On the Roam

Yeah.

Yeah.

How are you doing?

Waking up, bro.

All right, man. My name is Bill.

- Hi, Bill. - Oh.

This right here, the wood warehouse.

- Yeah? -Yeah. This over here

is the manufacturing plant.

- Yeah. -As a matter of fact,

we're growing, and we're looking to take that building.

-Holy smokes. - Wow.

-Yeah. Yeah. -That's amazing.

We wanted to be here earlier, so--

-Yeah, I think you guys-- -Well, no that's not true, we just live on the road.

["Wherever I May Roam" by Metallica playing]

area.

- This is where we keep our wood. - Holy shit.

So this is the Hollywood Bowl seating.

- No way. - No fucking way.

- Yeah, man. - The old seating,

we're making guitars out of them.

Hollywood Bowl, holy shit.

I bet you guys got like vintage-aged wood too.

- Oh, we do. Yeah, yeah. - You got all... You got all of it?

We've taken old bridges, wood bridges,

old barn wood, and make guitars out of them.

-Can we get that? - Yeah.

What I wanted to do on this episode

is I really wanted to focus on building these instruments

from the ground up.

So some of my favorite artisans,

guys that I follow on Instagram

that are just amazing.

That's the best. I love you, man.

Just being able to document them

and celebrate the craftsman,

that's what this is dedicated to.

And taking that, and then that inspires the artist.

We're gonna see the end part of

Visiting the Fender Factory,

it was really kind of the start of this whole thing.

I wanted to show up there,

I wanted to camp out and wake up and be there

right in the morning.

Whoa.

Fender has had a huge impact

on my journey to playing the guitar.

My first electric was a Fender Nocaster

that I cherished.

It fueled my passion for playing guitar

and appreciation for how they're made.

It's not some freaking machine, man.

I love that.

Roger's been here since 1960, he's 91 years old.

Dude, what's up, Roger?

-How are you doing, sir? - Hey.

You've been here... You've been here for 60 years?

It's 61.

Sixty-one years you've been here?

I started in 1960.

Born in 1929,

and you've been in... And you're 91 years old.

You're amazing.

Wow.

Thank you, my friend.

Bro, it's all hands on, artistry.

Same techniques they're using, been doing since 1954.

So much of what founded Fender as an iconic company

and made it a household name is still there today.

It's a legacy of craftsmanship

that carries on with each guitar they make.

I think the craftsman for me is just

pouring yourself into something so that,

you know, it's reflective of you.

It's crazy to think of all the music

that will be created for the world by these instruments.

And it all begins here at the hands of these builders.

Somebody picks up a guitar,

and they'll hold it for several minutes

and stare at every facet of that guitar.

Whoa.

You think it's like, "Oh yeah, these are machine-made, blah, blah, blah."

But no, every detail, like it was wonderful

to go into the Fender and see how much goes in to one of these guitars,

like a lot more than I thought.

It's a beautiful process.

I was really blown away.

-Oh, Dale Wilson, bro! -

I follow you on Instagram!

- -Oh that is so cool.

- Oh, man, this is awesome, bro. -Thank you very much.

Meeting all of the artisans

and guys who I follow,

being able to see

all the work, their workshops,

going in there, seeing how handcrafted everything is.

It's kind of a vulnerable thing.

You make something and if you're proud of it,

you're proud to show your friends,

you're proud to show your family.

But you're also kind of vulnerable

because you're worried they might find all the stuff

that you think is wrong with it.

I've been building guitars about 18 years here at Fender

and I built my first guitar when I was 14 years old

in high school, which, um... While the kids were building

bongs and clocks, I decided I wanted to build a guitar.

I wanted to slow things down and take my time

and just focus on something really detailed.

I could spend my time making something that

somebody else could appreciate.

Being able to do this and make someone's day,

that's why I'm doing it.

Always learning and developing that

into the craft and making it better

and I get to pour myself into that guitar.

I still don't believe that I... This is what I do.

Like, sometimes I'll tell my mom,

like, "Hey, Mom, I'm at Jimmy Page's house,"

and she's like, "Oh, that's nice, honey."

These craftsmen have the coolest jobs.

They come into work every day and they live their passion,

using their skills to make music possible for so many.

Going to the Fender custom shop,

they were so cool to me

and so nice, the whole team.

Seeing how an instrument comes together

made me wanna learn more,

and to draw from that well of inspiration.

This led me to Les Claypool,

someone who's had a heavy hand

in creating custom guitars.

We never had fires around there.

Very rare.

Do you go swimming in this?

- You can. We used to have a rope swing. - We used to.

We haven't in a long time.

Ho-ho-ho-ho!

Don't worry, I used to be a lifeguard.

Come on on, you're good.

Les Claypool and Primus were massive

influences on me growing up.

I relate to his unique style of music

and it inspired me to pick up the bass.

Oh, man.

That was, uh, less than a minute.

I call him Geoff.

- Look at that, buddy. - It's so big.

-That's impressive, sir. - Give him a lick.

Being able to spend time with him and his family

and become friends with him is something

that I never would have thought possible as a kid.

Whoa, shit!

Damien.

Oh, shit, I've caught Damien.

This is how bad a fisherman Aquaman is.

Primus is, without a doubt,

one of my all time favorite bands.

Bass isn't usually a forefront instrument,

but Les Claypool, when he's on stage, he steals the show.

This one really growls.

This one, for me, it sounds more like Primus, like...

He has some of the most incredibly intricate

and impressive bass riffs I've ever heard.

So much that there's a couple of them

he can't even play anymore.

He's so connected to his instruments

that create his unique sound.

He's just a master of his craft.

What inspired me to play guitar,

I mean, I've always tried to pick it up

and wanted to learn, but I just...

I didn't have it when I was a kid.

And I wish I would've south a little bit longer.

But what inspired me are these artists,

people like Les Claypool and the Flea,

they're big inspirations in my life.

I don't necessarily wanna make my own songs.

I want to just sing their songs.

These are all Carl Thompson basses.

He's a brilliant, brilliant luthier.

Everything he makes is so unique,

and you kinda tailor your playing...

to the instrument, you know?

But I always tell people, "Hey, if you wanted to buy

the best bass in the world, buy a Carl Thompson."

But I mean, look at this thing, it's just... It's gorgeous.

He makes the most amazing instruments, he's like the...

He's like the modern day Statovarius.

He really is.

- -

- - Anything you want.

Anything you want.

I discovered Carl Thompson through Primus,