed to be replaced many of the originals are still in use if you see all the little station lines along the side of the bridge plate here on the back and on the other side those are all the marks that happen when you punch this into this shape this is the same die that we've used since 1951 so every Telecaster it doesn't matter what year has all these little telltale signs one of the companies that refurbishes the die once asked us hey you want me to get all the scratches out we told them no no don't do that that's part of the that's part of the Mojo of this part but I know it doesn't have anything to do with a strap but I just like to point it out because I think it's pretty neat we're very lucky to still have these machines in 1985 Bill Schultz led a group of 10 Fender employees who purchased the company back from CBS the initial deal was solely for the name IP and some parts the original feton Factory was not included but Schultz did a subsequent deal for the Machinery they're a vital part of Guitar History these look like they're Chrome plated but they are not they're polished stainless steel we take two dozen we clamp them up in this in this fixture here and then we start the polishing process quality craftsmanship means a lifelong journey of improvement the fine details matter every single saddle made here in the factory in Corona is still hand polished and every pit guard is finished by [Music] hand [Music] all right this this is the as far as we can go without requiring a special TYC suit to control the contamination or prevent contamination actually from going into our paint booths oh my God look at that aged Cadillac green so we do AG versions and um what we do is we try to replicate something that's been in a in a smoke filled Bar for a while or uh maybe it's been uh exposed to a little bit uh more UV light than normal and the Finish kind of gets faded a little bit um will sometimes do the effect underneath the pick guard so to replicate that effect not taking place underneath where the Finish is protected from ultraviolet light wow that is crazy what color is that super aged fire Miss silver with fire Miss gold burst once the guitar body has been painted in a secure chamber to avoid contamination it's dried and then sent to buff and polish where it's also finished by hand we were just in the in the uh paint area flro and now we are in the buff and polish room where all the bodies once they're dried and cured the ready to be sanded flat and buffed out to a nice shine and that's what's taking place in this area here so you see a lot of our employees will take a body for example this nice 57 Strat we start sanding the body smooth we want to make sure that that surface is nice and flat and then we're going to bring the shine back up so that's what all these folks are doing here it takes quite a while to learn this process and get it down to the where you can finesse and pretty much be able to gauge how thick the Finish is because if you sand too far if you sand past the clear coat you go into the color coat the whole thing need to be repainted again so you don't want to do that Fender relicing process is a closely guarded secret so no cameras allowed you'll just have to imagine what goes on in there here's where the necks and bodies come together at last it's now time for final assembly so here we are at the entrance of final assembly the bodies and necks that we just saw being buffed and Polished are now ready to be put together and finished off into these instruments that we all come to here to see all right so we have a neck obviously this is a strat neck Maple very nice and it's in this particular cubby here it has a number which coincides with the body that it belongs to on this side of the rack so the neck body prep area which is a very important step of the process takes place here this part here t takes quite a while to master simply because if this proc if this step is not done properly you will crack the finish at the neck body joint area which will require a refinishing of the whole body so we got to do it carefully we're going to talk briefly about intonation everybody that I'm speaking to probably knows what intonation is so I'm not going to go into the fine details of that but one wonders it's like well how do you intonate all these guitars all day long since we have to do so many and that's by using this little tool that we've manufactured here this is a uh a gauge that lands on the fingerboard and it shows us where the Saddles need to be so we don't even have to tune the guitar to uh get the intonation right and again obviously this is going to be for a guitar 25 1/2 in scale length and all the good stuff there intonation gauge final assembly we'll take care of installing the bridge wiring the pick guard putting the strings on and now this guitar will be sent down the line for the tune tester to do the final adjustments of the nut set the intonation adjust the action adjust the trust Rod making sure that that neck is nice and straight or has a little bit of a of a relief there before this guitar is sent off to our dealers after each guitar has been tune tested it's sent for a final inspection to make sure it's exactly as it should be after that they're boxed up and shipped out into the world so now now that we've seen the whole process take place all these instruments that have now been inspected they've been assembled they've been buffed they've been sanded they've been polished they've been played uh ready to be packed and shipped out to our various warehouses that we have throughout the world that takes place in this area here all the parts and components that are required to make this instrument now get put under one part number which is uh the the way we manage our inventory so when you're looking at the raw wood for the neck the raw wood for the body the raw materials for the Pickard all of that has to be counted and and and and uh counted for for each of these instruments so that we can uh put them all into one part number and uh send them off to our warehouses and then off they go to our dealers which then go off to you there are a few other special areas in this Factory that I want to show you the mod shop so the mod shop is uh the the latest version of uh what started out in the visitor center uh back in 2011 which was called the American design experience and uh the mod shop is now evolved into where you can go on our website start picking your options and choosing all the things that you want on your specially customade instrument and we put it together here inspected it's done in the same line that we do all our other production models and uh next thing you know you got a little notification on your cell phone telling you that hey there's a package out for delivery Fender knows that every player is different if you want to build your own bespoke model you can do that with the mod shop maybe you're a lefty with a hankering for a roasted Maple neck it's yours browse bodies pickups Bridges and fingerboards all with a few clicks of a button and delivered to your home within around 30 days or if you want something bespoke you can visit the custom [Music] shop [Music] [Music] Custom Shop team built is uh in this room and as you know with custom shop this is going to be the best of the best the processes that we saw in the production line are are going to be greatly condensed into one room here bodies and necks come in this way the bodies get processed on this side the necks will get process on that side each guitar starts its Journey with a spec sheet known as the floor traveler this document contains all the information for the finished guitar from the wood choice for the neck fingerboard and body the paint finish neck shape and fingerboard radius fret wire binding and fret marker dots as well as the pickup and wiring choices each floor traveler is printed out three times one copy will stay with the neck during its build one to stay with the body and one to stay with the hardware before all three are reunited for the final assembly here's a really nice 57 uh no this is going to be 54 and the way I can tell it's a 54 right off the bat is just by looking at the covers and these are rounded off and these are the smaller skirt knobs so this tells me this is a 54 let's check the paperwork shall we oh look at that 70th Anniversary 54 Strat very nice because you know 2024 marks the 70th anniversary of the Strat Caster I love this guitar I love the paint I love the color I love the finish that the treatment on this one is going to be a lush closet classic or Deluxe closet classic and the Finish is nice and shiny but it still has that old crackly look yeah know oh this is going to be a great year we have uh we're doing our own Masterbuilt uh version of these guitars and uh I can't wait this is going to be a lot of fun and uh hopefully all you folks there will have a chance to enjoy these instruments out there out there in the wild as we call it a Fender custombuilt guitar is specifically suited to your needs your style and individual tastes with parts not available on the standard production line these limited edition models carry the weight of fenders in incredible history behind them if you've always wanted your Guitar Hero's Strat but with a Slimmer neck or jumbo Frets they can make it so so now that you've seen the team built area and custom shop we are now entering the master build section of the custom shop where I am one of the Master Builders here Master Built now this is where the magic really happens if you want to put together the truly one-of-a-kind guitar of your dreams you can work one-on-one with a master builder the very best that Fender has to offer they're described as part Craftsman part artist part music fan and more often than not part mad scientist these guys live breathe and dream guitars there is no higher Pinnacle of achievement I do sanding here I do um staining here and I put together stuff over on this side and uh I do it all here and uh in this little space it's pretty neat I uh I really really love my job here and uh being able to do this for living uh for all these years and uh and being at this level is just fantastic I I can't I just can't describe how neat it is and uh especially building guitars that I really really love like the Strater it's uh it's a total dream come true each master builder has their own specially designed Studio on any given day they could be working on something for Nile Rogers John 5 Eric Clapton Joe Bonamassa or Paul McCartney the skill on show here is second to none it was an honor to meet these Master Builders it's definitely made me aware of just how much is possible and how much attention to detail has gone into some of my favorite artists guitars thank you so much to fender for making me so welcome to David Brown for being an absolute star on camera and so happy and Charming to work with when you're talking tone there's no other company other than Fender that knows what they're doing and one of our secrets I'm going to let you know is two Coke cans and a water bottle trick in the back of the amp gets the tone just right just kidding it's not a big thank you to all the workers who put up with me hovering over them with a camera and a very happy 70th birthday to the Stratocaster thank you for the the music but as always I will be seeing you here again very [Music] [Music] soon

Channel: Mary Spender

Views: 238,549

Keywords: Andertons, Andertons Music, Andertons TV, fender, fender factory tour, fender factory, behind the scenes at fender, fender usa, fender custom shop, the captain, danish pete, fender namm 2020, Fender stratocaster, Fender Telecaster, Fender Basses, fender guitars, fender american, behind the scenes, factory tour, Mary Spender, Master Builder, Fender, Strat, Guitar, Electric Guitar

Id: YxHeYjEPvI4

Length: 21min 21sec (1281 seconds)

Published: Sun Mar 24 2024