Corona, CA  September 2005  
We recently got the chance to spend a couple days with our friends at FMIC.  Our visit included the Fender® factory and Custom Shop in Corona, CA, where Jackson®, Charvel®, Benedetto®, and USA Gretsch® guitars are also made.  Jackson's facilty, pictured at right, was impressive.
This Jackson builder was in the middle of setting up a new guitar and can shred your face off.  Seriously.
Legendary bike painter Mike Learn is customizing the batch of SL2H Soloists® pictured here, all unique and one-of-a-kind.  These will be featured on our website as progress is being made. 

Product Manager Mike Kotzen took us through the Jackson and Charvel factory.   Hmmm, no, we don't know what that is.
Mike explained how the rough-cut maple wings will be glued together to begin the process of building a King V®. 

There isn't any paint to be seen in this area, but we deduce that a lot of the custom work goes on here, especially after we saw...
...Mike Shannon (left).  The Music Zoo's owner Tommy Colletti (right) and manager Tim Reynolds (center) are impressed with the workmanship on this custom soloist.

Quilted maple.  Nice.
Tim and Mike select some maple to be used in some upcoming Dan Lawrence-painted Phil Collen PC1s... a Music Zoo exclusive..
Charvel was working on a high volume of EVH Artist Series models during our visit.  This model has proven to be extremely popular.
We were glad to see these Red, White, and Black EVHs drying .  After a couple of production setbacks (the color proved difficult to match),  they're finally finding their way back to the market. 

What's that pink V, you ask?  A custom King V being made for Jenna Jameson.  It  had custom graphics and pink sharkfins on a maple board.

Next we moved to the Fender division, where this trailer was being unloaded with, from what we could tell, amplifier parts.
Rosewood fretboard blanks.  There were impressive stock piles of different kinds of wood virtually everywhere.

If you uncoiled all this fretwire, it would strech from Fender to China.  That's our guess.
The whole facility is cheerful, open, and very busy.  These tremolo blocks are being drilled out by hand, and we were impressed with the amount of handwork that goes into what many consider "assembly line" guitars.
Some brass that was just shaped and cut; it will be used for everything from bridge saddles to amp logo plates.
These pickups are finished and ready to be installed.
This is what your pickups look like with no wire on them; the magnetic bobbins can be clearly seen.
Need we say, these are Tele® pickguards.  All were finished by hand using a special machine that got the correct bevel on the edge.
All sorts of Fender amps were being assembled here.  Some of these workers were hand-wiring all the internals, just like the good old days.
'59 Bassman® Relic amps.  Neato.
Building the cabinets.
Some finished chassis.  They won't stay on this shelf very long.

Strat® bodies.
A Tele body is contoured by hand.

These are reference necks used as the master specifications for many of the the Fender catalog models.  The definitive shapes are all here.
Some P-Bass® necks that could still be used as oars, if necessary.

We enter the Fender Custom Shop.  To the left are the workspaces of all Fender's Master Builders.  Straight ahead is the Team area.  It was very bright in the Custom Shop, but still felt warm and cheerful.

These painted Strat bodies in the Team area are waiting ...

...for their turn on the builders table.

These gold Strat bodies appear to still be drying.
Don't you wish your workshop was this well organized?

A run of nearly complete John Cruz '62 Strat Relics in Sonic Blue.  The Music Zoo took delivery of a couple of these and they are incredible.
Tommy Colletti stops for this photo op with Abigail Ybarra, a Fender legend who has been with the company since 1956.  She has wound pickups for pretty much everyone, and they are among the most sought after pickups in the world.

This is a peek inside Master Builder John Cruz's work area.  John is a expert at all areas of guitar building, especially intricate relic'ing.

John Cruz and Tommy Colletti with an early version of the Stevie Ray Vaughn replica.  John was responsible for hand-building each of the SRV replicas, and they've become one of the most desirable Fender tribute guitars ever made. 

What you see on these 50th Anniversary 1954 Stratocaster bodies is condensation.  They are super cold from being in the freezer as part of the aging process.

Tommy Colletti and Steve Grom, Vice President Fender Corporate Quality Assurance.  Steve was gracious enough to take us through Fender and Fender Custom Shop that day.
These are painted Gretsch 6120 bodies hanging out in the Fender Custom Shop.  They are some of the few Gretsch guitars made in the United States.  They are handbuilt by a Master Builder and sprayed with nitrocellulose.
We didn't get many pictures, but the Benedetto guitars are also made here.  The Music Zoo just took delivery of a trio of custom-made Bennys that were all hand signed and dedicated by Bob Benedetto.

Music Zoo owner Tommy Colletti (left), manager Tim Reynolds (center), and webmaster Dave Burnett (right) back in LA relaxing, following the all-day Fender event in Corona.
Anyone who has spent any time on Venice beach in the last 15 years will likely have seen Harry Perry performing with his original San Dimas Charvel Bullseye.  He tells us the original neck was destroyed... small wonder since he has an amp strapped to his back and is on Rollerblades.  He rocked, and sold us a t-shirt.
"Zoltar sees in your future... many exciting Jackson Custom runs... Masterbuilt and Limited Edition Fenders as far as the eye can see..."

Gee, how did he know?  Special thanks to Jeff Cary, Tim WIlson, Trish Moss, Steve Grom, Mike Kotzen, Mike Shannon, Dan Lawrence, and all the others who made our trip so productive and a lot of fun. 

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