Building Stringmasters, Strats and Tele's circa 1959

William Clark · Post by **William Clark** » 14 Jan 2011 1:18 pm

Cool film of early Fender guitar production including Stringmasters, Deluxe Steels, Strats and Tele's. I love the pile of tweed amps in their boxes ready for shipment!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nswcAPvH0P8

Enjoy!!

Bill

David Eastwood · Post by **David Eastwood** » 14 Jan 2011 4:30 pm

That was fascinating... can't begin to think what OSHA would make of it these days.

Steve Branscom · Post by **Steve Branscom** » 14 Jan 2011 4:36 pm

Loved the "Yankee screwdrive" at 2:00.

Doug Beaumier · Post by **Doug Beaumier** » 14 Jan 2011 6:15 pm

Wow! what an amazing video. I'm impressed by all the "hand work" done at the factory.

It looks like a pretty informal work atmosphere!

Randy Reeves · Post by **Randy Reeves** » 15 Jan 2011 5:57 am

thanks for the video. yeah, I noticed all the hand work too. I was very impressed with the free hand work on the band saw. that guy just ran that headstock right thru. amazing. didn't see any templates, CNC machines. very cool.

George Piburn · Post by **George Piburn** » 15 Jan 2011 8:40 am

Jay Fagerlie · Post by **Jay Fagerlie** » 15 Jan 2011 10:15 am

That is so cool.
Does anybody know the names of any of these people?
I'd love to see the amp side of the factory....

Jay

Steinar Gregertsen · Post by **Steinar Gregertsen** » 15 Jan 2011 11:52 am

Doug Beaumier wrote:

Cool, mine's a 59/60, could it be..........?

It sure has come a long way from hot and sunny California..

Jay Fagerlie · Post by **Jay Fagerlie** » 15 Jan 2011 11:57 am

Same thing here Steiner- I have a '59 Princeton....that's why I'd like to see the amp side of the factory from 1959

Jay

Doug Beaumier · Post by **Doug Beaumier** » 15 Jan 2011 1:06 pm

That is so cool.
Does anybody know the names of any of these people?

I'll bet Jody Carver knows them!

Adam Gejdos · Post by **Adam Gejdos** » 15 Jan 2011 1:55 pm

Awesome video.
I'm wondering if one of the women winding pickups is Abigail Ybarra. She was the main winder there and thought of as an icon by today's Fenderheads.

Mike Neer · Post by **Mike Neer** » 15 Jan 2011 2:15 pm

Abigail is in the video at 5:58 and so is Freddie Tavares (at the end).

Much better with the sound off.

David Eastwood · Post by **David Eastwood** » 15 Jan 2011 2:47 pm

Mike Neer wrote: Much better with the sound off.

Yes, that did get a little wearing, didn't it...

Bill Creller · Post by **Bill Creller** » 15 Jan 2011 8:27 pm

I wonder which one is Mary, the lady who signed my dual Pro.......

Ralph Czitrom · Post by **Ralph Czitrom** » 16 Jan 2011 4:38 am

The footage posted is much of the same footage which was on a DVD which accompanies the "Leo Fender Centennial Edition" of "Fender, The Sound Heard Round the World", by Richard R. Smith. This edition was published in 2009. The book is all I could have asked for (great pictures and text) and DVD is narrated by Mr. Smith, who is the curator at the Fullerton Museum Center. A real treat for Fender fans and definitely worth the $25 I plunked down for it. BTW,the DVD says that the factory tour footage is from 1957.

John Dahms · Post by **John Dahms** » 16 Jan 2011 9:05 am

"BTW,the DVD says that the factory tour footage is from 1957."
That makes sense since the Stratocaster has a 2 color sunburst not a three color with red.

Larry Chung · Post by **Larry Chung** » 16 Jan 2011 10:53 am

Very cool, indeed. I noticed the absence of any bandages or other hand/finger related injuries. Shocking, really. I seem to draw blood every time I even change strings! (:

Thanks for posting this, it's wonderful to see real instruments being made by real people in real moving color images.

LC

Tom Wolverton · Post by **Tom Wolverton** » 17 Jan 2011 9:38 am

I love the scuba facemask that one guy had on his forehead. Must use it when his eyes start to hurt.