Fender wood

[Blazeman]

How much wood do you think Fender has stockpiled?

I know that guitar/bass manufacturers bid on stands of living trees and then have them logged accordingly.

If Fender couldn't buy anymore wood tomorrow how many years could they continue to make instruments?

[tplyons]

Probably not long. Stockpiling material in this day and age is a waste of money. Eating up valuable warehouse space and paying taxes on it.

Likely, a corporation such as Fender has some sort of just in time inventory system whereas they're getting constant shipments from suppliers when they need them, and stockpiling very little. It only makes financial sense.

[Pilgrim]

I understand your thinking, but the unique qualities of wood demand a certain amount of seasoning and drying before one can work it into a musical instrument. Whether Fender and other manufacturers stockpile and cure wood on or off premises, they must have a way to season it for at least a year, and then put it through a final drying process, before machining it. Otherwise, they'd have warping and moisture problems that would make their instruments unplayable.

[T-Bird]

Hi.

Just a semi-educated guess:

If they season/cure their own with traditional methods, from 1 to 2 years.
If they use modern pressure curing systems and/or buy the wood from an outside source, 6 months.

Regards
Sam

[tplyons]

I'm not saying they don't stock wood, especially if they dry it on site, but somehow I doubt they do that. I know for a fact that Martin doesn't do this, that they order everything in a usable condition for this very reason, and somehow, I assume that Fender outsources this as well.

I'm sure they have had engineers come in to determine how much they would need to stock to get over a burp in the supply chain, and no more. I don't see that being more than a month's worth of extra stock.

[Pilgrim]

My guess....there is probably a specialized trade in various kinds of wood for musical instruments - and that trade would most likely involve the vendor storing and properly curing the wood up to the point where the manufacturer would carry out the final drying process to suit its specs.