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Fender

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''For the automotive part, see fender (automobile).
The Fender logo, often called the "spaghetti" logo.
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The Fender logo, often called the "spaghetti" logo.

The famous Stratocaster headstock.
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The famous Stratocaster headstock.

The Fender Musical Instruments Corporation, initially named the Fender Electric Instrument Manufacturing Company, was started by Leo Fender in 1946, and is one of the most widely recognised manufacturers of electric guitars, electric basses and amplifiers.

Fender is particularly important because of its role in bringing solid body electric guitars to the masses. Fender offered the first mass-produced solid-body Spanish-style electric guitar, the Telecaster (originally named the 'Broadcaster', 'Esquire' is a single pickup version); the first mass-produced electric bass, the Precision Bass (or P-Bass); and the enormously popular Stratocaster guitar (or 'Strat' for short). While other companies and luthiers had produced electric guitars since the late 1920s, nearly all were either hollow-body guitars with pickups attached, or more specialized instruments such as Rickenbacker's solid-body Hawaiian lap steel guitars.

Other popular and/or notable Fender instruments include the Mustang, Jazzmaster, Jaguar, Starcaster, Duosonic, and Bronco guitars; basses such as the Jazz Bass, the 'Telecaster Bass' reissue of the original 1950s Precision Bass; a line of lap steels; three models of electric violin, and the Fender Rhodes electric piano.

Its headquarters are in Scottsdale, Arizona, with manufacturing facilities in Corona, California, and manufacturing facilities in Ensenada (Mexico), Korea and Japan.

Contents

Early history

Sketch of Leo Fender's lap steel guitar from 1944 patent application
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Sketch of Leo Fender's lap steel guitar from 1944 patent application

The company began as "Fender's Radio Service" in late 1938 in Fullerton, California, USA. As a qualified electronics technician, Leo was asked to repair not only radios, but phonograph players, home audio amplifiers, public address systems and musical instrument amplifiers. (Technical note: at the time, most of the above were simply variations on a few simple vacuum-tube circuits). The business also sidelined in carrying records for sale and the rental of self-designed-and-built PA systems. He became intrigued by design flaws in current musical instrument amplifiers, and he began custom-building a few amplifiers based on his own designs or modifications to designs. By the early 1940s, he had partnered with another local electronics enthusiast named Clayton Orr (Doc) Kauffman, and they formed a company named "K & F Manufacturing Corp." to design, manufacture, and sell electric instruments and amplifiers. Production began in 1945 with Hawaiian lap steel guitars (incorporating a patented pickup) and amplifiers, which were sold as sets. By the end of the year, Fender had become convinced that manufacturing was more profitable than repair, and he decided to concentrate on that business. Kauffman remained unconvinced, however, and they had amicably parted ways by early 1946. At that point Leo renamed the company the "Fender Electric Instrument Company." The service shop remained open until 1951, although Leo Fender did not personally supervise it after 1947.

See Telecaster for more details of the Fender company's early history.

Sale to CBS

In early 1965, Leo Fender sold his company to the Columbia Broadcasting System, or CBS.

Fender's sale to CBS had far-reaching implications. At first, the sale was taken as a positive development, considering CBS's ability to bring in money and personnel. However, the sale is often now looked back upon unfavorably, due to the perception that CBS favored numbers and profit over quality. In the early 1970s, the usual four bolt neck design was downgraded in favor of using only three. Ostensibly, this change was made in an effort to save money, but, in actuality, it resulted in a greater propensity toward mechanical failure in the guitars. The culmination of this "cost-cutting" occurred in 1983, when the Stratocaster received a short-lived redesign without a second tone control and a bare-bones output jack. In addition, previous models such as the Swinger (also known as Musiclander) and Custom (also known as Maverick) had been little more than attempts to squeeze profits out of factory stock. The so-called "Pre-CBS cult" refers to the popularity of Fenders made before the sale.

After selling the Fender company, Leo Fender designed products for Music Man and later founded the G&L company which manufactures top quality electric guitars and basses designed by Leo Fender.

Current

In 1985, initiated by a company employee named William Schultz, the Fender Electric Instrument Manufacturing Company was bought from CBS by its own employees, and renamed Fender Musical Instruments Corporation.

Behind the Fender name, the Fender Musical Instruments Corporation has continued to grow, and to add a wider range of products to its catalogs, while still keeping with traditional designs from the company's early years.

Fender manufactures its highest quality models in the United States, but also has extensive manufacturing facilities in Japan, Mexico (company-owned) China, Indonesia (Cort) and Korea (Cort), such that a new guitar with the name, 'Fender Stratocaster,' can be purchased for roughly the same dollar amount today as in 1954. The older and American-built Strats are by far the most favoured, but pre-1988 Japanese Fenders are now highly regarded as well. Fenders built in Ensenada, Mexico took over for the early Japanese guitars as the less expensive counterparts to the American models, while more recent Japanese Fenders are now mainly for the Japanese market, as counterparts to the American-made Fenders, and with only a small number marked for export.

The brand name, 'Squier', (previously a string manufacturer bought up by Fender) has been used since 1982 to produce (in Japan for the export market) cheaper, original 'Fender' guitars to combat the frighteningly accurate copies from Japanese manufacturer Tokai Guitars and, later, with the production moving to India (for a short time) and then Korea, for budget versions of Fender designs, of varying manufacture and often fluctuating quality. The name adorns many inexpensive guitars based on Fender designs but with generally cheaper materials and hardware. Many Squiers made between 1987/88 through the mid-1990s featured plywood bodies irrespective of where they were made.

Early (pre-1985) Japanese Fender and Squier Stratocasters are well-regarded (and where the model is the same are the same except for the decal), and are now traded on the used-guitar market as JV, which stands for 'Japanese Vintage', and equates to the prefix of the serial numbers of some of the 1982-84 Squier guitars. The earliest 1982 Squiers had the big Fender logo with 'Squier Series' written in script on the ball of the headstock, which was changed by the end of 1982 to the big Squier logo. However, the 'big Fender, little Squier Series' decal has featured on some 1990s Korean (most with plywood bodies) and Mexican (usually using up superseded parts, or seconds) guitars.

The core of its instrument line, the Tele, Strat, P-Bass, and J-Bass, remains largely unchanged from the 1950s and 1960s originals. On nearly every stage in the country, small or large, featuring blues, country and western or rock and roll, it is common to see a Fender guitar or bass in the hands of one or more of the musicians, amplified through a Fender amplifier. Fender guitars have been the instrument of choice for hundreds of noted artists including Jimi Hendrix, Kurt Cobain, Eric Clapton, Buddy Holly, Yngwie J. Malmsteen, The Edge, David Gilmour, Mark Knopfler, Stevie Ray Vaughan, Ritchie Blackmore, Hank Marvin and Keith Richards.

In recent years, Fender Musical Instruments Corporation has branched out into making and selling acoustic guitars, and has purchased a number of other instrument firms, including the Guild Guitar Company, the Sunn Amplifier Company, and other brands such as SWR bass amplifiers.

In early 2003, Fender Musical Instruments Corporation made a deal with Gretsch, and began manufacturing and distributing new Gretsch guitars.

Fender guitars

Electric guitars

Electric basses

See also

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External links

 

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