Fender Factories
Fender started manufacturing guitars in a small Fullerton factory in 1945, and due to the immense popularity of their guitars, the production had to expand significantly over time. This led to the signing of OEM contracts with numerous musical instrument manufacturers worldwide.
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US Fender Factories
Fender operates two factories in the United States, one of which is still operational.
Fullerton Factory
In 1938, Leo Fender started his audio equipment repair company in Fullerton, Northern Orange County, California. In 1945 musical instruments were also produced as the electric lap steel guitar. With the Broadcaster (Telecaster), mass production of guitars began in 1950. The Stratocaster was introduced in 1954, after which the range expanded with various models in the following years.
After the takeover of Fender by CBS in 1965, CBS sold the company again in 1985. A group of employees and investors led by director William Schultz in Fullerton bought the company and continued as Fender Musical Instruments Corporation (FMIC). However, the factory was not included in the sale. The factory in Fullerton was closed in 1985.
Corona Factory
In 1985 a new guitar factory was opened in Corona, California. In addition to standard production, a Custom Shop was added to the company in 1987. Fender Corona factory currently offers work for around 680 employees. FMIC headquarters was also located here until 1991, after which it moved to Scottsdale, Arizona.
Mexican Fender Factory
A new factory was built in 1987 in Ensenada, Mexico. On the terrain with an area of more than 60000 square meters are eight buildings where guitars, electronics (amplifiers), and strings are produced. The production of electric guitars started in 1989. A Fender Quality Control team visits the factory every week to guarantee the quality of production. The factory currently employs around 900 people.
Japan Fender Factories
In 1982, Fender Musical Instruments Corporation also started a joint venture with two Japanese wholesale companies Kanda Shokai and Yamano Gakki. This joint venture was named Fender Japan, Ltd. The production and sale of the brand Fender was only intended for the Japanese market. This co-operation lasted until 2015, after which Fender took over the production line on 1 April 2015 under the name Fender Music Corporation (Japan).
FujiGen
Also in 1982 Fender signed an OEM (Original equipment manufacturer) contract with the company FujiGen to produce Fender guitars. FujiGen Gakki is a Japanese manufacturer of musical instruments based in Matsumoto, Nagano, and is named after Mount Fuji. Gen is Japanese for string instruments and Gakki means musical instrument. In 1983, FujiGen produced more than 14,000 guitars per month for Fender. 80% of this was destined for export and 20% for the Japanese market. The contract was terminated in 1997.
Tökai Gakki
In 1997, an OEM contract was also signed with the Japanese companies Tökai Gakki and Dyna Gakki. Tökai has its own factory for making instruments. In addition to other brands, Tökai Gakki made before the agreement replicas of Fender models in 1977 and 1978, but without a serial number (lawsuit guitars).
Korean Fender Factories
Since 1988, Fender has also produced guitars in Korea under the (Fender) Squier brand.
Cort
Cort Guitars (Cor-Tek Corporation) is a South Korean guitar production company based in Seoul. Cort was founded in 1960 with the main activity of importing pianos. The company evolved from a piano importer to a guitar manufacturer. Since 1973, mainly guitars have been produced under OEM contract for major well-known brands including Fender/Squier.
Samick
Samick Guitars is one of the largest manufacturers of string instruments in the world. They produce both (semi) acoustic and electric guitars under OEM contract for various major brands including Fender/Squier. Samick also produces guitars under its own brand name.
Young Chang and Sung-Eum
Young Chang and Sung-Eum produced for Fender until the late nineties.
Indonesian Fender Factories
Fender guitars are produced in Indonesia by companies such as Samick and Cort-tek, which operate large factories with thousands of employees.
Samick
In 1992, Samick relocated its production base to Bogor, Indonesia. A new factory was built on an area of 50 hectares with 11 buildings and offers work for around 3,000 employees. The first acoustic models were produced in 1993, followed by the electric (Fender Squier) guitars at the end of 1994. The guitars made in Indonesia are generally lower in price with an equivalent quality to those produced in Korea.
Cort
Cort-tek is originally a Korean company that in 1995 also opened a guitar factory in Surabaya, Indonesia. Since 1998, Fender/Squier models have also been produced here by Cort Indonesia.
Chinese Fender Factories
Yako
Since 1994, Yako Musical Instruments Co. in Zhangzhou was the first factory in China under the OEM contract Fender/Squiers. Yako’s headquarters is in Taiwan, where some factories are also located.
AXL
AXL Musical Instruments has factories throughout China with headquarters in Shanghai. In addition to their own wide range of guitar models, AXL also produced Fender/Squier since 2009. However, these are only intended for sale outside of China.
