[man] Yeah.
Yeah.
[Bill] How are you doing?
[Jason] Waking up, bro.
[Bill] All right, man. My name is Bill.
-[Jason] Hi, Bill. -[man] Oh.
This right here, the wood warehouse.
-[Jason] Yeah? -Yeah. This over here
is the manufacturing plant.
-[Jason] Yeah. -As a matter of fact,
we're growing, and we're looking to take that building.
-Holy smokes. -[Jason] 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]
[singer] ♪ And the road Becomes my bride ♪
♪ I have stripped Of all but pride ♪
♪ So in her I do confide ♪
♪ Off the beaten path I reign ♪
♪ Rover, wanderer, Nomad, vagabond ♪
♪ Call me what you will ♪
♪ Wherever I may roam ♪
♪ Wherever I may roam, yeah ♪
[man] [indistinct] area.
-[Bill] This is where we keep our wood. -[Jason] Holy shit.
[Bill] So this is the Hollywood Bowl seating.
-[man] No way. -[Jason] No fucking way.
-[man] Yeah, man. -[Bill] The old seating,
we're making guitars out of them.
[Jason] Hollywood Bowl, holy shit.
I bet you guys got like vintage-aged wood too.
-[man] Oh, we do. Yeah, yeah. -[Jason] You got all... You got all of it?
[Bill] We've taken old bridges, wood bridges,
old barn wood, and make guitars out of them.
-Can we get that? -[Bill] Yeah.
[Jason] 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.
[Bill] We're gonna see the end part of [indistinct]
[Jason] 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.
[acoustic music playing]
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.
[Bill] Roger's been here since 1960, he's 91 years old.
[Jason] Dude, what's up, Roger?
-How are you doing, sir? -[Roger] Hey.
You've been here... You've been here for 60 years?
It's 61.
[Jason] 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.
[narrator] 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.
[Paul] I think the craftsman for me is just
pouring yourself into something so that,
you know, it's reflective of you.
[guitar music playing]
[narrator] 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.
[Yuriy] Somebody picks up a guitar,
and they'll hold it for several minutes
and stare at every facet of that guitar.
[Jason] 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! -[Dale] [indistinct]
I follow you on Instagram!
-[laughs] -Oh [indistinct] that is so cool.
-[Jason] Oh, man, this is awesome, bro. -Thank you very much.
[Jason] 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.
[Paul] 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.
[acoustic music playing]
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."
[laughs]
[narrator] 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.
[all cheering]
[narrator] 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.
[Les] We never had fires around there.
Very rare.
[Jason] Do you go swimming in this?
-[Les] You can. We used to have a rope swing. -[woman] We used to.
[Les] We haven't in a long time.
[Jason] Ho-ho-ho-ho!
Don't worry, I used to be a lifeguard.
Come on on, you're good.
[woman laughs] [indistinct]
[metal creaking]
[narrator] Les Claypool and Primus were massive
influences on me growing up.
[laughter]
[narrator] 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.
-[Jason] Look at that, buddy. -[woman] It's so big.
-That's impressive, sir. -[Les] Give him a lick.
[narrator] 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!
[laughter]
Damien.
Oh, shit, I've caught Damien.
This is how bad a fisherman Aquaman is.
[narrator] 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.
[guitar strumming]
[Les] This one really growls.
[guitar strumming]
This one, for me, it sounds more like Primus, like...
[narrator] 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.
[Jason] 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.
[Les] These are all Carl Thompson basses.
He's a brilliant, brilliant luthier.
Everything he makes is so unique,
and you kinda tailor your playing...
[guitar strumming]
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.
-[mellow music playing] -[sniffles]
-[laughter] -[producer] Anything you want.
Anything you want.
I discovered Carl Thompson through Primus,
and Les Claypool was a huge inspiration to me and Primus
when I was young, growing up, skateboarder.
And then just seeing...
Seeing him just kind of blew my mind.
-[Carl speaking] -[Jason] What's up, buddy?
It's a pleasure to meet you, man.
-[laughs] -Awesome.
Wow. This shop is amazing.
It was pretty exciting to be able
to go to Carl's house,
and go into Brooklyn, and go down in this basement,
and it is tiny like super, super tiny.
All right. Gonna show me around a little bit?
-[laughs] -[Jason] Wax on, wax off.
Wax on.
[laughs]
[Jason] It's an honor.
Being in Carl's presence, that's a guru grandpa.
You know, you're in the basement of Grandpa's place,
you hope your grandpa's that cool.
But he's just dropping all of these like
beautiful little nuggets of wisdom.
What the hell's this?
[Carl speaking]
Okay, well that's fine, your brother drew it.
-[Jason] Is it right there? -[Carl speaking]
[Jason] Billy Ray Thompson.
Me and Batman, I know him...
-I know him very well. -[Carl speaking]
Wow. A family of artists.
[narrator] For this incredible show,
we've been able to meet people from all over,
including masters of craft in unexpected places.
Carl is no different.
His space might be small,
but the bases he creates are unbelievable.
He's been making these instruments here for years,
literally shaping the course of musical history
from beneath his fingers.
This one's gorgeous.
You sure you want to send this to Australia?
Nah.
Nah, we can make him wait longer, right?
[Carl laughs]
You originally started as a jazz musician,
and then you started making your bases?
Or you always made your bases?
I'm just...
[Carl speaking]
-[Jason] Yeah. -[Carl speaking]
Oh, wow.
[Carl speaking]
[Jason] Wow. So what year was...
What year is this?
Wow.
[Carl speaking]
[narrator] Carl's lived such an extraordinary life.
Being a self-taught master,
words can't describe how amazing he is.
[Carl] I want it to look like this,
I want it to look right,
it has to be right, yeah.
I don't care how you approach it.
[narrator] He really shows the influence of handcrafted.
And while many larger builders
have lost that human touch,
there are still a few who champion craftsmanship.
[Jason] Hey, Billy.
-[Billy] Hey. -I remember seeing this.
Before I even played guitar,
I was like, "What is that?"
-[Billy] Oh, yeah. -And I brought my first...
And I brought my first national.
And it was on the day of Robert Johnson's death
and I learned how to play lap steel,
and then I learned how to play like...
Come on in my kitchen,
and before I could actually play a note.
So I started... I started playing slide...
-Yeah. -before I could actually play notes.
-You still got that one? -[Billy] Oh, yeah.
I got all of that stuff.
[rock music playing]
[narrator] There are some guitars
that changed the course of music history.
One of those guitars,
ZZ Top front man Billy Gibbons
1959 Les Paul,
the Mistress Pearly Gates.
[Jason] Give me a little history of Pearly Gates.
I point to Eric Clapton
as being the guy that cracked the code
and the evidence showed up on the back
of the John Mayall & the Bluesbreakers record,
and that became the go-to thing.
But keep in mind that was in '66 or '67,
this instrument had already been out of production
since '59, or early '60s, I could say.
[narrator] Pearly Gates is one of the most
iconic guitars in the world.
So I sent my team to Gibson
to meet Billy and his legendary instrument.
[Billy] Took off to Los Angeles
saying that you got a buyer for Pearly, so...
I sold him the steel Pearly.
[laughs]
-[Cesar] Where's Pearly? -[Billy] Coming in.
-[Cesar] Oh, my. -[woman] I have her.
-[Cesar] Oh, my, oh, my. -Yeah, yeah, yeah.
-[woman] You guys ready? -[Cesar] Let's go.
[Billy] Come on back.
[Cesar] Go, go, go.
Oh, man.
[Tom] Pearly Gates is Billy Gibbons' guitar
that he's known to have
from like the beginnings of ZZ Top, very special.
[Billy] Immediately, the sound of the instrument
eclipsed everything that had come before it.
[Jason] You don't get to see that guitar that often.
So my team got to be there
and to see the most perfect '59 Les Paul in history.
It defined music and it created a genre of music.
-[Billy] Oh, yeah. -This is music history.
[Jason] To be able to shoot Pearly Gates,
it's magic, it's huge, it's like,
that guitar is definitely locked down Fort Knox.
[guitar playing]
[Billy] Even unplugged, these things have a...
Have a resonant sound.
[Jason sighs]
I'm gonna meet Tom Murphy.
Tell me what this is.
This was my file
when we first tried to replicate Pearly Gates.
These were the pictures taken of the actual guitar.
[Jason] He's got these legends
and I wanna celebrate their guitars,
and by doing that,
we're gonna take their guitar
with all the cracks and the beats,
the smoky lounges and everything
and all that soul that's in there,
and then we're gonna duplicate it
with other artisans
who were inspired by that music
and then surprise them
so they can retire that one and then take it out
and go play it in the world.
Getting the opportunity to help replicate
one of the most famous guitars in music history
for a music legend,
another surreal experience.
All the love and skill that goes into building a masterpiece
really makes you appreciate the craftsmen
who dedicate their lives
to keeping this art form alive.
Everyone that works at Gibson
is excited about these artists.
That's maybe why they work there
and because they're moved by them
and now we get to build his guitar
and then we're gonna auction it off for charity.
So that was like a really special thing
just to be able to like document that
and then give something back.
I was pleased to see that we were gonna
replicate the Pearly Gates,
Billy Gibbons' guitar, for Jason.
It's always been really special to me
because in the spring of '70,
I was sitting on the floor in a tiny little club
to see Billy Gibbons' new band.
He walked from behind his Marshall amp
holding that Les Paul
and I was a 19-year-old kid
hearing Billy Gibbons play and seeing that Les Paul.
I mean, it was just guitar heaven and music heaven.
So it was just thrilling to see that circle happen
where I was influenced by that guitar
and then got to replicate it.
This particular guitar, of all guitars I've done...
-[Jason] Yeah. -[Tom] I had to use
a wire brush on a grill
to replicate where he has worn the wood away,
not the finish, the wood is rounded off there.
-Wow. Belt buckle. -Belt buckle...
They're low slung, you know.
And so that's what Billy Gibbons' guitar looks like.
[Jason] Yeah, because it has a real...
Like, we're talking about that tobacco,
it's been played in a lot of clubs and...
-[Tom] Oh, of course. And see... -few joints, kind of...
You can see the yellowing of the binding,
that's the lacquer turning yellow
on the whole guitar.
I asked him personally, of all the years
and all the guitars, how this guitar
-did never get broken. -[Jason] Right.
He said, "'Cause she was right here."
Wow.
[Tom] We heard that Billy had named
that Les Paul "Pearly Gates,"
so he loaned a car to a girl to go to California
and the car was named Pearly Gates.
[Billy] My buddy, he said,
"Uh, there's a cowboy outside of town
that's working a ranch,
he used to have a, uh, cowboy band.
I think he's got one of those sunburst Les Paul's."
I said, "Well, let's go check it out."
He pulled it out from under the bed,
it was a famous story, under the bed.
He opened up the case and there it was.
Well, there was a young girl that was in Texas,
she was actually from Los Angeles
and she had an opportunity to get a part in a movie,
but she didn't have a way to get from Texas
back to California.
So a buddy of mine and I gave her a 1936 Packard.
[chuckles] We said,
"Listen, we don't know if it's gonna make it,
we don't know if you're going to get there."
But sure enough, she said, "I'm gonna learn how to drive it,"
which she did,
made it all the way to California,
got the part and she said, "Now what do I do?"
I said, "Well, sell the car."
Which she did, and she sent the money
back to us on the day that we found the Les Paul.
[laughs] I had this hand full of cash
and I gave it to this cowboy and I said,
"Here, we'll make a deal."
He said, "Fine."
And that was... That was the start of it.
-Wow. -Yeah.
Under a bed in Texas,
that's how you found Pearly Gates.
-That's it. -[exhales]
I loved sitting with him and hearing his story, so...
It was one of those beautiful moments
when you meet your heroes and your heroes are cool.
So, it's... be cool, be kind.
[acoustic music playing]
[narrator] The craftsman who built the original
1959 Les Paul
changed the course of music history.
Each one was hand built
creating a unique personality for each guitar.
And like Pearly, they went on to create music
that would inspire us for generations.
That's the Pearly Gates.
Yeah.
[Les] So, um, we're at the home of Dan Maloney
who has been making me bases for years.
See, I wanted to design my own instrument
that fit me personally,
you know, my ergo instrument.
Uh, it was Dan who I...
He was really the only person I wanted to talk to about it,
-so let's go see Dan. -[Jason] And so he's [indistinct]
Let's go see Dan. Pachyderm base.
He's a good guy.
It's your hometown then.
Yeah.
-The mystery god. -[Jason] This is the mystery.
-How are you doing, Dan? -You look good.
-How are you doing? -[Jason] Nice to meet you, man.
This is where it's all made, huh?
[Dan] This is where it happens.
-All right. Yeah. -[Les] I asked Dan
to make me one out of dark chocolate
and, um, so, I'm very anxious
to have the first edible pachyderm bass guitar, so...
[chuckles] Um, we were... We were talking
because I wanted to get a bass from you,
and then you said maybe possibly the next bass
we would be making would be, uh...
We could make a koa, right?
[Les] Well, we're making a couple of koas.
-A couple of koas. -So we'll see which one I wanna keep.
-[Jason] Yes. So we get... We get twinsies. -[laughs]
[narrator] I love natural materials.
I feel so connected with these things
that are shaped from the earth,
they have meaning.
Koa is my favorite wood
and it's from Hawaii,
it's absolutely beautiful.
So this bass is kind of a marriage
of those things that I love.
[Dan] There you go.
[Les] That's pretty.
Wow, that came out great.
[Jason] Wow.
How long did it take to make one of them?
[Dan] I started this one about
five or six months ago, I think.
[Les] I was like, "Okay, I want something
that balances incredibly well,
that is light, super punchy, very basic electronics."
I want shit to be easy and ergo.
I like it to feel, have the contours
and these different things on how they feel against my body.
And I sit there and I play with them in my chair
and lay on the couch and do all kinds of things, so...
Because that was, for me, when I was growing up
with my Carl Thompson base,
I was... It was like my girlfriend, you know.
I wish... I had the thing with me everywhere, every night.
It was very comfortable to me.
-[Jason] Yeah. -So I wanted my instruments
to be equally as comfortable.
We shifted the waist on it,
so like, this, the waist is here,
-the waist is here. -[Jason] Yeah.
So what I was finding is that it didn't balance
on my knee very well.
So we shifted the bottom portion
of the waist back,
it's basically the same base
but we wanted to extend the lower horn
so it feels better on your knee.
See, like, it just sits there, just like...
And then you can work on the console, it doesn't go anywhere.
But it's also a little bit of a... Of an homage
-to Carl Thompson because... -Yeah.
Carl is the king of all kings,
and this is a bit of a nod to him.
[dramatic music playing]
[Jason] So each one of these are hand done?
[Les] Some of the ones I use, but he does...
He does all the fine-aly, dine-aly.
I mean, how would you shape this edge?
[Dan] I would use different methods.
I'd use a bit of that, I'd use a bigger stuff,
I'd use the grinder
and I'm not into, um, that real fine stuff,
-I use files, I use sandpaper. -[Les] Oh, you just ruined it.
[laughter]
-That one's mine. -[Les] Wah-wah-wah-wah.
[Dan] Yeah. Yeah, you bought that one.
Yup. It's all good.
[Les] But you can see I did a couple of dingers
when I was working on it too.
Right here, I did exactly what you did.
[Jason] Uh, you know, we edited that out,
so we'll never use it, I didn't ding shit.
-[Les] But I saw you ding it. -I didn't.
Thank you for opening your house and home
and showing us your craft.
And thank you for showing me that you do it yourself
which I think is amazing.
[bass guitar playing]
[laughter]
-I just fuck around, honestly, you know? -Yeah.
[dramatic music playing]
[Joe] It's pretty cool coming down here.
Carl's dad built this.
So he took the neck off an acoustic
and built the body for it, that was back in the 1930's.
-[Jason] Wow. -[Joe] It was before Les Paul was,
you know, building instruments.
His dad was, uh, doing a bunch of recording on...
Early recording gear. He just always had trouble
getting feedback and stuff on that early recording...
-[Jason] Yeah, yeah. -so he decided to build
a, uh, an electric guitar.
-[Jason] Wow. -[Joe] Yeah.
[Carl speaking]
He just loved it.
Did he?
Wow.
Eric Clapton played it?
It's a museum piece, sir.
Carl's father's guitar
has been played by many big names.
And to think it could be one of the world's
first solid body electric guitars.
To see it just hanging there,
it's just a testament to how humble he is.
Look, there's stuff back here too.
No, this is it.
[Jason] That is amazing.
-It's amazing. -Yeah.
[narrator] Carl clearly comes from a family of creators.
As a father who wants to pass down to my kids
the things that I love, my passions,
I felt a deep connection.
[Jason] Well, that's what our show is really about,
it's like, it's just handcrafted artists
and really it's the heartbeat of it right here,
like, being in a basement in this small studio
making the greatest bases in the world.
You're one of the... You're one of the greatest
luthierists in the world, bro.
To document him, that's what this is all about.
Just going down into his little workshop,
you get to experience it.
It was beautiful to watch this whole thing
come to life.
[Carl speaking]
[Jason] Just what he lives by, his mottos,
the things that, like, that fuel him,
and he's so inspiring.
Thank you, you definitely shared your gift.
-A hundred percent. -A hundred percent.
He's a hundred percent.
He's definitely shared his gift.
Yeah, that's right.
[Jason] You know, I'm using my passion or excitement
about what he does
to show the world
and he has this super power
of being able to do this,
and he needs to pass it to the world.
So I think it's wonderful that we're complimenting
each other.
[Carl] This is called the Nashville.
-[Jason] That's called a Nashville? -[Carl] Mmm-hmm.
-[Jason] Wow. -[Carl chuckles]
Yeah, the rainbow base started
as a guitar back in the '70s.
[Jason] You're the first one to do that?
[Carl] This... And then they called it Rainbow Bass,
and when Les came into my life,
I just thought, "This guy's a crazy guy.
I'm gonna make him something crazy."
The craziest. The craziest.
-So I'll make him something crazy. -Yeah.
[Carl] Now everybody wants a Rainbow Bass, you know.
Is that his first one? Is it like the rainbow?
That's the first one I made him, yeah.
-That's the first one, yeah. -But he... But he had one
-before that. -Yeah.
He found one, he said that that little
-particular bass he has... -Yeah, yeah.
that... The walnut bass?
He said he found that in a hawk shop
in San Francisco somewhere a long time ago.
-Really? -So before I even met him, you know.
Also, then I stumbled across one
at the local music store that was used,
I was like, "Holy shit, this thing's a crap,"
picked it up and played it, it was the one
-you played last night. -[Jason] Yeah, that's the one.
I had no money, so I just went and borrowed
money from everybody, and I skimped and saved,
and it was $600.
And I went in to go back to get it
and they had marked it up to a thousand.
And I told the guy, I went, "Dude,
you told me $600," and I was in high school.
He goes into the back and he comes back
and he's like, "Okay, I'll sell it to you
for $600 with tax.
And I was like, "Okay."
And I gave him $600 and I wrote him a bum check
for the tax.
But I got the bass.
[laughter]
When Les came over
and, uh, he said he wanted to get a six-string bass.
And so he started making it,
and then half way through I was like,
"You know, I'm gonna maybe have it be fretless,"
because I'm an idiot.
And I made my life much harder
by having it be fretless.
Why did I decide to have it fretless?
It's... This was the ridiculous thing.
I just wanted the...
I was like, "I'm bored with four-string.
I wanted challenge myself."
[Carl] That's his base.
-When I made his... -[Jason] Yeah.
[Carl] this stuff went all the way through,
-the rainbow. -[Jason] Yeah.
[Carl] Because when I heard that scroll,
all those woods art.
I was in the kitchen
but, you know,
I should have charged him
$50 million for that one.
[bass guitar playing]
[narrator] Les' music was influenced
directly by Carl's genius
in making this bass.
And the songs created on it had a profound impact
on a lot of people, including me.
[Les] You know, market pachyderm basses
are amazing, they're super ergo.
But if you wanted an incredible piece of art
by the greatest bass builder luthier
I've ever come across ever, you'd get a Carl Thompson.
Have you seen the picture I got from him?
[Jason] No, show it to me.
He's a wild man. I love him to death, man.
-[laughs] -He speaks so highly
of you too, so it's an honor to be able
to come here and meet you and...
I'm so happy I got a bass from you.
I'm glad you did, too.
I mean, like I told you before,
I made guitars for Lou Reed, I mean, Hank Williams.
I never made one for the Aquaman.
[laughter]
[dramatic music playing]
[narrator] Carl made this gorgeous six-string bass.
The woodwork was pure artistry.
He took influence from Les' style
and incorporated it into his build.
[Les] Carl's just a fucking genius.
Yeah, this thing's amazing.
Nice and light.
[Jason] Now, you know, Les has his pachyderm basses
that he does with Dan Maloney.
-This thing's badass. -[laughs]
Yeah! Carl!
But it's really beautiful to see, like,
where that kind of style came from,
and that's through Carl.
[bass guitar strumming]
Yeah, this thing's really cool.
-I'm stoked. -Yeah.
-[Jason] I'm stoked to tell Carl. -[Les] It's very cool.
[Jason] He's very excited just coming here.
Going to Carl's place, in his little small basement,
I mean, it's quite impressive to go...
You know, what we're shooting on the show is like
these massive companies that are still making handcrafted things
but then it's like getting into someone's garage
like Dan, making these amazing instruments.
But still, Carl, you would think it'd be a little bit,
and he's like 80 what?
-[Les] I don't even know. -[Jason] Yeah.
-But it's-- -[Les] I think he's a vampire,
I think he's ageless.
Yeah. I mean, look at that. That's just...
Nobody beats his woodwork, it's unbelievable.
They're literally pieces of art.
[Jason] And that's one of the beautiful things about it too,
like you're creating something with him.
You get to see behind the curtain
of what it takes to make something like this
and that kind of artistry.
[Carl] So koa wood,
the core is honduran mahogany,
the neck is roasted maple.
[Jason] Oh, is that what that is?
This is what they looked like before, the...
That's the neck.
Well, before this, it's a tree, you know, so...
[laughter]
[Jason] So two of my firsts,
I've never had a fretless,
so I felt like it was...
I think what's gonna make me a fretless
is gonna be you guys.
It's beautiful. And then this is my first,
this will be the first six-string...
right here.
Woo-ho-ho!
Amazing.
I don't know how many guitars
he puts out a year, but it's just so special
to be able to have,
like, anything from him
and be able to record him.
Carl, if there's a charity
that you really love, we're gonna raise money,
give that to a charity if there's anything that you...
-If there's-- -Make-A-Wish.
Make-A-Wish?
I'm gonna auction off,
basically, my first fretless
and hopefully raise money and we can...
And it will bring some more to some charities,
and then... And then... And then we'll also do a...
We'll also do Make-A-Wish, buddy.
When I talked to him on the phone,
what did I say? I said,
"This guy, I never met him,
but he sure sounds like a nice guy."
You gave me a lot of gold today,
you gave me some great advice.
Hey, buddy.
Yeah.
To be able to use my team and our passion
and be able to capture him in the most beautiful way,
it was an honor.
-[Les] You wanna see what Dan made? -[Jason] I do.
Okay. So, this is one of the first koas
-that he was working on. -[Jason] This is the first koa?
-[Les] It's one of the first ones. -[Jason] One of the first.
[Les] So these are the two koas he was working on
when you were around.
Both of these have been my road basses.
I've taken them both on the road.
[narrator] For the making of this show,
I've come to realize
that the flame inside all of us
to create and give our gift to the world
is the thing that pulls us together.
Being able to share these one of a kind guitars
with the world, I wanted to make
an extra one so that we can auction it off,
and then from there, donate it to charity.
[Les] Well, I always tell my kids, I'm like,
"When I go, when I die, there's no money."
Evel Knievel said when I was kid,
"You know,
I've made $2 million in my life,"
which was a shitload of money back then,
"but I've spent four."
So I tell my kids,
"Look, when I go, there's no money,
but you're gonna have a fuck of a yard sale,"
you know, because, like, I keep all this shit.
Like, you see it's on the van, you know,
I got all kinds of shit like that.
-Lola and Wolf... -[laughs]
I made a lot of money. I spent more.
-You're gonna have a hell of a yard sale. -Hell of a yard sale.
[Jason] So, when we auction it off, it basically gets...
Goes to any charity that you want.
What charity would you want the money to go to?
Uh, well, because we lost my little nephew Matthew,
baby Matthew, years ago to leukemia,
um, and I saw what, uh,
my brother and my sister-in-law,
my whole family went through,
in that situation, as you know, as a father,
that's...
It's the most horrific thing
-you could possibly imagine... -Yeah.
losing a... Losing your kid.
So St. Jude's Hospital was this amazing place
that really took care of my brother and his family, and so...
-[bass guitar plays] -St. Jude's.
-Thank you, brother. -Right on, man.
That's awesome. Yeah!
Let's go eat some of your wieners.
Let's eat some wieners.
[Jason] All right.
Let's do this, let's do this. Let's... Let me show you something.
All right. So straight from Murphy's lab,
-we got three. -[Billy] Oh, my gosh.
-[laughs] -Um, I wanna give you two,
and we're gonna sign one for a fan.
Do us the honors, do you wanna open them up?
[Billy] Oh.
Oh, man. [laughs]
-[Jason laughs] -[Billy] Wow.
Somebody's gonna be really happy.
[guitar strums]
[Billy] Oh, man. Whoa, yeah.
-[Jason] Right? -Oh, God.
This comes the tough part now. [laughs]
[guitar strums]
-Oh. -Beautiful.
-It's... -That's what it's hooked on,
-right there. -Nice and dark, too.
-That... Yeah. -Hmm.
Man. Phew. [laughs]
All right. Ooh, baby.
-[Billy laughs] -That looks good.
Jeez.
Oh. There it goes.
Look at the depth of that color.
The movement, you know.
They call it flame maple and there's a reason
because it flairs under the...
Under the movement.
[Jason] Really being able to spend time with him
and give it to him in his home
and just honor him,
it's a wonderful thing, man.
He's really a beautiful human being.
[Billy] This is really, really beautiful work.
-They are, aren't they? -Stunning.
You know, every element is so bold.
I hope we captured in camera
like how just unbelievable these things are.
[Billy] Pearly has this presence,
this powerful tone
that has yet to be eclipsed.
[laughs]
[Jason] Cesar.
[Cesar] Jason. Hi, Billy.
-[Jason] We did it. -We did it,
and, uh, we're gonna join you
in, uh, supporting one of the great charities
that, uh, we know that you've, uh,
been so closely associated with.
[Cesar] You know, with all the work
that we're doing around music education,
I think Gibson Gives will be the right place.
[Jason] Nice, Gibson Gives.
-I love it, buddy. -It's a done deal.
I can't believe it's happening. I'm pinching myself.
This is, uh, a real special moment.
Um, and just in time, the ZZ Top tour starts
in, uh, just around the corner
and, uh, we don't have to worry about
what we're taking on the road,
I'm seeing it right here.
-[laughs] -That's awesome.
[Billy] This is really really special.
[soft dramatic music playing]
[Jason] I love it here.
I'm really proud of all the stuff that you guys have created
and, you know, that's what we wanna celebrate.
We wanna celebrate handcrafted.
You guys are still doing it here at Fender,
it's just so wonderful to celebrate craftsmanship
and be able to pass it over to musicians.
It's a beautiful full circle of, like,
passing on the thing that we love,
the universal language of music,
so thank you, Fender.
-Woo! -[applause]
A lot of these artists come back and they want these certain luthiers,
these certain craftsmen to build their guitars.
And so, this one is... It goes out
to the boys at Fender.
I love this little team,
and please enjoy how much goes into
these little pieces of art.
[soft dramatic music playing]
[narrator] What an amazing journey,
unlike any I've ever had before.
The craftsmen I've met have opened my eyes
to the love and detail that goes
into every instrument they create.
They come from all walks of life
and create their art in different environments.
They themselves are works of art,
in basements, in factories, in garages.
It's a collective of specialists
who love what they do
and who share their gifts with the world.
They're united by the drive
and passion to build these tools of music,
and translate that into every stroke of the file,
tap of the hammer,
and the winding of the strings.
[soft dramatic music playing]
[narrator] My heart is so full getting to explore
even a piece of this world,
and to meet the masters who live in it.
[Carl] I never wanna be a master.
I had an idea about making a bass,
and I found a way to make it happen.
That's all.
It doesn't take a genius to do that.
[soft dramatic music playing]