Fender Factory Tour 1950's - COMPLETE

[@MegaTubescreamer]

An incredible historical record of events from the fender era, thank you so much for sharing this, and thanks to the folks who preserved it too, and thank heavens Leo had the presence of mind to record it on film, its absolutely a treasure,and a pleasure to witness Leo`s legacy😎👍

[@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.

[@killereverb3928]

That was truly Outta This World!!! Loved it. I was born and raised in Fender Country. I’ve loved Fenders amps guitars my whole life. Proudly

[@tonyhills2112]

Fantastic! Thanks for sharing!

[@tombradley4844]

Great American history, thanks from across the pond!.

[@nugeman7779]

This would be a great story for a film

[@michaelblake5064]

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

[@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 ??

[@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).

[@evetsnitram8866]

I got a Musicmaster and a Vibro Champ amp that year for Christmas. I still remember pulling the guitar out of the box that was as tall as I was when I was seven. They're both long gone.

[@thegoodguy44]

I love seeing these kinds of comments.

[@peteflynnPAF]

Spectacular. Thank you!

[@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.

[@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.

[@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!

[@allguitar3349]

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

[@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,

[@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.

[@duanewelsh5611]

Excellent video. Thanks for sharing this with us!

[@xa9590]

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

[@seabertotter4325]

Absolutely wonderful!

[@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

[@jimilee459]

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

[@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.

[@garymiller531]

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

[@copperaudio9664]

Fantastic footage - Thanks.

[@IPLAYLOUD]

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

[@richardbartolo2890]

There is no question Gibson makes a great guitar even if only based on the amount of musicians who play Gibsons. But there is something about Fender guitars, from the very minute my friend opened the case of his 1960's sunburst Strat with a maple neck. It's a memory that will never leave my mind. It instantly became the guitar for me. And I try to keep an open mind and play other brands. I own an Gibson S G. But when I play out I always bring my Fender.

[@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

[@fendushi]

Thank you!

[@froter1]

Thanks for the upload 👍

[@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.

[@Chiller11]

Spraying on the paint or applying the nitrocellulose lacquer with no protective gear. Then everyone goes out for a smoke break. Ah the 50’s.

[@kelalamusic9258]

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

[@gearjammin_bluesman]

Thanks for sharing!

[@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.

[@MitchMasterMusic]

So Cool Thank you

[@SanplerVarondaro]

que buen video saludos desde mexico amigos

[@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

[@giulioluzzardi7632]

Find more pics and films please.

[@robertfoster1339]

Kept watching expecting to see Buddy Merrill at some point both he and Speedy are two of my favorites on steel guitar

[@Greg-rc2ix]

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

[@burtreynolds2969]

Spraying all that lacquer without respirators. Times have changed.

[@AlbertoMartinezDelRio]

Great document!

[@Aliernshake66]

Thank you

[@shable1436]

The fact you know the names is Golden, I've watched all the old vids, and was guessing who each one was, but their family members commented so it helped, but i still did research and found out more ppls names, Gloria, Josephina, ybarra

[@curtisprice9806]

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

[@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!

[@sharonlee4773]

So is the 65 neck bigger than even the 50s neck then?

[@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.

[@davidrussell8918]

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

[@sharonlee4773]

That was awesome but what on earth is a 'pocket protector' please?

[@Chiller11]

Pocket protector was a plastic pocket that you would slip into your shirt pocket. It served as sort of a protective liner. You then clipped your pens, pencils or maybe a protractor inside your pocket protector. It would protect your shirt if a pen leaked or so the point of the protractor wouldn’t punch a hole in your pocket. They were popular among engineers and the like. You can see it in the film as the white thing in his shirt pocket.

[@sharonlee4773]

@@Chiller11 Thanks so for that. Must be an American thing!

[@everythingiseverything6740]

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

[@thedevilinthecircuit1414]

Before Forrest White came into the picture, Leo had no inventory control; everything was in cardboard cartons and barrels, all stacked willy-nilly in whatever floorspace there was available.

[@massimofamularo1976]

fascinating...

[@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!

[@f1s2hg3]

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

[@skinner5334]

Neato!

[@dingdang3845]

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

[@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

[@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

[@chrisb3976]

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

[@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.

[@skylaneav8r902]

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

[@philipgreenegreene3454]

I got my first electric guitar in 1964. It was a third hand 1954 strat.

[@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.

[@nizodizo9549]

Bring back the Lucite Stratocaster.

[@kynoceph]

And rhe chiropractor to go with...

[@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

[@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.

[@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?

[@jkauffman58]

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

[@f1s2hg3]

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

[@McFlyGuitarsandStuff]

So 'hand made'.

[@ThomasDeLello]

How do you know so much about Leo Fender...? You don't sound like you can be that old.

[@shable1436]

Sure green bullet for the warehouse mic😂

[@wolfstream1]

Do you realise how thin People were back then?

[@pavanatanaya]

that boat looks like that chrysler

[@aquatak]

If there was an original sound....

[@GuitarlosCarlos]

TAKE ME AWAY CALGON

[@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??

[@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

[@Turboy65]

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

[@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!

[@charlesjaphe]

thank you