Denali
Senior Member
- Joined
- Sep 17, 2012
- Posts
- 6,003
Fender employee: Hi. Welcome to Fender.
Husband: Hi (as he runs off like a kid in a toy store).
Me: Sorry about that, he's very excited.
Fender employee: We get that a lot here.
We had a recent trip to Seattle, San Fran and San Diego with a specific side trip to hubby's personal Graceland, the Fender Guitar factory so some photos and info for those that have some time to waste in LA. Hubby has been playing Fenders for 30yrs so this was a big deal for him.
Fender link: Fender Visitor Center
Currently the visitor centre is open Mon, Tues, Thur & Frid with 10am and 11.30am tours but please check the link for latest info.
Corona Ca. is approx 1.5hrs east from LAX, an easy drive via the freeway but I booked a driver service because our marriage and mental health is more important than us saving money by driving in the US.
The visitor centre is free to visit but the tour is $10pp. At the visitor centre, lots of guitars for you to take off the wall and play in the sound proof Jam Room (lots of amps set up as well) and you can buy any guitar displayed on the wall on the day or you can have one built for you from various parts and couriered to you once finished. My hubby spent quite a bit of time playing a few of the guitars and we did go home with one he picked off the wall. The guitar included a soft case so we did upgrade the purchase to a hard case for travel. I will also say I was impressed with the quality of tshirts at the centre and we went home with quite a few of them.
There are also a number of displays from artists, the main focus of the visitor centre, so take some time to check them out.
On the day we visited, the tour group was only 4 people but I was told they sometimes have as many as 20. Larger groups are given personal sound systems to hear the tour but our group didn't.
Now.... my hubby recently made a custom master build order and when we told the tour leader this, and because our group was so small, he actually took us into the custom build shop to meet the guy building hubbys guitar so that was a highlight for him as we didn't expect that. We also got a sneak peek at the Gretsch guitar section but again, only because we were a small group. The only area we didn't get to see was the painting booths but otherwise, you were walking around the factory floor, seeing their usual daily production.
Im aware that this isnt on the bucket list of most people but if you are a Fender fan, I think it was pretty cool place to visit.
Highlight for hubby, meeting the master builder for his custom order and this was the actual body that will become my husbands custom built guitar. Love at first sight for my husband.
Husband: Hi (as he runs off like a kid in a toy store).
Me: Sorry about that, he's very excited.
Fender employee: We get that a lot here.
We had a recent trip to Seattle, San Fran and San Diego with a specific side trip to hubby's personal Graceland, the Fender Guitar factory so some photos and info for those that have some time to waste in LA. Hubby has been playing Fenders for 30yrs so this was a big deal for him.
Fender link: Fender Visitor Center
Currently the visitor centre is open Mon, Tues, Thur & Frid with 10am and 11.30am tours but please check the link for latest info.
Corona Ca. is approx 1.5hrs east from LAX, an easy drive via the freeway but I booked a driver service because our marriage and mental health is more important than us saving money by driving in the US.
The visitor centre is free to visit but the tour is $10pp. At the visitor centre, lots of guitars for you to take off the wall and play in the sound proof Jam Room (lots of amps set up as well) and you can buy any guitar displayed on the wall on the day or you can have one built for you from various parts and couriered to you once finished. My hubby spent quite a bit of time playing a few of the guitars and we did go home with one he picked off the wall. The guitar included a soft case so we did upgrade the purchase to a hard case for travel. I will also say I was impressed with the quality of tshirts at the centre and we went home with quite a few of them.
There are also a number of displays from artists, the main focus of the visitor centre, so take some time to check them out.
On the day we visited, the tour group was only 4 people but I was told they sometimes have as many as 20. Larger groups are given personal sound systems to hear the tour but our group didn't.
Now.... my hubby recently made a custom master build order and when we told the tour leader this, and because our group was so small, he actually took us into the custom build shop to meet the guy building hubbys guitar so that was a highlight for him as we didn't expect that. We also got a sneak peek at the Gretsch guitar section but again, only because we were a small group. The only area we didn't get to see was the painting booths but otherwise, you were walking around the factory floor, seeing their usual daily production.
Im aware that this isnt on the bucket list of most people but if you are a Fender fan, I think it was pretty cool place to visit.
Highlight for hubby, meeting the master builder for his custom order and this was the actual body that will become my husbands custom built guitar. Love at first sight for my husband.
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