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Post subject: Re: Fender Corona CA factory tour!
Posted: Sun Oct 27, 2013 10:03 am
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PTM...Great Reporting Job! Always cool to see factory tours and find out about the process of our favorite products.

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Post subject: Re: Fender Corona CA factory tour!
Posted: Sun Oct 27, 2013 10:38 am
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donnycraven wrote:
Toronado wrote:
Thanks for posting PTM! That must have been a great experience. :!:

I am noticing more lately than ever the use of drastically 2-tone rosewood fingerboards. I guess it comes down to wherever the material is being sourced. In my mind a rosewood 'board needs to be dark. 8)



Most older dark ones are from years of sweat and linseed oil or other wood sealers.
Mostly its dudes who ate Cheetos and didn't wash their hands though lol :)


Not entirely accurate. Rosewood are two different species of wood. The Brazilian one used in the past is endangered, and conscientious manufacturers won't use it anymore.
What they use now is Indian rosewood, which is lighter, less durable, and doesn't have the rose smell.

For a while, Fender offered Madagascan rosewood for Custom Shop, but after Gibson got raided for their use of illegally imported rosewood, that is no longer available either.
I believe you can ask for a darker rosewood for an additional cost with CS orders. It still won't be the rosewood of yore.


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Post subject: Re: Fender Corona CA factory tour!
Posted: Sun Oct 27, 2013 10:44 am
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arth1 wrote:
donnycraven wrote:
Toronado wrote:
Thanks for posting PTM! That must have been a great experience. :!:

I am noticing more lately than ever the use of drastically 2-tone rosewood fingerboards. I guess it comes down to wherever the material is being sourced. In my mind a rosewood 'board needs to be dark. 8)



Most older dark ones are from years of sweat and linseed oil or other wood sealers.
Mostly its dudes who ate Cheetos and didn't wash their hands though lol :)


Not entirely accurate. Rosewood are two different species of wood. The Brazilian one used in the past is endangered, and conscientious manufacturers won't use it anymore.
What they use now is Indian rosewood, which is lighter, less durable, and doesn't have the rose smell.

For a while, Fender offered Madagascan rosewood for Custom Shop, but after Gibson got raided for their use of illegally imported rosewood, that is no longer available either.
I believe you can ask for a darker rosewood for an additional cost with CS orders. It still won't be the rosewood of yore.



Yeah they are using some weird stuff too like Baked Maple that I love and Granadillo.
The Granadillo is sweet as well.
But I think we could all be happy with the Baked Maple its awesome...

Well on with the show!

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Post subject: Re: Fender Corona CA factory tour!
Posted: Sun Oct 27, 2013 10:51 am
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I actually asked about the Rosewood and why Fender never had any problems while Gibson got raided. He explained that it all has to do with sourcing and the paper trail to prove where it came from. Fender apparently employs a person whose full time job is to make sure their Rosewood is all above board and the paperwork is accounted for. They also only import "finished" pieces of RW. Basically it's already cut into planks that are not much longer than a guitar neck and about an inch thick. Basically you're not going to be able to turn that piece of RW into something like a piece of furniture.

So Fender didn't have issues because they're not importing raw uncut Rosewood AND they know where their supplier got it.

And he pointed out that like all woods, some pieces are dark and others are light. We saw some nice dark pieces and some others that were lighter. All luck of the draw which one you get on your guitar!

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Post subject: Re: Fender Corona CA factory tour!
Posted: Sun Oct 27, 2013 11:23 am
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Super cool. I've been thinking about taking the tour and this makes me want to do it all the more!


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Post subject: Re: Fender Corona CA factory tour!
Posted: Sun Oct 27, 2013 11:50 am
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Powdered Toast Man wrote:
I actually asked about the Rosewood and why Fender never had any problems while Gibson got raided. He explained that it all has to do with sourcing and the paper trail to prove where it came from. Fender apparently employs a person whose full time job is to make sure their Rosewood is all above board and the paperwork is accounted for. They also only import "finished" pieces of RW. Basically it's already cut into planks that are not much longer than a guitar neck and about an inch thick. Basically you're not going to be able to turn that piece of RW into something like a piece of furniture.

So Fender didn't have issues because they're not importing raw uncut Rosewood AND they know where their supplier got it.


Fender actually did stop offering Madagascan rosewood. Madagascar stopped exporting after the Gibson debacle, so it did affect Fender too.
Now you only have a choice between Indian rosewood and maple - no Brazilian or Madagascar rosewood.

Powdered Toast Man wrote:
And he pointed out that like all woods, some pieces are dark and others are light. We saw some nice dark pieces and some others that were lighter. All luck of the draw which one you get on your guitar!

Or you can pay CS $100 extra to get them to pick a dark piece for you. It's an option on the order sheet.


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Post subject: Re: Fender Corona CA factory tour!
Posted: Sun Oct 27, 2013 11:51 am
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Powdered Toast Man wrote:
So Fender didn't have issues because they're not importing raw uncut Rosewood AND they know where their supplier got it.


Their suppliers have their act together.

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Post subject: Re: Fender Corona CA factory tour!
Posted: Sun Oct 27, 2013 12:41 pm
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Very interesting set of pics there. I've always thought that Fender had exactly the right mix of mass production techniques coupled with expert hand finishing and I guess this confirms it.

Strange to see the construction method for the necks though. Dot markers drilled and installed before the frets go on, I always assumed that would be one of the last jobs. Also strange to see the necks with excess wood at the head and heel, I suppose that's for machine registration and alignment.

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Post subject: Re: Fender Corona CA factory tour!
Posted: Sun Oct 27, 2013 1:10 pm
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Great post PTM. Hope to take the tour someday.

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Post subject: Re: Fender Corona CA factory tour!
Posted: Mon Oct 28, 2013 6:19 am
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Powdered Toast Man wrote:
[img]Body blanks. It was explained that in the Corona facility, all transparent finishes are either two or three pieces. Solid finishes are a maximum of five pieces. Also any two or three piece blanks that are identified as unsuitable for clear finish (ugly grain, mismatched colour between pieces) are also used for solid finishes.

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The information regarding two and three piece body blanks has been discussed before. Eldred told us that the difference between a CS Clapton and an Artist Clapton was two versus three pieces. It is interesting to note that they will go as high as five pieces for a body blank. Ufff!!! All of the yada yada we've exchanged regarding tone woods [including Eldreds video]pales in the light of this information including finishes. The varations from guitar to guitar, even among the same model, are more easily understood in this respect. All more the argument for playing the field before you marry. :wink:

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Post subject: Re: Fender Corona CA factory tour!
Posted: Mon Oct 28, 2013 6:28 am
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Powdered Toast Man wrote:
It takes 4-6 weeks for a guitar to be completed from start to finish and it passes through about 70 people's hands in the manufacturing process. It's staggering how much labor goes into these things!

Interesting. In 2010 it took almost 6 mos for me to take delivery of a '57VHR. I was told that line had been backed up with unusually heavy orders that year [I think the new MIA Standard was introduced then], had not yet started their vintage models order run yet.

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