Dave Maddux (Guitar Center Vintage Repair Tech) | Inside the Noise with Gabe Dalporto (S2, Ep.5)
Guitar Center
29,955 views
Guitar Center Hollywood’s Dave Maddux sits down with Guitar Center CEO Gabe Dalporto to trace more than 40 years of guitar-building, repair and restoration history—from the Fender factory floor to the earliest days of Fender’s Corona operation, the Mexico factory launch and his current work with vintage instruments at Guitar Center Hollywood.
In this video, you’ll learn:
How Maddux started at Fender painting bodies before becoming a tune tester, inspector and repair expert
What the CBS era was like from inside the Fender factory, and how the company shifted back toward player-focused quality after CBS
How setup specs, neck pockets, nuts, tuners, pickups and bridge design all shape the way a guitar feels in a player’s hands
The stories behind George Harrison’s rosewood Telecaster, Eric Clapton’s “Blackie” and the first Fender guitar built in the Mexico factory
DAVE MADDUX ON CBS-ERA FENDER PRODUCTION
“CBS would always default toward lower quality if it meant more production numbers. They would make those kind of decisions. And the people on the line were always kind of fighting against that.”
DAVE MADDUX ON REBUILDING FENDER AROUND PLAYERS
“A lot of the people running the show were guitar players themselves, and so they understood the importance of not just having all the parts in the box. They understood the importance of actually making it work.”
Stream Inside the Noise on Spotify and Apple:
https://open.spotify.com/show/2MLmFh0...
https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast...
Follow Guitar Center:
Instagram: guitarcenter
#insidethenoise #guitarcenter #fenderguitars #vintageguitars #guitarrepair #guitarrestoration #electricguitar #musicpodcast
Chapters
00:00 - Welcome to Inside the Noise
01:24 - Meet Dave Maddux
02:17 - Starting at Fender painting guitar bodies
03:36 - Becoming a tune tester and inspector
04:32 - Working on Rhodes pianos
05:28 - The CBS-era Fender factory
07:20 - Fender after CBS
08:05 - Rebuilding production in Corona
10:46 - A culture focused on guitar players
11:29 - Writing Fender setup standards
12:23 - How Fender production changed
13:58 - George Harrison’s rosewood Telecaster
15:46 - Eric Clapton, Blackie and Lace Sensor pickups
19:50 - Building the first Mexico factory guitar
21:02 - Mexico-built Fender quality
23:03 - Designing a modern workhorse guitar
25:17 - Single-coils, noise and Strat pickup positions
25:56 - Teaching guitar building at Musicians Institute
27:52 - The early Fender Custom Shop
30:03 - Wraparound bridges and Strat Plus innovations
31:18 - Pickup innovation and P90 tones
32:00 - Neck design, truss rods and setup details
33:43 - Nuts, tuners and tuning stability
35:31 - Bolt-on vs. set-neck guitars
36:38 - The guitar Dave would take home
39:27 - The magic of vintage instruments
39:43 - How Dave came to Guitar Center
41:09 - Closing thoughts
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Dave Maddux (Guitar Center Vintage Repair Tech) | Inside the Noise with Gabe Dalporto (S2, Ep.5)
Guitar Center
29,955 views
Guitar Center Hollywood’s Dave Maddux sits down with Guitar Center CEO Gabe Dalporto to trace more than 40 years of guitar-building, repair and restoration history—from the Fender factory floor to the earliest days of Fender’s Corona operation, the Mexico factory launch and his current work with vintage instruments at Guitar Center Hollywood.
In this video, you’ll learn:
How Maddux started at Fender painting bodies before becoming a tune tester, inspector and repair expert
What the CBS era was like from inside the Fender factory, and how the company shifted back toward player-focused quality after CBS
How setup specs, neck pockets, nuts, tuners, pickups and bridge design all shape the way a guitar feels in a player’s hands
The stories behind George Harrison’s rosewood Telecaster, Eric Clapton’s “Blackie” and the first Fender guitar built in the Mexico factory
DAVE MADDUX ON CBS-ERA FENDER PRODUCTION
“CBS would always default toward lower quality if it meant more production numbers. They would make those kind of decisions. And the people on the line were always kind of fighting against that.”
DAVE MADDUX ON REBUILDING FENDER AROUND PLAYERS
“A lot of the people running the show were guitar players themselves, and so they understood the importance of not just having all the parts in the box. They understood the importance of actually making it work.”
Stream Inside the Noise on Spotify and Apple:
https://open.spotify.com/show/2MLmFh0...
https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast...
Follow Guitar Center:
Instagram: guitarcenter
#insidethenoise #guitarcenter #fenderguitars #vintageguitars #guitarrepair #guitarrestoration #electricguitar #musicpodcast
Chapters
00:00 - Welcome to Inside the Noise
01:24 - Meet Dave Maddux
02:17 - Starting at Fender painting guitar bodies
03:36 - Becoming a tune tester and inspector
04:32 - Working on Rhodes pianos
05:28 - The CBS-era Fender factory
07:20 - Fender after CBS
08:05 - Rebuilding production in Corona
10:46 - A culture focused on guitar players
11:29 - Writing Fender setup standards
12:23 - How Fender production changed
13:58 - George Harrison’s rosewood Telecaster
15:46 - Eric Clapton, Blackie and Lace Sensor pickups
19:50 - Building the first Mexico factory guitar
21:02 - Mexico-built Fender quality
23:03 - Designing a modern workhorse guitar
25:17 - Single-coils, noise and Strat pickup positions
25:56 - Teaching guitar building at Musicians Institute
27:52 - The early Fender Custom Shop
30:03 - Wraparound bridges and Strat Plus innovations
31:18 - Pickup innovation and P90 tones
32:00 - Neck design, truss rods and setup details
33:43 - Nuts, tuners and tuning stability
35:31 - Bolt-on vs. set-neck guitars
36:38 - The guitar Dave would take home
39:27 - The magic of vintage instruments
39:43 - How Dave came to Guitar Center
41:09 - Closing thoughts