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PG's Rebecca Dirks is on location in Corona, California at the Fender Amps Factory. In this video we get to follow a Fender Eric Clapton Amp from start to finish. Watch our video demo of all three Eric Clapton signature amps here.

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Moises De LaTorr on 05/09/2012	I saw the tour, there is actually other testers besides the sound tester that test the electronics of the amp. All the sound tester does is see if theres any final mistakes like hum, or buzz in the units.
disappointed on 01/04/2012	No ESD protection, assemblers just tossing the amps around like they are being sold at Crap-Mart, and their "Inspector" doesn't know what he's doing, "If I have time I look for like missing stuff like labels and stuff..." I wouldn't pay $1000+ for it, I don't care who's name is on it.
Captain Bb on 11/14/2011	So, Fender's only QC is to make sure the ground is good and then quickly play some piped music through it. I like the way they always set the European models to 230 volts - this is incorrect for UK voltage, which should be 240 instead.
D. Rizzuti on 11/11/2011	You can buy an original tweed amp for a grand, so the retail price is too steep. I own a total of six original Fender Amps from the 60s and 70's. They all sound different, and they all serve a purpose. My current favorite is a Brownface Deluxe from 1960. It has that magic combination of being fairly clean yet throaty at low volume and quite menacing when pushed. The later Deluxe Reverb I own is different, with less growl in the midrange and a later breakup when pushed. Those amps are only a few years apart, but changes to the circuit design, transformers, plate voltages, etc. make them very different sounding. We must give credit to Leo Fender for designing the best sounding amps possible, most 'improvements' since his tenure ended in 1965 have been a step towards reliability and cost rather than musicality. It is great that Fender still takes the time and trouble to design and hand wire circuitry. I hope they keep up the good work! I don't know if they still use interleaved transformers, that makes a difference. I am sure they are not using original RCA blackplate tubes because those have been out of production for decades, that also makes a difference. Do the new reissues follow the exact same circuit design as Leo Fenders originals? Probably not, that also makes a difference. The new amps will have their own character which will be useful and popular only if beginning guitarists can pony up $1,000.00 for a six watt practice amp with an 8" speaker. I suspect they won't and instead get stuck with an inexpensive solid state import which will do nothing to inspire them to continue on with the instrument.
Dr. J on 10/30/2011	Cool video--I wish I could keep my workspace that tidy! Good for you, Fender, for getting in on the handwired, boutique craze. After all, you folks created the originals. As for the price? Well, that's for another discussion.
DP on 10/21/2011	We are going to see one day just exactly HOW much is mfg. overseas. One day we are going to find our cash worthless and just try to find much of anything in any store. Once other markets are built up enough, we will be dumped ,without apologies. THEN try to buy boutique anything.Let alone normal anything.
FatPig on 10/12/2011	Tone snobs. You gotta laugh. Those old amps that were the benchmark also used some suspect components for the day. I hate it when someone tries to push something on someone cause they think its better. Better is defined by the person not someone else. Just go to 100 concerts this year...bet you'll see 100 different approaches.
Coot on 10/10/2011	It wouldn't matter how good the soup was. Or even if it was free. Somebody isn't gonna like it. And others will. Then there is also the ones who never tasted it. But they somehow know that it is BAD and the soupmaker should be shot, whipped, or otherwise demoralized. This is the world today. Comments sections invite the dissent from the unknowing and the unwilling to learn. As well as the enlightened who just get fed up with the drivel from the snivelers. These amps sound good. To some they will sound better than anything else. To others they won't sound good at all. To the likers I say "Buy 'em" and to the dislikers I say "Go Away and buy something else". Baskin Robbins made 31 flavors because they knew they couldn't please everybody.
Zoso on 10/10/2011	TIM: I agree with your points. But some drive Honda's some drive BMW's, some drive their own custom built car. "Better" is in the hands of the owner with different priorities. Even the "greats" of today have Marshall's on stage and some along side boutique amps. There is something in the name, else everyone would drive a Honda. Cheers.
Tim Esau on 10/07/2011	@BoogieChilli n & Zoso: here is a good clip of an Allen Encore, basically a Super Reverb type of amp but with the earlier bias modulating tremolo and reverb with tone conmtrol and a master volume. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d cB0QlzHwTo Shows some of the versatility from cleans to crunch, just a great great amp. Zoso, I agree with alot of what you are saying, and I'll admit I didn't quite get your point the first time around. But to say these amps are 50's style amps is a stretch. The tremolux is supposed to be a take on a 5E3 deluxe, but with tremolo added. The output section isn't cathode biased like a 5E3, it is fixed bias like a Blackface deluxe reverb. Allen amps are a mix between tweed, blackface, and blonde in blackface cosmetics, these EC amps are a mix between tweed and blackface in tweed cosmetics. The big thing is that Clapton is putting his name on them, so people will shell out the big bucks hoping to cop some Clapton tone. My point is really that you can get as good if not in many cases better tone from less expensive amps that are better built by real craftsmen. Your friends that have been brainwashed into thinking that you have to have a Fender, Marshall, Vox, or Mesa Boogie to be cool might not get it, but in the end it is all about the tone and if that tone inspires you to play better than you have before.

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