nashmaster wrote: ↑Thu Nov 24, 2022 11:46 am
Those are definitely factors, but I don't think it's really debatable as to whether or not they spend more time on fretwork and general QC in Corona. Man hours definitely play a role in pricing....
Right, like I said, the only differences are what Fender chooses to spec into the guitars. The amount of time spent on fretwork and the tightness of QC are all part of Fender's specs. There's absolutely no reason the Ensenada factory couldn't be producing guitars with identical specs to any Corona-made guitar. They have the same tools and the same training. It's a very intentional choice at the management level, to help separate the guitars into price tiers and set consumer expectations differently for the two factories.
That's why you can find MIM-priced Gibsons with sharper frets and duller finishes. In that case they're made in the same factory by the same people getting paid the same wages as the Les Paul Standards and 335s, but are specced to have fewer worker hours put into each guitar. Fender just does that, with further savings on the cost of labour due to weaker worker protection laws in one country vs the other.
In the case of machine-wound pickups, it makes absolutely no difference whether someone loads A2 rods and 42 AWG formvar-coated wire onto a winder in Ensenada or Corona. It's the same parts, made via the same process, by equally-trained people.
The artist formerly known as mbene085.
