Fender Musical Instruments

In response to Pete M…
HELLO, its the VISITOR CENTER. Entertaining the tourists is EXACTLY what they’re there to do!

I went with some friends Thursday of last week. The visitor center is a great place to see vintage Fender guitars, with those of Buddy Holley, Eric Clapton, Jimi Hendrix and many others on display.
The cashier was kind enough to bring me a bottle of water as we waited for the tour to start. I was really thirsty!
Our tour guide, Dave escorted us through the busy factory. People here are skilled craftspeople. At this Fender factory, they build their most expensive instruments. Dave explained in detail several steps of the manufacturing process. He knows his stuff.
One of the legends of guitar builders, Todd Krause, walked up to our group and said hello. He has built guitars for the legends, like Clapton and Jeff Beck. That was a bonus, indeed!
Some reviewers complained about employees. Hello, they work there, they walk around, and they are not here to entertain the tourists!
Be sure to check their website for days the tours are not given. They have corporate events sometimes, and other things with no tours on those days.

We drove all the way down here with our 3 kids (20, 7 & 2) to do the tour as a family day trip. We arrive and the lady at the front rudely tells us that no kids under 9 are allowed & only closed toed shoes allowed. Basically myself, and my 2 younger kids couldn’t go. We asked why this wasn’t boldly stated on their website and she said it was under ‘guest relations’ as if we should of known to look there! So frustrated. We spent 2hrs on the road for nothing. My husband was so disappointed. The museum room is cool, very well put together, but def didn’t make up for the tour we couldn’t go on. My main complaint is that they need to make this much more clear for families.

We drove all the way from La Jolla for my boyfriend’s birthday to take him on the tour. The guide was incredibly rude. Singled us out in front of the group for being late after being 2 minutes early. «Come on guys, don’t ruin it for the rest of us! No video allowed!» When we were only taking panorama shots. Save yourself the trip and watch a video on the Fender site. He wrecked the day.

One jazz bass, one telecaster, one mustang, one jaguar, one acoustic, two precision basses and four Stratocasters. I’m pretty content.

Ever go into Toys R Us when you were a kid and get overloaded? That’s what happened to me when I tagged along with my pal Roger Espino, flamenco guitarist extraordinaire, for a visit to Fender’s west coast business office.
Once buzzed in, we waited under a huge photo of The Three Stooges jamming.
What I liked most, aside from the lobby’s floating guitar and amp sculpture, were the people– the suits to the trabajadores easy to know and smart. It’s like they all come from the Midwest. And over at the visitor center, I stood a few inches from Hendrix strat, played Eddie’s guitar, and Jaco’s bass. I went into their amp room and plugged into a MONSTER Bassman 300. Fender jammed my network.

Even though their corp hq has moved to Arizona, this is where the manufacturing and custom shop remain. Just as legendary as Gibson although personally, they don’t play as nicely. That however is just a personal preference. My personal idol, the immortal Jimi Hendrix will be forever associated with the right handed Stratocaster, re-​strung and flipped upside down. I might not love my Strat as much as my Les Pauls but I still do want a Telecaster and the Fender sound is definitely unique amongst all the guitar manufacturers.