My mother (Ione Lambert) was Leo Fender's secretary back in those days. My step father to be (Russ Green) also worked there.

Sir- my parents are both in the video. My father is cutting guitar necks and my mother working on a lap steel in the film. I remember my dad telling me he had been on television once while working at Fender, but I think that was a different film from this because he did not mention mom being filmed. They told me some interesting stories about Leo and their times there at the Fender factory.

@AlienSexGod

5 жыл бұрын

Yeah? So what was interesting? You said "They told me some interesting stories about Leo and their times there at the Fender factory." If they were so interesting why didn't you share them?

@coenfilm

5 жыл бұрын

You ought to buy the book by Forrest White who was probably your fathers supervisor. The Fender Inside Story by Forrest White. Page 98 discusses how a TV show came to Fender. That is probably what he referred to.

@spiritof76forever81

5 жыл бұрын

coenfilm cool to know. I will check it out! Thanks.

@uyngane

5 жыл бұрын

Cuz he’s writing a “comment”, not a book.

@glennevans5824

5 жыл бұрын

Really cool....they both worked there at the inception of the Giant it became👍

Wow! My mother in law, Linda Ohana, is in this video at 14:30, with the soldering iron, a decade before my husband was born. Thank you very much for posting this precious footage.

@whiskeywhiskeyromeo3730

2 жыл бұрын

Wow...that would be cool ....she is lovely

@spiritof76forever81

Жыл бұрын

Awesome that you are able to see her here! I was thrilled to see may parents in this film when I discovered it online after looking for years for it to be posted. I am glad you have posted her name here and hope you can tell us more about her.

@pittsa5919

Жыл бұрын

What a nice piece of history..

@gabrieln3613

10 ай бұрын

As a pro musician I have owned quite a few of the Fender Tweed covered amps made during this period of 1950 to 1960 and quite a few in the 1957 to 1959 years. When the ladies like your mother-in-law would finish wiring/soldering they would sign their name to a small piece of masking tape, with a pencil, and place there inside the back on the lower right side, on the bottom of the inside but facing up so you could see who wired it. The main names I have seen in my amplifiers and others from the period were "Lily" (my favorite/best amps have been by Lily), and Lupe....as the main two I have seen. I believe I have seen a "Rachel" also. Sometimes the little piece of tape is gone but it's been amazing how often that little tape has stayed intact even some 50 plus years later. I just sold an amp, 1959 Fender Bassman, dated April of 1959, just last year and it was a "Lily" amp.

@raeleohana8797

9 ай бұрын

@@gabrieln3613 That is very cool. To think of their names living on that way inside these amps. I wonder if Lily, like my MIL, is still with us. But we know her work is, and that it's much appreciated. :)

So awesome! That’s why I love vintage instruments! They all did a great job, all by hand!

I have several vintage Fender amps from the late 40's and 50's. Most of the electronics were installed by women, mostly hispanic. They would write their names on freezer tape and stick it to the inside the chassis. I always thought was so cool. I still have them and will not remove the tape. Part of history.

@gabrieln3613

10 ай бұрын

Yes! I have owned about 9 original Fender Bassmans from 1957 to 1960, as well as several Pro's, Deluxe's, etc. The most common ones I have seen on the little masking tape they signed was "Lily" (my best amps have been by Lily) and "Lupe" and I believe I have see a few "Rachel" too.

@anthonyrichard461

10 ай бұрын

@@gabrieln3613 I have a few Lupe's as well. So cool

@gabrieln3613

10 ай бұрын

@@anthonyrichard461 Unfortunately due to economics I had to sell my original Fender tweed Amps. Right now I use a replica, built with new & vintage parts, of the 5F6-A Tweed Bassman and done in 2 days will be a replica (new & vintage parts) of the 5E& 3 x 10" Tweed Bandmaster....it has 1959 Triad Choke and 3 1959 original blue Jensen P10R & Q speakers along with NOS PIO caps, etc. and hoping it will sound as good as the replica Bassman.

@anthonyrichard461

10 ай бұрын

@@gabrieln3613 I have no original Tweed Bassmans but I have a hand built 59 Bassman 5F6? circuit from probably the best local amp tech. It's amazing. Has the eminence alnico speakers. I also have a custom built 5E3 Deluxe and an original 59/60 5E3 Tweed. Not so sure the new doesn't sound better? Have a 57/58 Harvard, 59/60 Tremolux, 53 Pro with Original Jensen 15" a 59 Super 2/10 and the four deluxes, 2 each 49/50 TV fronts, 53 wide panel and the 5E3. I'm a lucky man.

Incredible !!! no words can describe how much I enjoyed this video! I'm the proud owner of a 56 CS "Mary Kaye" Strat. Ill watch this over & over!!! Every guitar is slightly different and plays/sounds different which is a good thing. My Dad graduated in 57 from high school. Fender defined the sound of electric guitars!!!

American history beautiful!

This is THE Fender custom shop before there was a Custom Shop. And more custom than the Custom Shop. Amazing stuff.

@markmcdonald5711

Жыл бұрын

The G&L factory is still right down the street on Fender Ave, they still make them the old fashioned way but with modern machines. I went by there and told them I have two G&L guitars and the plant manager gave me a tour and showed me Leo's old workshop.

Fender AMPS FROM THAT ERA 😮😮😮😮 Ive heard two MIND BLOWN SO CLEAN AND LOUD 😊

You know your stuff. Thanks for sharing.

Wow! It's hard to believe that my 1958 Strat was probably built and painted by some of these same people! Thank you so much for sharing this incredible piece of music history.

The variety of different complicated gear they made at that one factory is truly amazing.

@icecreamforcrowhurst

2 жыл бұрын

In the 50’s American manufacturing was a juggernaut

Just people doing their job day in and day out. Little did they know the obsession/history they were creating. Great video!

NOW THIS, IS A GEM. For any of us Fender FREAKS, (Especially Strat Freaks) this basic home video is So Cool to get into, we could watch this 100 times easy. Sweet.🥇👊 👏👏👏👏👏 😎 🎸

@jackpeters9349

2 жыл бұрын

What's a Fender ?

It's like some of the most legendary 20th century music pre 70s . The beautiful inconsistancies that bring serendipitous magic

I always wanted to go back in time to this era. I’d give my eyeteeth to have a guitar from back then. They all probably raced home to watch Perry Mason. Man those must have been the days to live.

The lady winding pickups was still at Fender customer shop a few years ago. From memory she was employee #3. She appeared to be in her 80's now and still working.

If i could time travel and go anywhere it would be here to this place and i would chain smoke and test old fenders and amps all day with my shirt off lol. DREAM

photography is the greatest invention of all time

This film was made sometime between 1954 and 1956. Based on decal placement on the headstock- which ended in 1956:)

@analogdesigner

2 жыл бұрын

I think that it's 1956 based on a calendar at around 2:33.

I worked at the Fender Compound in the early 70s just after CBS bought it. Safety wasnt a high priority in those days . They paid 3+ $ and 4 + After a couple pay grades. Fullerton was rural and pleasant.

That was when Fenders were made the best. Today they are mass produced with no care. Back then fewer were made because markets were smaller and Fender was new and striving for success. This is what gives vintage Fenders so much charm!

This is one of the best things I’ve ever seen!

Hey Richard, great narration, really adds a lot to this classic 8mm movie.

@lancomedic

3 жыл бұрын

I agree, I loved your little comments and your knowledge of the product line.

I think I remember reading where Leo said that the ladies had more patience for wiring amps and winding pickups. That's a '55 or '56 FORD station wagon ... perhaps a '54. Boy, simpler times.My very first guitar was a 1954 Stratocaster that I got for Christmas of 1963 -- it was well worn out. But I loved it!

@rudihenryjan1927

5 жыл бұрын

WOW! Do you still play the 54 stratocaster?! I couldn't imagine.

Amazing time! Poetry in motion!

The reason some vintage guitars sound different than others is the "mistakes" workers made when being built. A few extra puffs on a cigarette meant extra wire wraps on pickups ect. Have a 94, 66 and a pair of 55 Strats. None sound the same, although they all sound good. One 55 is slighter hotter than all of the others and I attribute it to construction i.e. wire windings.

@kylethedalek

2 жыл бұрын

This is why I don’t understand why people say hand made items are better than machine made? Mistakes and variations don’t sound that good to me.

@johnmarshall3903

2 жыл бұрын

@@kylethedalek You're a perfect candidate for a made in China, CNC made, bamboo p.o.s. Go away now, and leave us vintage enthusiasts alone .

Fender’s Mexican guitars - made by Mexicans in Mexico. Fender USA guitars - made by Mexicans a few miles up the road in America.

My great aunt worked winding pickups for the telephone company her whole life. It’s pretty much the same process as guitar pickups. It really took a toll on her hands. Winding hair thin wire all day everyday.

This is great. The original Fender Factory is now a parking garage near The Fullerton Train Station. There is a plaque on the wall outside the parking garage.

Man, if these workers only knew how much the guitars they're making then were fetching today...

@RideAcrossTheRiver

2 жыл бұрын

Or that Yngwie J. Dbag bought up '57 Strats everywhere then scalloped the fretboards while disconnecting the middle pickup "because I don't like sound." Yeah, he couldn't play without hitting it

Miss Lambert was nice looking.

So primitive!!!! I luv this!!!! This is the definition of True American Craftsmanship!!!!! Virgin timber makes all the difference. That along with the copper that was being quarried from the mines for the pickups in conjunction with the windings (Abigail). It is the difference between a reissue and a $200,000 vintage. Find a virgin alder & maple tree in the back 40 and build one! Long live Fender. American Pride!!!! 🤘🎸

The most amazing video I've ever seen!

Fantastic video, so much of how things were done then not known to most of us still around today. It was great to see Alvino Rey in this vid, I was good friends with him in the 80's when he was in our amateur radio club which is how I knew him, not through music although I am a bassist of another generation. Thank you so much for this piece of amazing history. Cheers

those instruments are worth alot of $ now because of the hand work!

Thanks so much for this video - its so interesting to me as Fender has been such a huge part of my life and lets face it - what they were doing in this little factory back then would change the world. It was so cool to watch how quickly old man Fullerton could whip out a guitar body on the band saw....wow...well thanks again :-)

Real hand made for sure....note shaping body of that strat....3 pc body...so even then they used everything...Leo was frugal...used all his available parts...the reason a lot of the old strats sound so good...seasoned wood dried out..pickups degaussing over years....you can’t fake time.....like the relic stuff attempts to do

@barryengle12666

5 жыл бұрын

there's so much truth to this statement. I agree 100%. however I must add that I kinda enjoy some of the reliced creations as long as it's up front that they are indeed recreations, and that is in relation to those guitars being a visual artistic thing moreso than an absolute attempt to make them seem like you wouldn't be able to tell the difference, because that's impossible

@um9272

4 жыл бұрын

Glenn Evans you have any old maybe broadcaster that you don’t need anymore ?

@Tony-Jabroni

2 жыл бұрын

Clf research g&l still makes em like this today.

Trying to see if I recognize my grandmother in there somewhere. She lived in Fullerton and worked at the factory. Her job was dropping the dot inlays into the neck.

Two days out of the week, I do security at Fenders factory in Corona. That clock that read 5;15 on it was pribably 5;15 AM. Hundreds of people start showing up for work around 4;30 AM there

I wish I had a time machine, I would go back to the 50s decade and buy as many teles, strats and Les Pauls as I could and come back to present.

Awesome, the good old days Leo was quite the visionary

If you're wondering where most of these amps are (the survivors),... there at Joe's house in his Nerdsville museum of guitars and amps! (Joe Bonamasa for the uninitiated),.... He's an avid collector and respectful custodian of these musical works of art! I grew up in Fullerton, my Dad's business was on Commonwealth and Harbor, very close to the factory. I got my first guitar through a neighbor who was in a semi-famous Surf band... he sold me his Strat and Blonde 60w tremolux amp with the external reverb tank! Wish I hadn't traded these away for more modern versions - but what can you say,... I was a rocker and needed more distortion! (this was 1970)

Thank you for parents of this video... a great past... I love this and no sound is perfect...

So fascinating. Thank you!! I absolutely love my bone stock strat that I’ve had about 30 years now.

I noticed the men and women are all in great shape

@LAPhillyBoyVideos

3 жыл бұрын

You can look at thousands of hours of old footage from the 1940's through the 1960's and you will see very few people who a are obese or in poor physical condition. It's due to all the crappy fast food and sugar loaded processed foods we eat today.

I just finished reading Richard's excellent coffee-table book "Fender--The Sound Heard 'Round the World." This rare video by Forrest White (no audio) just adds to the book. Great job Richard!

Last time i was there the buildings were still there. I still kick myself for not getting up early on Saturday when they had their scratch n dent sales. My buddy has every model they made at that time. A Coronado and jaguar included.

What an amazing historical film.

Great movie. Coupled with the commentary and it was just fantastic.

SALUTE TO ALL THOSE LEGENDS WHO MADE IT POSSIBLE.

I have a Fender lap steel. Underneath the knob cover is a small piece of paper that reads..."Inspected by Gloria, November 13, 1954". I can't help but wonder if "Gloria" is in the video?

@phillippasteur3904

5 жыл бұрын

That's awesome!

@mamachip

5 жыл бұрын

She's pointed out in one of Smith's videos.

Pretty low key work place. Thank you all so freakin' much! I love old vintage Fenders. PEACE 🎸🎶🎵

@michaelcraig9449

5 жыл бұрын

Low key is the only way to be.

Beautiful video and interesting commentary, thank you.

10 on the cool factor scale! Thank you for sharing!

This is great! Fender Guitar factory in Fullerton, Ca - circa 1957

The MIA and MIM Fender Stratocasters still Reign Supreme over all others..over 64 years of pure legend..

@phillippasteur3904

5 жыл бұрын

I don't find the MIMs to be anywhere close to the US models. In fact, Squires are often better.

I sure miss the old glory days! If we worked like that today, we would probably be arrested :(

@michaelcraig9449

5 жыл бұрын

Why arrested? That makes no sense at all.

Awesome footage love fender guitars really enjoyed this video 🧐❤️❤️❤️

Great video, thanks!

Handmade 👍👍👍💪💪💪nix CNC Kacke!!! Great time!!!

I've never heard a valid reason why Bill Schultz and the company now known as FMIC didn't buy the Fullerton factory from CBS when the sale went down. Saying it was a "financial decision" makes no sense because the cost of building the Corona factory vs the cost buying the Fullerton factory couldn't have been that different could it? Great footage & narration. These "factory workers" were bonafide artists.

@twintriode

Жыл бұрын

It wasn't part of the deal. CBS kept all the past patents and the Fullerton plant.

Wonderful video of life in the Fender factory during the mid 1950's.

Just aweaome! Thanks for sharing this video.

I loved how the people worked shirtless and looked very proud of their craftsmanship. It must have been difficult breathing in the toxic paint fumes and sawdust all of the time..

@RideAcrossTheRiver

2 жыл бұрын

Not to mention explosive nitrocellulose!

@VictitiousStudios

2 жыл бұрын

It's a spray booth with a DeVillbiss explosion-proof motor, too much air volume passing at 3000+ cfm and impossible to be ignited, or giving to a "standing-cloud" condition. They still had it in 1988 but fitted with a 20X20 grid of replacement filters, unlike the old style using fabric roll strips filter pinned over the screens. That whole row of industrial units on Fender Ave. become ovens from May to October often clearing 100* degrees. So it made some sense then to initially have buffing and assembly close to the spray booth. Until you find bugs and junk in the clear topcoats.

@siggyretburns7523

2 жыл бұрын

I work at Fenders in Corona wed and thurs nights in security. I have to go check the paint rooms every half hour. Meaning I gotta put on a dust free bunny suit to do it.

@raeleohana8797

9 ай бұрын

@@siggyretburns7523 do you have to put on and takeoff the suit every half an hour?! What a drag! Then again, I guess everything depends on the attitude you bring to it.

@raeleohana8797

9 ай бұрын

The world in general might've been less toxic overall at that time, though, because my mother-in-law (shown in this video) is in her 90s and in absolutely splendid & active perfect health. I feel like she's healthier than me, and I'm in my 50s. Our food has changed so much, chemicals are persistent everywhere, and plastic is ubiquitous. And the actual complexity of life, thanks to globalization and digital media, seems to result in much higher stress levels, in turn affecting physical health. Makes me think of certain elderly people who've smoked their whole lives and lived to their 90s, maybe because of the absence of other bad habits and toxins.

This is a great video and also incredibly insightful. It contains almost everything I would hope to see from that era. The machines and templates used and a bonus of the People of Fender. I just wish there was one from '74 so I could see how my #1 Axe was made.

Richard, thanks for posting. This is a good historical movie,of a great company. cheers !

@FenderAmpFreak

6 жыл бұрын

I'm not Richard, This DVD comes with the Fender The Sound Heard Around the World book that Richard put together, There's much more info in the book, I highly recommend every Fender fan get it, The book was originally only sent to Fender Dealers as a reference for them, but was released to the public a few years ago

Thanks for sharing this very important and fascinating document of what I consider the greatest and most Iconic instrument of all decades I have one I acquired in Gainesville FL is a store that is in front of a school it has problems with the potentiometers but it was nothing I couldn't fix myself is the model strat z1***** believe 2001 with roller ege on side of fret board and I very proud of my fender strat very jealous I don't let no one to put their hands on it , well sorry I just got carried on. Thanks again

@eliezerriveraperez3810

5 жыл бұрын

PS. The guitar was in the Mexican fender rack inside of the store and it was mark for $600 us dollars so I ask the man in charge if that guitar is for $600 and he told me;yes so I told him I want to try it and when I start to play he came and told me let me run the serial number throu the computer and quick came running to me and said; that guitar is not for $600, is for $1,299 and I told him; that's why I ask you so he talk to the manager and he told ok but I will bill you the taxes and I said ok so I paid $676.56 cents I paid for it and I told him that the guitar need some potentiometers replacement so I purchased the Emerson CTS from eBay store and .033 mf filters and this guitar sounds so professional when it's play throu a great amplified very loud or low volume and it's very chimering notes I'm so pleased,thanks

The building is still there in fact, if you go to the corner where it used to say shipping and receiving if you look in the video, there’s a pipe coming out of the building going into the ground at the very bottom that’s still there.

Fascinating. Thank you for sharing

Damn! Alvino Rey at 16:11 !! I used to see him on variety shows in the 60's! He was awesome. He could make his steel guitar talk.

The lady doing the books was cute...wonder how old she would be today, if she is still alive? Sad to think that probably 50% or more of the people in this video are gone now....beginning of a legendary company and they had no idea!

this is the real way to make instruments

How interesting to watch this 60+ years later !

Great video! Thanks for sharing!

I learned to cut bodies watching this a few years ago. No lie.

Fascinating, thanks for sharing

09:42 It wasn't just the lacquer it was the fine wood dust getting into your lungs. Lumber lung it was called. And it could never be removed.

@robstimson4234

2 жыл бұрын

Having worked in woodshops with ventilation in the 90's, and currently having COPD, l cringe watching some of these operations.

Thank you for sharing this gem.

I wish i could get a modern guitar built with that same wood. that was the best stuff

Loved it! Thanks for sharing :-)

Kind of ends abruptly...could of watched this for days!

Its the bare chests and sweat that made them sound so good

@IETCHX69

5 жыл бұрын

Fer Crissakes EVERYBODY ! It's The President of The Internet . A little 'spect is due !

Thank you for sharing!

VERY COOL ! Enjoyable to watch !

Interesting. I wonder if the original film still exists. It would be nice to get it digitized at a higher resolution than it is here. Also, it would great to see the original full 4:3 aspect ratio. Here it’s been cropped to 16:9 so a lot of heads are being chopped off. Still, great to see!

Awsome video thx,reading forrest fender story now

I wish I could go to work shirtless.

@bobbyberetta4206

5 жыл бұрын

Burt Reynolds me too you sexxy beast

@emmarose4234

2 жыл бұрын

Hi, Turd Ferguson!

Awesome to watch !!.....thanks for posting !!..........Great workers with great skills !.......Dont believe in the Master Builder crap we see today !

We have moms 1958 fender guitar and her moms fender steel guitar

Does anybody else just feel like this has a sense of purity to it. Watching them work you realize it's just a guitar but they were all pretty much handmade instead of on an assembly line. Everything you see in the video is over $10,000 to try to get one today and back then it wasn't enough to keep everyone on staff for the year

@TempleGuitars

3 жыл бұрын

$100,000 and even more. Just mind blowing.

@salvatorepuccini4261

3 жыл бұрын

@@TempleGuitars you look on reverb no one is really asking that's kind of price. Some high five digits for a 54 Stratocaster. To get over a hundred thousand you need a famous signature

Good commentary skills there. Interesting

Leo promised Forrest a small piece of ownership in the company, and never followed through. When he sold to CBS, Forrest got zero, other than to keep his job, but was then fired, ( retired ) by CBS in less than 2 years. Freddy Tavares fared better, keeping his job at Fender until he voluntarily retired. If there ever was an another person who deserved a percent or two of the company it was Freddy.. Fortunately he had side gigs on the radio, such as with Wade Ray live from Cowtown, and with the movie studios. I know that Leo tried to make it up to Forrest later, just as he did with George, but the efforts were basically in vain. Funny thing about Boggs... he was always worried about the music thing drying up, so he invested in an auto parts store, Boggs and McBurney. Eventually he retired and sold out his interest.. I actually went there a few times oh so long ago, at the time not knowing it was the musician Boggs that was part owner. Ling gone now, Google sat. view shows a scraped off lot, but it might in reality be built over by now. It is so fantastic that this film survives...

Guys with their shirts off, not a single person wearing any kind of ventilation mask. What a time.

Man- whatta sweatshop.

It just amazes me how these people just painted, sanded and sawed without protecting themselves. I hope (though with difficulty) this did not affected them in the long run.

@shrimpflea

5 жыл бұрын

Didn't matter, they all smoked anyways.

@granvillefriel1877

5 жыл бұрын

People wasn't pussies like they are now

@goodun6081

5 жыл бұрын

@@granvillefriel1877 , there's a word for people who took basic precautions to protect themselves against needless exposure to toxic substances: *healthy*.

@thisisdevonscorner

5 жыл бұрын

Another word: "Alive."

@lakesidehog9525

5 жыл бұрын

good 'un the only thing unhealthy in 1957 was commies and nukes......lols

This is great to see.

Thank you!!! Great video!! 6:36 is a Strat body but not a Tele.

Thank you for posting this

Great vedio love it