# Fender Factory video - 1959



## YJMUJRSRV (Jul 17, 2007)

gone fishing


----------



## urko99 (Mar 30, 2009)

Amazing footage! I really liked the guy on the bandsaw. He new what he was doing.


----------



## shoretyus (Jan 6, 2007)

Not a dust mask or respirator to be seen. Loved the shot using yankee screwdrivers.


----------



## bagpipe (Sep 19, 2006)

Great footage - thanks for posting. Its interesting that they seemed to be making as many lap steels as they were guitars.


----------



## ajcoholic (Feb 5, 2006)

Yup, band saws, pin routers, sanders - just like any other woodworking shop. I have always said, guitar making is just woodworking.

So much mystique and awe go is awarded to the old guitars made on typical "old school" production equipment, so much so that a slight bobble with the router is recreated today on CS instruments, in order to make it look "hand made" VS a CNC machine (which should never make such an error).

Today, many players probably tend not to remember that Leo Fender was just a guy, trying to make a buck by finding something to mass produce as cheaply as possible that would work. Slab body, neck made from a slab as well, all from standard size wood already cut for the furniture industry. Easily manufactured on stock machinery, by people who didnt have to be master craftsman.

But it all worked out well, didnt it 

AJC


----------



## ajcoholic (Feb 5, 2006)

urko99 said:


> Amazing footage! I really liked the guy on the bandsaw. He new what he was doing.


I wonder how many of the same Strat bodies he cut out in his time there... ?


----------



## fraser (Feb 24, 2007)

nice video! thanks for sharing this.


----------



## shoretyus (Jan 6, 2007)

ajcoholic said:


> I wonder how many of the same Strat bodies he cut out in his time there... ?


Hmm.. say a minute or two per body...... Same guy was cutting necks to.


----------



## GuitarsCanada (Dec 30, 2005)

Thats wild


----------



## dtsaudio (Apr 15, 2009)

Great footage. But my how things have changed. I work in a manufacturing plant, and you could never get away with the safety standards today.
No glasses, hearing protection, gloves, women in skirts with jewellry on etc, etc.
The guy on the bandsaw was great. Looks like he had all his fingers. That was a fairly dangerous job.


----------



## YJMUJRSRV (Jul 17, 2007)

gone fishing


----------



## ajcoholic (Feb 5, 2006)

Woodworking machinery is like anything else - with proper training, practice/experience and constant awareness it is pretty safe. But I have met many tradesmen in the woodworking field missing digits. I dont care to join that crowd!

I had my worst two accidents believe it or not on the bandsaw (as a teen ager during a moment of not paying attention, nearly lost a thumb), and with the edge sander. A brand new 60 grit belt can do wonders for the back of your fingers/nuckles...

Always be aware, never daydream and expect the unexpected... but at the same time you cant be frightened of operating the equipment.

AJC


----------



## Fader (Mar 10, 2009)

When ever I turn one on, I keep reminding myself "the band-saw was invented for cutting meat".

And I agree Ontario is safety stupid now.


----------



## Presto1202 (Dec 8, 2010)

That's some awesome footage. We shouldn't assume just because something was older it's automatically better. Although I do think there might be something to aging wood, but beyond that some instruments today are built just as well. 

This just makes me want to go build my own guitar. lol


----------



## Jim DaddyO (Mar 20, 2009)

ajcoholic said:


> Yup, band saws, pin routers, sanders - just like any other woodworking shop. I have always said, guitar making is just woodworking.
> 
> So much mystique and awe go is awarded to the old guitars made on typical "old school" production equipment, so much so that a slight bobble with the router is recreated today on CS instruments, in order to make it look "hand made" VS a CNC machine (which should never make such an error).
> 
> ...


Well said, people look at me like I have 2 heads sometimes when I cannot see $2000 in a strat or tele. The way it was designed from the get go was to be a mass produced, inexpensive instrument. I have a hard time comprehending all the different "models" of strats. But then I guess in my day, you just went out and played a bunch of them to see which one you bonded with, they were all just "strats" and "teles"

Thanks for the vid, really cool. I notice that it is just a bunch of folks, like you and me, going to work at the "factory" every day. Could be building cars, or appliances, or anything else. Just so happens, they made a legend.


----------



## shoretyus (Jan 6, 2007)

Fader said:


> When ever I turn one on, I keep reminding myself "the band-saw was invented for cutting meat".
> 
> And I agree Ontario is safety stupid now.


Ha my bandsaw is a meat saw... and I cut our xmas turkey in half this year. There are some tools that the guards get in the way.


----------



## YJMUJRSRV (Jul 17, 2007)

gone fishing


----------



## YJMUJRSRV (Jul 17, 2007)

gone fishing


----------



## Matthew (Jan 19, 2009)

That was awesome! I think one of the women at the pick up winding machine is still there and Guys like Clapton only want a pick up that has been wired by her....and ya, bandsaw guy rules.


----------

