Brands – Fender

Six String Synopsis:

Fender, originally named the Fender Electric Instrument Company by its founder Clarence Leonidas ‘Leo’ Fender (1909‑1991), started business in 1946. Known to most simply as Fender, it has become one of the most widely recognised manufacturers of electric guitars, basses and amplifiers in the world. Fender is particularly important to the music industry because of its ground breaking role in bringing solid‑body electric guitars to mass markets in the 1950s.

Fender offered the first mass-produced Spanish-style solid-body electric guitar, the Telecaster to the public in 1950 and the enormously popular Stratocaster followed shortly after in 1954. Fender also pioneered the electric solid‑body bass guitar, the Precision bass which first appeared in 1951. The key Fender models, revolutionary at the time, are still in production, largely unchanged in their fundamental design today.

Fender has also sustained a very successful line of guitar and bass amplifiers dating from the late 1940s to the current day, including landmark valve amps such as the Princeton, Champ, Deluxe, Bassman and the mighty Twin Reverb.

In early 1965, Leo Fender sold his company to the Columbia Broadcasting System (CBS). Production quality varied during the 1970s and Fender sales suffered considerably. Finally, in 1985, 20 years after being sold to CBS, a management buyout initiated by CEO William Schultz, the Fender Electric Instrument Manufacturing Company was acquired from CBS by its own employees. Schultz (1926‑2006) is widely regarded as ‘the man who saved Fender’. The newly privatised company was renamed Fender Musical Instruments Corporation (FMIC).

Fender’s headquarters are in Scottsdale, Arizona, with North American manufacturing facilities in Corona, California, and Ensenada (Mexico). Off‑shore production is based in Korea and Japan. Fender has continued to innovate, introducing ‘custom shop’, ‘vintage reissue’ and ‘relic’ innovations to a market hungry to recapture the ‘golden years’ of pre‑CBS Fender instruments and amps.

Vintage Fender guitars, basses and amplifiers are much sought after by collectors, musicians and enthusiasts alike, with many key models reaching high market values.

Fender’s official website is… Fender.com

Check out the Fender page on Wikipedia… Wikipedia.org

Famous Fender guitars include… Esquire (1950), Telecaster (1950), Stratocaster (1954), Jazzmaster (1958), Jaguar (1962), Starcaster, Mustang (1964), Musicmaster (1956), Duo‑Sonic (1964), Coronado (1966), Bronco (1967), Electric XII, Bullet, Lead Series

Famous Fender bass guitars include… Precision (1952), Jazz Bass (1960), Mustang (1964), Musicmaster, Coronado, Bass V, Bass VI

Famous Fender amplifiers include… Deluxe Reverb, Twin Reverb, Bassman, Champ, Vibro Champ, Super Reverb, Princeton Reverb, Blues Junior, Pro Reverb, Musicmaster Bass

Some famous Fender guitar players include… Jeff Beck, Ritchie Blackmore (Deep Purple), Joe Bonamassa, Eric Clapton, Kurt Cobain (Nirvana), Albert Collins, Ry Cooder, Elvis Costello, Robert Cray, Dick Dale, Tom DeLonge (Blink‑182), John Frusciante (Red Hot Chili Peppers), Rory Gallagher, Lowell George (Little Feat), David Gilmour (Pink Floyd), Buddy Guy, Albert Hammond Jr., George Harrison (The Beatles), Jimi Hendrix, Buddy Holly, Ernie Isley (Isley Brothers), Eric Johnson, Ed King (Lynyrd Skynyrd), Mark Knoplfler, Albert Lee, John Lennon (The Beatles), Alex Lifeson (Rush), Yngwie Malmsteen, Jonny Marr (The Smiths), Hank Marvin (The Shadows), John Mayer, Dave Murray (Iron Maiden), Mike Oldfield, Jimmy Page (Led Zeppelin), Brad Paisley, Rick Parfitt (Status Quo), Bonnie Raitt, Keith Richards (Rolling Stones), Robbie Robertson (The Band), Nile Rodgers (Chic), Francis Rossi (Status Quo), Kenny Wayne Shepherd, Bruce Springsteen, Joe Strummer (The Clash), Ty Tabor (King’s X), The Edge (U2), Richard Thompson, Pete Townshend (The Who), Robin Trower, Ike Turner, Eddie Van Halen, Jimmie Vaughan, Stevie Ray Vaughan, Muddy Waters, Cory Wong (Vulfpeck), Ronnie Wood (Rolling Stones)

Some famous Fender bass players include… Aston ‘Family Man’ Barrett (The Wailers), Adam Clayton (U2), Bootsy Collins, Tim Commerford (Rage Against The Machine/Audioslave), John Deacon (Queen), John Entwistle (The Who), Flea (Red Hot Chili Peppers), Simon Gallup (The Cure), Colin Greenwood (Radiohead), John Paul Jones (Led Zeppelin), Carol Kaye, Greg Lake (ELP), Geddy Lee (Rush), Paul McCartney (The Beatles), Marcus Miller, Jaco Pastorius (Weather Report), Paul Simonon (The Clash), Sting (The Police), Roger Waters (Pink Floyd), Tina Weymouth (Talking Heads/Tom Tom Club), Bill Wyman (Rolling Stones)

Related Fender brands include… Squier, Gretsch, Jackson, Charvel, DeArmond, Takamine, Hamer

Links to CRAVE Guitars Fender Features:

Vintage Fender Guitars…

1971 Fender Bronco

1981 Fender Bullet

1982 Fender Bullet H2

1966 Fender Coronado II

1965 Fender Duo-Sonic II

1965 Fender Jaguar

1965 Fender Jazzmaster

1981 Fender Lead I

1959 Fender Musicmaster