Fender Custom Shop Tour with Master Builders Andy Hicks & Austin MacNutt + John Bohlinger
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Published 2023-01-24
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There's more in Corona than a slice of lime. The California city is also the home of Fender’s Custom Shop, and PG’s John Bohlinger, with our crack video team of Chris Kies and Perry Bean, descended on the shop recently for a different kind of rundown.
The tour starts with master builder Andy Hicks, who recount his CV, including a stint in the Gretsch Custom Shop, where he built the Malcolm Young 1963 Jet Firebird G6131 limited edition. At Fender, he leads a tour through the company's metal shop, which includes a press installed by Leo Fender. Saddles, pickup bobbins, shielding, bridge plates … check. You can watch a CNC machine cut Strat pickguards, and then stop in on Josefina Campos, perhaps Fender’s most famed living pickup maker, with 31 years of experience. Campos’ pickups are destined for Master Built guitars. How do you know if you've got a Campos pickup? She signs and dates each one. At Fender’s wood mill, where both the Fender USA and Custom Shop sawing gets done, you see alder, ash, and maple blanks, plus rosewood for fretboards. Learn about the "Golden Neck,” and see how Custom Shop necks get hand shaped. In Custom Shop final assembly, everything comes together. Guitar bodies have been painted and aged. Assembled necks are bolted in. The wiring and electronic installed.
“All the guys in here are experts about their own work as well as everything else,” Hicks explains. That's part of Fender Custom’s quality assurance gameplan. On this day, Team Built instruments were on the menu. Master Built guitars are the province of a single builder, from start to finish. And master builder Austin MacNutt gives us a close-up look at one of his special projects, the Jerry Garcia “Alligator” Stratocaster, in a limited run of 100. And in Hicks’ own shop, he talks about the process of creating a custom guitar, from talking to the buyer about his or her desires, to plugging it in and playing it. He also displays a very special Jaguar, made from a 50,000-year-old piece of partially petrified wood, with a blonde inlay from mastodon tusk. FYI, he currently has 50 to 75 guitars at various stages of the three-month process of custom building. Hicks also talks about creating his annual prestige model. It's a secret. You've gotta wait till next year! Check back in at premierguitar.com.
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© Copyright Gearhead Communications LLC, 2023
00:00 - Intro
00:15 - Master Builder Andy Hicks Intro
01:18 - Metal Shop & Leo Fender's Press
02:19 - Humbucker Mounting Brackets
03:08 - Tele Bridges & Serial Numbers
04:02 - Pickguards
04:32 - Josefina Campos Custom Shop Pickup Winder
05:21 - Woodmill
06:30 - Neckmill
07:17 - CNC Body Machine & Sanding
07:56 - Custom Shop Final Assembly
09:56 - Master Builder Austin MacNutt & Jerry Garcia "Alligator" Strat
14:09 - Master Builder Andy Hicks & Truetone Music Jaguar with 50,000-year-old body wood
#guitar #fender #stratocaster
All Comments (21)
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Learn more: bit.ly/FenderCustomShopPG Subscribe to PG's Channel: bit.ly/SubscribePGYouTube Win Guitar Gear: bit.ly/GiveawaysPG Don't Miss a Rundown: bit.ly/RIgRundownENL Merch & Magazines: shop.premierguitar.com/
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Loads of respect for these builders and everyone who works in the factory. So glad you featured Josefina Campos! Legend. Thanks, PG.
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Hi there Fender, Just a New Zealander here kindly letting you know that the 50,000 year old wood used to make that Jaquar is called 'Kauri' and its pronounced Kow-ry NOT "Ki ori" no offense taken :) just a friendly comment to let you know how to pronounce the woods name😊 Keep up the awesome work!
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seeing josephina was a pleasure. i’m not a fender guy but she’s a legend even in my book
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Andy is such a great builder and has a great personality on top of it!
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That tinted headstock with the flame and swirl looking quilt is gorgeous!
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I have visited Fender twice, and thanks to Dale Wilson, I got to see the custom shop and meet some of masters. Always a megical place.
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I am loving the mastodon tusk inlays.
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Big respect for Andy Hicks! Finally Andy made clear picture about the Master Builder phenomenon. All Fender peoples talking about Master Builder work like a big mystery. 👍👍👍
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Thank you Premier Guitar! 👌🏻
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Love the factory tours thank you for the great tour. That last guitar was stunning.
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Last year I broke down and bought my first custom shop telecaster. The attention to detail is phenomenal. EVERYTHING about it is exactly what I was hoping for. Now I'm going for a 1957 reissue stratocaster with the U neck. Selling off all my cheap guitars and will have just a few special ones which will be better than having a bunch of firewood.
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I've been waiting 20 months so far for my Greg Fessler Blungeon. Should be arriving in a couple. My lifer.
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Three years ago I created my own relic Stratocaster. It was definitely one of the funnest projects in my life and pretty unbelievable that I pulled it off😅. It looks great too but I’m not here to convince you. Just love the arts 👍🏾. Fender for life
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Very interesting! It was great to see the employees who have been doing this for so long. Great to see the machines working. It gave me a feeling of reverence for this company that has been making wonderful guitars all these years. Thanks!
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I'm always so fascinated by these types of videos. Having loved Stratocasters since I first saw David Gilmour play one, it's so cool to see how all of this is done.
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I cried a little when I saw Dusty Hills golden neck up there
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I still got my American original 50s strat here. Best guitar series they have made.
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Saskatchewan Plate In The Fender Custom Shop! - That is so cool!
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Great tour! Great craftsman! Bohlinger is the BEST! His knowledge, personality, and guitar playing always makes his videos the most enjoyable
