FENDER REPORTEDLY LAYS OFF 300 CALIFORNIA EMPLOYEES:

According to YouTuber Dylan Mckerchie – AKA Dylan Talks Tone – a source stated that the workers making up the “entire afternoon shift” of Fender’s Corona, California factory were laid off, amounting to around 300 people – including the plant manager and assistant manager, and a number of the quality control team. This, Dylan states, reduces Fender’s production capacity by between 200-250 instruments a day.

Mckerchie states that the employees “Did not get some fluffy email or severance package” – for the most part receiving just a few days extra pay. The layoffs don’t seem to be limited to the factory floor, either, with Mckerchie the vice president of design for EVH and Charvel has been let go, alongside Brian Swerdfeger. Swerdfeger was Fender’s vice president of research and design, and the spearheaded the design of the Acoustasonic range.

Flashback: Did Everyone Buy a Guitar in Quarantine or What? Online music instrument sales rose dramatically in 2020. “We’re now selling a thousand guitars every day,” says the CEO of Sweetwater, which posted more than $1 billion in annual revenue for the first time.

But likely the Fenders that new players bought up during lockdown were from their beginner-oriented line Squier, some of which are surprisingly good guitars — but they’re built in places like Indonesia and China.