Guitar Production

     Ever wonder what effort goes into building you favorite guitar? Here is a collection of videos from around the web, dedicated to revealing the different approaches of each builder to their craft. 

Electrics

Carvin Guitars

     Carvin Guitars; San Diego, CA. Founded in 1956; Carvin guitars are American made, built to order, and sold directly to the customer. Because selling direct eliminates the middle man (retailers, etc.) Carvin can offer extremely high quality instruments at very reasonable prices.
     This series of videos by Lewis, The Tone King, chronicles the detailed birthing process of a guitar, from its initial order, through the various steps of production, and finally to the customer. The order was placed in Feb 2013, and is currently in production. I'll post the videos here as they become available.

Part 1) How to Order a Custom Guitar. 9 Feb 2013
     The Tone King places his order over the phone. Using the Carvin website as his guide, he and the Carvin rep go over each step of the process.

Part 2) Neck Build. 3 Mar 2013
     Jeff Kiesel of Carvin Guitars takes us though the process of building the neck for The Tone King's custom guitar.

Part 3) Neck Build part II. 9 March 2013
     Jeff Kiesel continues, with the final portion of the guitars neck construction.

Part 4) Body Build. 15 March 2013
     Jeff Kiesel shows how the guitars body comes together with the neck, and the book-matching of its flamed maple top. Where the arm relief of many Carvin guitars is carved away from a very thick piece of wood, this particular model has a thiner top which is be bent to form the relief; a more labor intensive process.

Part 5) Final Body Construction. 20 April 2013
     Jeff Kiesel continues the video diary of The Tone King's custom ordered guitar. Now the final body shaping, sanding, and preparation for painting.

Part 6) Paint & Finish. 7 June 2013

     Jeff Kiesel returns to take us step, by step though the painting process. This finish is called the "Dragon Burst;" a combination of blue & green colors. The video also explains Carvin's "DTS" finish used to enhance the figuring of the top woods.

Part 7) Final Build 15 July 2013
     Final paint, final sanding, installation of electronics, set-up and shipping!

Part 8) Unboxing! 19 July 2013
     One of the most exciting days for a Carvin customer! The day the guitar arrives is a good day indeed ;)

Part 9) Tone Report 5 August 2013

     A detailed review of the new guitar.

Fender Musical Instruments Corp. (FMIC)

     Fender; Corona, CA. Founded in 1946 by Leo Fender. One of the largest manufactures of musical instruments, has several factories, and subcontracts with Asian manufacturers. 

     "A Strat Is Born" Fender's recent video of what is quite possibly its most popular guitar; the Fender Stratocaster. 

     Fender Factory 1959. A historical view of guitar production in Fullerton California

Gibson Guitars

     Gibson Guitars. Founded in 1902, Kalamazoo Mi. An "old-world" instrument manufacturer now has its US factories in Nashville, TN (electrics), and Bozeman Montana. A long history in manufacturing, Gibson is one of the largest in the world.

     "Made In America" Gibson Guitars. A TV program taking the viewer behind the scenes at Gibson, revealing the production of their electric guitars-- primarily the Les Paul model.


Acoustics

Taylor Guitars

Taylor Guitars; Founded by Bob Taylor in 1974, and located in San Diego, CA. They also have a factory in Mexico. 

An excellent series from Musicians Friend/Harmony Central, taking us step by step through the construction of a Taylor acoustic

Part 1 Body Construction
Part 2; Neck Construction

Part 3; Finish Application
Part 4; Final Assembly

A detailed tour of Taylor's San Diego factory by Premier Guitar magazine:

Part 1; Wood selection, milling, drying, sanding, neck assembly
Part 2; Bracing, body construction, binding, painting, and power supply

Martin Guitars

C. F. Martin Guitars; Founded in the 1830's C. F. Martin are among the most celebrated acoustic guitars ever made. The company is located in Nazareth, PA. They also have a factory in Mexico.

Another in-depth factory tour from Harmony Central, of both Martin factories. This video colelction follows the building of a Martin guitar from beginning to end.

Part 1; lumber shop/ wood selection/ building necks & fingerboards/
part 2; body shaping/ neck blocks/ tops & bracing/ truss-rod installation/ neck installation
Part 3; binding/ lacquering & polishing / neck shaping/ hardware installation/ inlays/ final inspection

Part 4; maintaining history/ new trends/ building masterpieces/ continuing the tradition/ building success/ delivering quality

Part 5; Martin Custom Shop

Part 6; The history of Martin Guitars, and the Martin family

Martin Factory, Mexico; info about the "new" factory in factory

Gibson

Gibson Acoustic Guitars. The acoustic side of Gibson. Their acoustics are now built in their Bozeman Montana factory.

A 2007 Harmony Central tour of the Gibson Bozeman, Montana factory

Part 1. History/ wood shop/ neck building
Part 2. Necks/ truss-rods/ headstock/ fingerboard

Part 3. Binding/ frets/ mating neck & fingerboard/ neck sanding/ body shaping
Part 4. Making the body & top/ bracing/

Part 5. Mating top & body/ sanding/ binding
Part 6. Rough sanding/ mating neck & body

Part 7. Preparation for finishing/ finishing/ removing paint from binding
Part 8. Lacquering/ setting bridge/ buffing/ final assembly

Godin Guitars

Godin Guitars; Founded 20years ago in Quebec by Robert Godin. A Canadian company with its offices in Montreal, five factories in Quebec, and one in New Hampshire USA, builds solid-bodied electrics, semi-hollow electrics, and acoustic guitars.

Acoustic Factory Tour; Premier Guitar Magazine tour of Godin's acoustic factory:

Amplifiers

Marshall

Marshall
“Unique Marshall Factory Tour"
Marshall Factory Tour

Fender

Fender Amplifiers
How to Build a Hardwired Amp (Premier Guitar) See how an Eric Clapton amp is built from start to finish in Corona Cal
Fender "hand-wired" amp


Bass Guitars

Comparison between Fender's Precision & Jazz basses