Category Archives: Gear

Fender Factory Tour in Corona, California

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Back in January I linked to some very cool pics from the PRS factory in Stevensville, Maryland. So how about some pics from the Fender factory tour in Corona, California? These were shot on an iPhone by Strat Talk member gerryl98 and posted over on Strat Talk. From the post:

…we toured the metal shop where we [saw] them punch out the pickguards, control plates, and amp housings, the area where they CNC the bodies and neck, the area where they skunk stripe the necks, press the frets, trim the fret ends, contour sanding and finish sanding, pickup and pots soldering, and the custom shop!!

From what I remember the inspection is done by employees that are guitar players and then goes to final inspector before it gets sent out. They said they produce about 500 American Fender guitars a day and about another 15 in Jacksons, Charvels and EVH. What’s interesting is that the tour guide said each guitar takes a total of about 8 hours labor but about 2 weeks to complete because of wait times. I think he said drying after painting was several days…might have been 10.

See more pics after the jump and you can get more info on the tour at Fender.com

Fender-factory

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Boss RC-3 Loop Station Review

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I woke up last Saturday wanting a looping pedal. Probably had something to do with the Bill Frisell video and the El Ten Eleven video. As it turned out, I had to give my girlfriend a ride downtown, so I stopped by Guitar Center on the way home. I had only done the most minimal amount of research beforehand: basically I looked at the Digitech and Ditto loopers but decided I’d probably go with the Boss because: 1. I already own a few Boss pedals 2. the others don’t take batteries and 3. I didn’t know how much I was gonna like it, so it didn’t seem like I should spend more.

The guys at Guitar Center didn’t do a whole lot to dissuade me. They did show me the Digitech JML2 JamMan but it seemed huge (not to mention it’s $250). They also showed me the little Ditto, which looked very cool and appealed to my minimalist sensibilities. But again, no battery–which kind of ruins the minimalist thing. Also, I was starting to like the sound of some of the Boss’s features. Let’s talk about them more in depth after the jump!

Bpss-RC-3-loop-station

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The Blackguard Book

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In my opinion the Telecaster is the coolest guitar ever built. And the original Blackguards? The coolest of the cool. But if you want an original from the early 50s, it’s gonna cost you, big time. So what’s the next best thing? The incredible Blackguard Book by Nacho Banos, which takes a very detailed look at Fender Telecasters built from 1950 to 1954.

The book itself is huge–you better have a strong coffee table! It measures 12″ x 12″ and comes in a hard case. Nacho is only publishing 5500 copies, and they are each given Tele-style serial numbers from 0001 to 5500 (mine is 2095). Inside you will find 50 guitars disassembled and photographed in stunning detail. The book devotes a chapter to each year from 1950 to 1954 and also provides an abundance of technical details on the guitars.

Be warned: this book will increase your GAS. I originally bought it with the idea it would help me spec out a partscaster. But now it has me pretty much sold on a Road Worn 50s Telecaster. Or maybe I should save a little more for a American Vintage ’52. Hmmm….

So should you buy it? Says builder Ron Kirn on TDPRI: “If you’re into Teles and don’t have this book, who ya tryin’ to kid???”

One note on ordering. I got mine for $85 plus $10 shipping from JK Lutherie. It was shipped promptly with no issues. But the site seems to be down at the moment. I’ll update this blog if I get more info.

More pics of the book after the jump!

The-Blackguard-Book

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