Swiss Tech Precision Inc. of Post Falls, ID makes high tech Fender guitar parts

Company moved from California decade ago

POST FALLS — A half century of Rock and Roll owes at least some success to a few small, precision metal parts made at a stamping factory in the Riverbend Commerce Park.

The year 1954 was full of pop culture benchmarks. Elvis Presley recorded his first single, the Miss America pageant was televised for the first time and Ernest Hemingway won the Nobel Prize for ”The Old Man and the Sea.”

By RICK THOMAS
Staff writer

http://www.cdapress.com/articles/2004/02/29/business/bus01.txt

And in a small factory in Fullerton, Calif., an inventor named Leo Fender created his Stratocaster.

Since 1988, Swiss Tech Precision Inc., which moved to Post Falls from California a decade ago, has made nearly a million bridges, spacers, and bridge and elevator plates for several models of that classic guitar.

"A stamping shop called us when they heard of our fine blanking process," said Andreas "Andy" Schneider, president of Swiss Tech.

That process, said the Swiss-born entrepreneur, allows high-volume manufacturing with high precision.

Schneider and his crew of 25 turned out 40 million pieces — $3.6 million worth of parts last year — ranging from anodized aluminum pet tags to nearly microscopic components for medical devices.

It’s not called Swiss Tech Precision for nothing.

Last year, Fender rewarded Schneider for zero-defects and on-time production records with a custom-built, pearl-inlaid Stratocaster containing all of the parts made in the Post Falls factory.

"Fender has been very loyal since I started doing business with them," said Schneider.

The guitar known affectionately as the Strat celebrated its 50th birthday in February. And it’s been a busy 50 years.

Americans know this instrument, even if they don’t know its name, because it’s been in so many famous hand. Its tones form the foundation of so much of our favorite music.

Jimi Hendrix made it scream.

Stevie Ray Vaughan made it cry.

Eric Clapton made it rock.

Fender was known for incorporating musicians’ suggestions into his designs. As a result, the Stratocaster was a collaboration by Fender and his close associates and those who played guitar for a living.

”Who knows how many different designs they’ve used to imitate and top it, and nobody’s come close,” says Nils Lofgren, guitarist for Bruce Springsteen’s E Street Band. ”It’s definitely as beautifully crafted an instrument that you’ll ever find and I’m very, very grateful for all Leo went through to create it.”

Unlike many guitars of the 1950s, the Stratocaster’s body was made of solid wood, making it extremely durable. Hendrix set it on fire, Vaughan and others administered countless beatings.

”The Strat is like a workhorse, you don’t have to baby it,” Lofgren says. ”You can be gentle and subtle and when you’re leaning into it a bit too hard, it doesn’t cave early on you. It pushes back a bit. No other guitar I’ve played allows that.”

Schneider is proud of the part he’s played in the quality of the guitar — and everything else he makes.

That includes many of the components of Leatherman tools and Gerber knives, tiny parts for aircraft applications and pet tags used in vending machines — still the company’s top volume item at eight to 12 million pieces per year.

"I’m competing with the Swiss in quality and the Chinese in price," he said. "We make our pet tags with the same tolerances as everything else."

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Swiss Tech Precision, Inc.

690 W. Clearwater Loop

Post Falls, ID 83854

USA

Tel: 208-773-4800

Fax: 208-773-4882

Or call: 800-362-5265

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The factory is filled with dozens of pieces of equipment ranging from 160-ton presses — a 250-ton unit is due for delivery this week — to a side-by-side training microscope Schneider uses to help perfect his products.

"I spend a lot of time looking through that," said Schneider.

Schneider, who emigrated to the U.S. in 1971, worked for the Swiss company that perfected and commercialized the fine-blanking process. He designs and makes all his own tooling, and upgrading and rebuilding his machinery to maintain the quality he demands is an ongoing process.

"The first part out of the die goes in my pocket," said Schneider. "I carry it around, feel it, look at it. Even while I’m having lunch at the White House, I’m looking at it to see how I can improve it."

The tiny parts do have a solid feel to them. One of the Stratocaster pieces, less than a half inch long and the thickness of a dime, even in its roughest form sits easily on its side when placed on a rough counter top.

Swiss Tech is a 50-50 partnership between Schneider and his ex-wife Teresa, vice president of the company. The couple divorced a year ago, but it was amicable and today they run the company from adjoining offices in a loft above the 41,000-square-foot plant.

"We drove to court in the same car," said Schneider. "She can write child support checks from my account."

They have twin 17-year-old daughters, both honors seniors at Lake City High School.

Throughout the various sections of the factory sit bins full of components in their rough state, ready for the next process or to be shipped out for finishing.

Schneider’s next move is to cut back on volume and do more finishing work.

He recently purchased polishing equipment and other machinery from a Michigan company. He’s in the final stages of a pilot run of 1,000 saw blades for a Leatherman tool, and is in the design phase of parts for a new Gerber multi-purpose tool.

Made of high carbon steel, the blade requires tooling in 90 different dimensions. Swiss Tech is taking over the contract from a Swiss competitor and is due to deliver 20,000 of the pieces by the end of March.

Like the solid body of the Stratocaster, which gives it its clear bright sound, the products of Swiss Tech are designed for quality.

Schneider’s Strat is a prize possession, even though it’s rarely played.

"I don’t know how to play," said Schneider. "I just know how to listen."

The Associated Press contributed to this story.