Fender Factory Tour 1950's - COMPLETE

In this up load I have amalgamated parts one and two of the
'Original Fender Factory Tour of the 1950's' ..narrated by Mr Richard Smith
(curator)for the Fullerton Museum Center.
This takes behind the scenes of the most revered sites in American Guitar making History. Bonus footage of some extraordinary Guitarist's of the period (no Audio unfortunately )and a NAMM show of old ..
This is the most complete film document of the Factory to date..
sit back and enjoy a walk in Electric Guitar History!!
All rights reserved to the original publishers footage
compiled and uploaded in the interest's of educational purposes.

[@IPLAYLOUD]

Man with the scarf around his neck at 19:34 is Eddie Cletro. Leo gave him a Desert Sand Strat with a full Rosewood neck in 1957.

[@chrisb3976]

Im glad he can tell what was in the film because it was blurry.

[@hobonickel840]

Great stuff.. Made me think of how cool it would have been to have had a video of your custom hand built Fender guitar being created above and beyond how cool it would be to just have a fender from that era. If you have a custom guitar built in 2024 you definitely should get a video for the price you're paying

[@vkgraphics]

Thanks for this insight into the history of the company. I love my strat and its about the only guitar i feel comfortable with. Leo was a great man, thanks for everything Leo.

[@michaelblake5064]

What a jewell!! So glad he filmed!!!

[@stratocaster1greg]

Thank You Sir. That was so interesting. I hope to own a pre CBS stratocaster someday. Great video. I do own a Fender Rhodes rotating speaker cabinet thats the only one I ever saw.

[@Aliernshake66]

Thank you

[@tombradley4844]

Great American history, thanks from across the pond!.

[@peteflynnPAF]

Spectacular. Thank you!

[@curtisprice9806]

A SHORT MOVIE IS WORTH A MILLION WORDS.....ABSOLUTELY INCREDIBLE TO BE ABLE TO SEE THIS! WONDERFUL ❤

[@guitarstevie2]

Excellent! I totally enjoyed that glimpse into the history of Leo Fender. You did a great job with the narration too. I got my first Fender on Christmas in 1964, and I still have it. Thank you.

[@BRLaue]

That is very cool. I lusted for a ‘64 strat back in the day but it took me fifty years to finally get one. Good on you for holding on to that axe.

[@Al-thecarhistorian]

How cool. My parents purchased my Fender Super Reverb for me in October of 1965. Still have it (including all 4 original speakers).

[@timothybailey2119]

That was Forrest's desk, next to the secretaries. Forrest took pictures of everything, and continued to through his time at MusicMan. I knew Leo and Forrest from the late 1970's-1980's when Forrest ran Musicman, and Leo started G&L. Forrest was originally hired to setup Inventory control and to manage the plant for Leo. He was eventually Leo's VP at Fender. Prior to 1955 Fender was a boutique shop.

[@guitarsofold100]

Did you know Tom Walker ??

[@allguitar3349]

Absolutely awesome.... to think where some of these went and made music history is so cool...

[@nugeman7779]

This would be a great story for a film

[@jimilee459]

Wow, that’s a little piece of important history right there, thank you.

[@kelalamusic9258]

If only those movies had sound. How incredibly awesome would that be.

[@wayneorendorff5657]

Rich, rich, rich 16mm film history of Leo and friends! The various RH and LH picking/fingering techniques of these 1950's Masters is something great to behold. Seeing the complete joy of those manufacturing Pioneers playing guitars together lets us know their zeal was rooted in right cause to make guitars that would unite people together wonderfully. Mine eyes have seen the glory!

[@gearjammin_bluesman]

Thanks for sharing!

[@copperaudio9664]

Fantastic footage - Thanks.

[@froter1]

Thanks for the upload 👍

[@duanewelsh5611]

Excellent video. Thanks for sharing this with us!

[@garymiller531]

That was awesome! Thanks so much for posting this video!

[@nicholasnelson4971]

It’s interesting to see that old machinery. Still used today. As Leo did back in the early 1950s. You just don’t mess with perfection.

[@johnhulsker9123]

Thank you very much! Came to the States in 57 from Europe, got my first taste of Spanish electric, thank's for the memories,

[@rogerbranton1752]

Really incredible! Just a day-in-the-life for the people in the film, I suppose - but a real piece of History in 2021! Thanks for posting it, John.

[@fendushi]

Thank you!

[@AlbertoMartinezDelRio]

Great document!

[@cpres1980]

Always wanted a old tele/strat... I did purchase a 1951 Deluxe 6 lap steel which looks like these ladies are working on @11:35.. Very cool to see!! thank you

[@hairlab_dc4417]

It's interesting how much Fender's old process resembles the way guitars were built in Asia just a few years ago. (Check out the many "factory tour"vids) CNC seems to have taken over everywhere over the past few years, whichundoubtedly improves overall average quality but eliminates the chances of "happy accidents" that create guitars that somehow sound way better than most. Since I can't afford a 50's strat this vid makes me want to buy an old Tokai or Fernandes, which were probably made with similar tools and techniques.

[@xa9590]

Such a cool video. I’d do anything to experience the 40s and 50s

[@IPLAYLOUD]

Dickie Phillips is playing the Strat sitting down at 17:25, not Thumbs Carlisle.

[@solarismoon3046]

George Fullerton's dad was cutting out a STRAT body at 6:55. 10:05 he is sanding a STRAT body. I'd figure someone that wrote a book about Fender guitars would know what he's looking at. Abigail Ybarra at 11:22 sanding a body, 11:50 and at 12:22 winding pickups. She Retired in 2012 and came back to wind the 2014 Fender Stratocaster pickups for the 60th Anniversary guitars. 17:15 - he's playing the Strat sitting down. Jeff Healey played with his hands over the top of the neck just like this. Of course he was blind but sat down to play guitar. Jimmy Webster played jazz and did mainly harmonic patterns - meaning that the way he played wasn't exactly the two handed tapping that Eddie Van Halen perfected in the seventies. What Jimmy Webster played was tapping the notes and sliding his fingers up the neck. He only played this is somewhat pentatonic scale or diatonic with only a few notes difference whereas Eddie played chromatic scales and diatonic once in a mixolydian mode. I don't know how old this video is but it's been a LONG TIME AGO because most of the people if not all of them in it are dead. Also worth noting is there are several dozen people that made Fender the company that it is today. Sadly as of this writing (August 2022) Fender Musical Instruments just laid off 100 people. Thank you to whoever posted this video.

[@joshuajkoplin]

You’re wrong Fullertons Dad was cutting out a P Bass body. It’s clearly much bigger than a Strat.

[@solarismoon3046]

@@joshuajkoplin Um - NO! The reason that this looks bigger is because of the size of the wood blank and not because it was a precision bass body. You need to watch this video again. I've been a luthier for over thirty years - I know my guitars.

[@KeritechElectronics]

Hey, thanks for this film and insightful commentary - I absolutely love it. Makes me wish I was one of these girls, making guitars one day, wiring amps another. All this while having the opportunity to learn, ending up designing and prototyping stuff. That is, if the cancer from asbestos or paint fumes wouldn't get me first, haha. That's lotsa thousands of kilometers away, and seventy years back in time... 10:25 smokin' in the boys room back in the pre-OSHA days, LOL

[@rjrguitar]

That 1957 Lucite Stratocaster surfaced in the late 1980's at John Sprung's guitar shop in Maryland. The gold hardware was replaced with regular hardware, wherein John was looking at that time for gold hardware for the guitar. I got to hold the guitar...it weighed a whopping 18 pounds...very cool.

[@keithclark486]

What kind of strings and do you think heavy gage strings could have contributed to the weight ?

[@rjrguitar]

@@keithclark486 - My guess is that the strings contributed no more than 2 or 3 pounds to the weight of the guitar...

[@Greg-rc2ix]

Thanks too cool Fullerton memory Lane I'm a fender junkie

[@massimofamularo1976]

fascinating...

[@Bobbydawriter]

Absolutely mesmerizing. And just to add some provenance to the story, I lived in Orange County during the 1960s and my aunts, uncles, and cousins had a big house in Fullerton just off of Chapman.

[@SanplerVarondaro]

que buen video saludos desde mexico amigos

[@davidrussell8918]

Great film, could only wonder what we would have heard if there was audio.

[@beatlesrgear]

Is that Abagail Ybarra @ 8:38? The thing that confounds me is how much the necks changed every year. I went and felt the necks of Stratocasters 1954-1965 and every one of them felt different. 1960-1963 were my favourites because they were the thinnest necks of all. I hated the 1955-1958 because they were fat boat necks. the 1964 was fatter than the 1963, and 1965 was fatter than 1964. Ha! 30:30 Jimmy Webb doing two hand tapping in June 1957. Eddie van Halen said he invented this technique. Big liar. I know Jeff Beck was doing it in 1963, but apparently, Jimmy Webb was way ahead of him.

[@guitarsofold100]

I think it is Abigail .... Even Gibson and Epiphone came deal necks all over the shop as to thickness! As a Beatles freak I tried three Casino's all had thick necks except for the one settled o and it had a thin Rivera neck with two different serial numbers!! and head stock inlay it would be worth a bonb today!

[@giulioluzzardi7632]

Find more pics and films please.

[@Daniel_Antonio_Arellano782]

I wouldn't fit in a jacket from 30 years ago. I weighed 135 pounds soaking wet. Now I have gotten to 170-190 lbs

[@burtreynolds2969]

Spraying all that lacquer without respirators. Times have changed.

[@skinner5334]

Neato!

[@icanhearyoufull]

Wow.....they didnt know that every strat they built cost 100.000 Dollar on every auction in 2022.....230 Dollar in 1954 was also a lot.....wow

[@dingdang3845]

I didn’t think about the lack of lung protection. That part is crazy looking back. But who really knew as much 🤷‍♂️

[@everythingiseverything6740]

Great insight into the Fender factory. How many Fender guitars have been made since the beginning?

[@f1s2hg3]

Seasonal work is still here for the most part people have two jobs

[@violetronic]

the touch technic shown at the end of the video can also bee seen in a Marx Brothers film .the guybdoes it on a banjo and you won't believe the song he's playing

[@andrewkoastephens210]

I hope there’s a version of this with Abigail narrating and whoever else is still alive. It’d be interesting to hear what they would have to say. Also, I know smoking is pretty uncool and all but apparently it was an important ingredient to what makes the early fender instruments special. I was hoping to see one of the electric violins being made. An oddball beautiful instrument.

[@kenbash2951]

Based on the headstock decal on the Stratocasters in this video- video was most likely filmed in 1955 or 1956. By1957 the decal had been moved further out on the headstock. My guess 1955-56 probably not 1957.

[@iansnyder274]

yup...the necks look like 55 or 56'...by 57 they were thinner at the nut for sure.

[@kenbash2951]

@@iansnyder274 The decal placement is the clue- it changed in 1957.

[@iansnyder274]

@@kenbash2951 ah Good catch!

[@skylaneav8r902]

That was not Thumbs Carlisle playing the Stratocaster on his lap. Thumbs was right-handed.

[@terryshrk]

It was a very very very different country in a very different era. Everyone smoking cigarettes was a super common behavior/ and normal part of the culture. No osha Standards or safety oversight anywhere ! Interesting how when you think abouthtis,..it also shows how the more modern modular design of the fender designs meant that you didnt always have to have seasoned craftsman and journey men in training making these instruments. Im suer this was something that wasn't lost on Gibson,.whom most likely had far far fewer "seasonal" workers due to their solid body designs being a sort of extension of what thy'ed ben doing for decades. I wonder what they'd say if they knew their surviving instruments would fetch new car money in the decades to come.

[@f1s2hg3]

History is great and Leo Fender is a great American please save me a copy of that and make it for sale then you’ll be a millionaire over night

[@pavanatanaya]

that boat looks like that chrysler

[@f1s2hg3]

I guess we are expected to know what J&L is maybe Jones & Laughlin

[@newfreenayshaun6651]

Lmao. I just picked up my red Fender HH to do some pickin when this came up in my feed. Jimi, SRV, KWS, Frampton, Clapton and so many other great players could compare this place to willy wonkas chocolate factory or six-flags.

[@nizodizo9549]

Bring back the Lucite Stratocaster.

[@kynoceph]

And rhe chiropractor to go with...

[@jkauffman58]

K & F lap steel guitar were great. Nod to Clayton Orr Kauffman.

[@aquatak]

If there was an original sound....

[@Turboy65]

I'd like to see this sharpened up with AI and reposted in its sharper form.

[@GuitarlosCarlos]

TAKE ME AWAY CALGON

[@bobloomis246]

Wow. It took a lot of talented folks to make the brand work. Should maybe be retitled, "the women of Fender"?

[@guitarsofold100]

They are unsung hero's of the guitar industry The same was at G&L when I visited them in the 90's

[@McFly-guitars-n-stuff]

So 'hand made'.

[@raatroc]

Funny how nowadays we don't like Mexican strats, while back in the time it looks that only Mexicans were working in Leo's factory. How time changes!

[@stephenlennartz3466]

LOVE my new Vintera Tele which is MIM! It's a 70s Deluxe-- sunburst with dual humbuckers and oh-so-comfy thinner neck. I've had many guitars over the years but this guitar is THE BEST guitar I've ever played. I debuted it two weeks ago at a winery gig and it covered all the bases beautifully-- rock, pop, Motown, reggae & more. I'll take this out instead of my '74 Les Paul, Strat Elite, and others. Sounds & plays great. Highly recommended!

[@MarkBarna1]

Now we have white guys in the Custom Shop trying to replicate the work of seasonal guitar builders with little experience. The masterbuilt guitars, built mostly by white guys, can cost $10k and have cult-like status among collectors. Life is funny.

[@Guitaural.]

Maybe I missed something - looked liked a lot of white guys (the narrator knew many of them) and housewives to me.

[@tyedollasign4034]

Mim strats are very popular and sought after, what are you talking about. Indonesia and China are the most unpopular

[@stuart8663]

@@MarkBarna1 Glad you got that little rant off your chest. Is that an assumption about who is working in the Fender factory now - or have you personally been there to count age and gender and ethnicity? There were quite a number of white appearanced men and women in the film, by the way. Who cares?

[@wolfstream1]

Do you realise how thin People were back then?

[@vintageguitarz1]

Jesus! HOW MANY MORE TIMES is this ancient amateur video, whether in multiple parts or continuous (and there ARE OTHER Full length versions) going to be uploaded onto YouBoobTube??? I've counted 52 different channels with THE SAME FOOTAGE, and I haven't finished counting! ENOUGH ALREADY!!

[@guitarsofold100]

did you enjoy it??

[@gnatiu]

Yeah. Seems that was a pretty simple, shitty shag of mostly non-trained people in a time when there was no decent competition around. Yawn.

[@guitarsofold100]

I am glad you liked it It is Electric guitar HISTORY!

[@gnatiu]

@@guitarsofold100 To you. To me it is the beginning of an urban legend.

[@AlexGudkov]

Thank you!