When did Fender start the plastic coating process, and why?
Most experts agree that Fullerplast was started to be used by Fender in 1963 There are many experts that are willing to share the facts with the guitar community, just as I am. The most time consuming part of finishing a solid guitar body, is the process of filling the wood pores, and allowing the paint to lay flay, with a gloss found on Grand Pianos, or automobiles. Fender needed a fast and easy solution in order speed up production during the guitar craze of the early 1960s. Encasing the wood in a smooth, hard, “glass” jacket would eliminate up to 20 hours in each body prep. Fender even experimented with a hot dip that resembled a candy apple method. The problem was that the dip mixture would need to be at a temperature that would damage the wood, or cause body moisture to create “steam pops” in the coating When Fender switched to Alder (from Ash) as it’s primary body wood in mid 1956, many books and authorities state Fender started using the product called “Fullerplast” This is a ve
