The women of G&L

[Fred Finisher]

Hello,
I'm sure that topic title got some attention! As some of you already know there were women who were working at CLF / G&L from the very beginning. Although most companies have women working in front offices etc. to run the day to day operations of the business, there were several women employed who also had a role in the actual making of the instruments. Women also got very little recognition for their efforts because this is mainly considered a mans world. Some of the women who worked in the shop were former Fender employees and others took up the trade because they needed a job and there were openings. Although the bulk of the front end operations were handled by Cindy, Laurie, Judy, Laura Lee, Janice, Pat and one or two others that I can't recall their names, there were also women in virtually every other department in the shop. The wood shop might be the only exception to this. At least I can't remember any ladies in there. Virtually all of the decals on your necks were put on by Shirley in the finish department and after Steve P. left, she also sprayed almost every neck.
The small parts department was run by George's sister Shug. Most if not all of your pick ups and control plates were wound and assembled by her and a team of women. I don't remember any women in the polishing department either.
The final assembly had women in charge of assembly alongside the men. I know of at least one who is on this site, my friend Joyce built instruments for a couple of years in the early days of the company. I also believe that Amanda is still with the company after all these years.
Hopefully this puts a little different perspective on how your instrument came to be.
I will continue the post a little later, I wanted to start earlier today so that I didn't "time out" again or have to break up the posts into too many parts,
Fred

[Miles Smiles]

I remember a G&L factory video, where a woman painted a neck with that gun oil tint.

[sickbutnottired]

Great reports, Fred, something different. I am anxiously waiting for more.

[louis cyfer]

i had the honor of meeting the lady who doers all the electronic wiring for the guitars, and has done so since fender in the early 60's. john toner took me to meet her, i needed a pickup ring and a few electronic bits. she is a wizard with the soldering iron. what a nice person too. it's just her at her station, she gets it all done. she also made sure i didn't have to pay for those items. it wasn't much, but the gesture was very nice.

as difficult as it was to deal with the factory over the phone, once there, the people are beyond helpful and friendly.

[Fred Finisher]

I have just returned from a drive through lunch that was not worth mentioning so I won't.
I will leave this days entry with an anecdote that you might get a kick out of. One of the ladies that worked with us was the sister in law of the first woodshop foreman when I began working there. Her name was Joni and she was very pretty and very likable. After a while, she was ready to move on so several people decided to go to a local bar and grill for a send off party. We all got together at lunch time and were having a good old time when it was realized that it was time to get back to work. I and a few others chose to leave and go back but several people decided not to return for some time. After a while there absence was noticed and Lloyd began asking about where all the employees were. Of course, none of us wanted to tell him because he might find a few adult beverages in hand if he decided to go there and round them up. When Leo found out he got pretty tweaked and told him to fire them. When they returned they were quite surprised to find out they were unemployed. This created quite a stir and then Leo found out who was in the group. One or two of the participants were very close to Leo and these women were very distraught over their punishment. Leo in turn had a quandry, stick to his guns or rehire everyone so that he was not accused of playing favorites. Fortunately, for all involved, Leo was a nice guy so he had them all reprimanded and they went back to work immediately.
Fred

[Elwood]

Whew!! hehe, close one.

[darwinohm]

Fred, I think there is a successful woman behind many men who have done well, and the women are often a silent partner. There are jobs that they are better at then we men would ever hope to be. I can imagine that in a small factory most people are friends and the same would be true for Leo. He obviously did have feelings for his employees but had to reprimand and just do nothing. A great story!-- Darwin